Question about Co-ops

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>Thanks so much for all the information. I had a question about coop programs. How important is it to have a coop experience working in the field prior to graduation? How much should a school's coop program enter into the decision when deciding among schools for an undergraduate degree? Also, is there any advantage to getting a Bachelor of Engineering degree vs a Bachelor of Science?</p>

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<p>Bumping this post.</p>

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<p>I see our new moderator is on the job…</p>

<p>Thanks for the bump. This has been discussed in other threads, but more exposure and feedback is good.</p>

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<p>Here’s how it works for me:</p>

<p>If I’m hiring, I post a job specifying a major and minimum GPA. If you’re an MET and the job is for an ME, I don’t even see your resume if you submit it. The same thing goes for GPA. If you have a 2.999 and the cut-off is 3.0, I don’t see your resume. There are enough applicants that I can strictly enforce those things.</p>

<p>After the cuts above, there are usually 100 or so applicants at a typical public school for ME/EE/ChemE with >3.00 GPA. Typically most companies come with 2-4 recruiters with 8 interview slots per day. So there’s a 16-32% chance you’ll get an interview. How do you get selected for an interview? Experience. If you have 2 semesters or more of co-op or internship (they’re equivalent) experience at a big name firm, you’ll definitely get an interview. 0 experience = no chance at an interview for a full-time position. If you have 1 semester or worked at a small company, you’ve got a shot but it’s not guaranteed. GPA plays no role. A 3.1 is as good to me as a 4.0. Honors plays no role. Double majors and triple minors play not role. Getting an interview is all about 1) meeting the major and GPA threshold and 2) having internship experience.</p>

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<p>^ Is undergrad research experience of any value?</p>

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<p>Interesting experience, BanjoHitter. I have heard that recruiters at public schools can get over 100 resumes. Perhaps that is why recruiters prefer large schools, all else being equal. </p>

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<p>So then would you plan to hire 2-4 of the people who you interview? That would give one less than a 5% chance of landing a job after applying, which isn’t good, but might work out okay if there are hundreds of companies on campus.</p>

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<p>Would it be any different at a private school?</p>

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<p>It can be, but it’s no substitute for internship experience. When it’s valuable is when you work independently and show initiative or when you manage other students in a lab. </p>

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<p>No, that would be a waste of time. The goal is 33% to 50% make it past round 1, 50% past round 2 and are hired. If I only had 2-4 job offers to give out at that school, I’d go with 1 recruiter, not 4.</p>

<p>But it varies by company. McKinsey interviews 100,000 people and hires about 300. Of course, they eliminate 90% of that 100,000 based on an IQ test, so it’s a little different.</p>

<p>One thing to keep in mind when dealing with percentages is that there will probably be 5 to 10 interview superstars in your class that will get 20 offers. That greatly complicates things if you’re not one of the superstars (and a superstar usually doesn’t have the best GPA - it’s someone with a good GPA and work experience who understands the interview process and blows interviews out of the water)</p>

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<p>Nope. They’re just smaller. That means fewer interviews and less job openings allotted to that school.</p>