Co-op vs graduating in 4 years?

[Montegut]

<p>^^^Really? With the economy, you don’t think there would be internships without pay? They may not be called “internships”, but basically, experience in the office so you can get exposure to a field would seem to be more available in these economic times. </p>

<p>What about unpaid research at a university lab? Would that be a valuable experience if that’s all a student can do? Remember, there are other factors besides qualifications for doing this summer work. Family situations, economics, place of residence will limit an undergrad from getting exposure to his field in the summer months .</p>

[BanjoHitter]

<p>

Really? With the economy, you don’t think there would be internships without pay? They may not be called “internships”, but basically, experience in the office so you can get exposure to a field would seem to be more available in these economic times.

</p>

<p>If you are unpaid (and receive no credit), all you can really do is job shadow. You cannot demonstrate any competencies job shadowing and would be better off working on leadership/teamwork skills at Old Navy over the summer. If you are in a position where you have the potential for an unpaid internship, rather than being unpaid you could either work with your school to earn credit or ask for minimum wage.</p>

<p>That said, in tough economic times, internships tend to actually pick up. Companies cut back on full-time hiring and interns are a cheap, low risk option to replace some of the lost man-hours.</p>

[NegativeSlope]

<p>

However, an engineer should never take an unpaid internship. When an internship is unpaid, the unpaid employee is legally restricted in what he can do. Basically, he cannot do anything that adds value to the company. This is a major problem - if you do not accomplish something that adds value to a company, you’ve wasted the internship and it brings almost no value to your resume.

I disagree. Unpaid internships can have significant responsibilities, and some experience is better than no experience.</p>

<p>Here are a few good unpaid engineering internships:
[Software</a> Engineering Intern job opening from updtr | Startuply](<a href=“http://www.startuply.com/Jobs/Software_Engineering_Intern_2496_9.aspx]Software”>http://www.startuply.com/Jobs/Software_Engineering_Intern_2496_9.aspx)</p>

<p>

You will be an active member of the technical team writing code for a live, high-volume web site. The ideal candidate will already have a bachelor’s degree in computer science, however we will accept applications from students who have completed 2.5 years of study. … You will report directly to the CTO and Director of Product Development.

</p>

<p>[Project</a> Management/Estimating Department Intern - Philadelphia - internship - Barefoot Student](<a href=“Barefoot Student - #1 Job Site for College Students & Grads”>Barefoot Students - 404 page)

Intern will be assisting the estimating staff and project managers of well established commercial flooring firm. Will work closely with owners of company as well as estimating department; great exposure to business operations as well as commercial project management.</p>

<p>Tasks Include
-Preparing bid packages (printing drawings from servers and disks)
-Assist in organization of bid charts
-Assisting in Take-Off’s and proposals
-Conducting job costing analysis on completed projects
-Corresponding with GC’s, vendors and clients when neccessary
-Accompanying staff to job sites when needed

</p>

<p><a href=“http://dhr.lacounty.info/intjobs.htm[/url]”>http://dhr.lacounty.info/intjobs.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

Conditional Channel Assessment: Perform field inspections of existing Flood Control Open Channels for preventative maintenance routines and to document the current condition of these facilities in order to provide budget information, and support the Capital Asset Management Plan.

</p>

[BanjoHitter]

<p>

Unpaid internships can have significant responsibilities…

</p>

<p>Not legally in the US. [U.S&lt;/a&gt;. Department of Labor - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - Fact Sheet](<a href=“http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.htm]U.S”>Fact Sheet #71: Internship Programs Under The Fair Labor Standards Act | U.S. Department of Labor)</p>

<p>

The following six criteria must be applied when making this determination:</p>

<p>The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment;</p>

<p>The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;</p>

<p>The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff;</p>

<p>** The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded;**</p>

<p>The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship; and</p>

<p>The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.

</p>

<p>Standing around a room and watching engineers adds absolutely no value to your resume. You’d be better off developing your soft skills elsewhere. </p>

<p>The way employers get around the unpaid requirement is that they’ll offer to give you class credit. This is an acceptable arrangement if your school approves it.</p>

[Oddball390]

<p>One of my friends graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering two years ago. For several months, he looked for a paid job that was related to his major, but he got nothing.</p>

<p>In November 09, he told me, “Look. The economy still sucks, almost nobody’s hiring, and the few companies that are looking for workers have thousands of applicants for every open position. This gap on my resume is becoming a problem, so I"ll go to places to volunteer and keep my skills fresh.”</p>

<p>So that’s what he did. Every day, he walked into companies, explained his situation, and asked whether he could volunteer. Most turned him away, but engineers at City X allowed him to volunteer. At first, he intended on being there Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, and he was planning to use afternoons to look for a job. It was like an open-ended unpaid internship, and it would end when he found a full-time engineering job.</p>

<p>Two months passed, and he still didn’t hear back from anyone (except for one interview, which didn’t lead to anything). To prevent boredom and frustration, he decided to work more hours, so he asked his supervisors whether he could stay in a few more hours after lunchtime. They agreed.</p>

<p>By spring 2010, he knew what the engineers were working on so well that they were giving him more and more tasks. As spring turned into summer, he asked for and was given more responsibilities. His original 12 hour a week internship eventually turned into a 30 hour a week commitment, and he was doing CAD drawings, inspecting sites, and even helping them prepare reports.</p>

<p>A few weeks ago, he got a job offer at a private company, so he told the engineers at City X that he would be leaving the next day to work at Company Y, and he thanked them for giving him a chance to gain experience. However, this gave those engineers a problem. They had become so dependent on him that his departure would cause them a great hardship. Work would be left unfinished, deadlines would not be met, and they would have to work overtime just to replace the lost labor caused by his absence. After some negotiations, they got the city to dip into its general fund and expand the department.</p>

<p>He is now a full-time city employee making $60K/year.</p>

[NegativeSlope]

<p>

Unpaid internships can have significant responsibilities…

Not legally in the US.

This is true in theory, but it doesn’t work out in practice. Piracy is also illegal, and plenty of people are illegally downloading music and movies for free without getting caught. Even laws with more significant consequences are broken on a regular basis. There are hundreds of 18 year olds having sex with their 17 year old girlfriends/boyfriends each night, and very few of them are punished even though that would be considered statutory rape in many places.</p>

[anthonymgarcia]

<p>I’m an architectural engineering major at The University of Texas at Austin.</p>

<p>I received a coop offer in a field outside of my interest (the coop was in construction management, and I want to do structural engineering) in Fall 2010 for Spring 2011. After much debate, I decided to take it. It was too early to know if I would receive a summer internship (I know people with 3.9’sw that haven’t received internships in engineering), so I decided to take it. Guaranteed relevant work experience is better than uncertainty. I worked hard, made some money, and enjoyed it very much. I didn’t imagine I would learn as much as I actually did.</p>

<p>When I left the company, I was still convinced that I did not want to do construction management. The following Fall when I returned to school full-time, I received a coop offer for another company for this coming Summer and Fall in Structural Engineering! I’m extremely excited and completely convinced that my previously work experience contributed to this success.</p>

<p>At the end of the day, I’m sure that the posters around here are correct: coop and internships probably have the same value on a resume. For me, it came down rejecting an offer I had now for a coop versus waiting for the unknown for a summer internship. Although I’m graduating a year later, I’ll have a years worth of relevant work experience and some money to spend, with hopefully a full time job to follow.</p>

<p>Cooping has been one of the best decisions I’ve made.</p>