my daughter is a freshman ID student. Next spring she will start her co-op rotations. How does the whole process work? do they interview during the previous semester at school? What is the timeframe from when they finish their semester at school until they start their co-op? Just trying to figure out when we will see her the next 4 years since we live out of town.
@daapmom – my personal experience is from 35 years ago :-), but I recall having a “professional development” class that talked about things like resume development and interviewing, followed by meeting with my co-op counselor. Discussed my whole strategy with her, and she had suggestions, and eventually even came up with a few prospects for me. Over my time there, I had two co-op employers, both of which I found for myself. The second one was finalized only a few days before I started. I was a little stressed. Then again, it was perfect training for how job markets work now…
In general, back then we would have at least two weeks off between terms – but I wanted to get right to work, so I’d go directly from finishing out finals week, to starting work on Monday. Other classmates may have taken advantage of the break to travel, etc. I’m sure daapdaughter will be able to work out start dates and end dates with her prospective employer, within reason, of course. For example, I don’t know if a six-week trip to Europe could be arranged in the middle of a co-op term.
So we’re looking at the same thing – except that we live about 900 miles away. Will we see him on holiday breaks? A few days during the summer? Will we be traveling to Cincinnati? It’s all TBD.
yes she is taking an introduction to co-op this semester and another class in the fall. i was just trying to guage everything
Mom of graduating (!!) student here…a couple of points - note that the university academic calendar and the professional practice calendars for ID do not always synch up. You need to look at the latter for vacation schedule once your daughter starts co-ops. Students are encouraged to work through the professional practice office at DAAP to submit their resumes/portfolios to a university service which then shares them with companies and consultancies which have existing relations with DAAP. First time co-op students will likely use this as their primary means of securing their initial placement. As students network with upperclassmen and get savvy using job board searches, they will likely also want to do co-op searches on their own, which the University supports - as long as they don’t reach out to companies already working with the office of professional practice. Most interviews take place over the phone or via SKYPE-type video conferencing versus on campus. Some students are aware of their co-op placements comfortably in advance. Some start the semester alarmingly unplaced, and the school does grant a little bit of a grace period for actually starting the co-op if they are unplaced at the official beginning of the term. I understand that ID has added a much needed extra co-op coordinator, which should help with timely placement. Of the 5 co-op rotations my son had - one was on campus, one after the start of the semester at a NYC architectural firm that was found last minute on Craigs List, back to back rotations at a mid-sized manufacturing firm in Rochester NY that he found on Core 77 community, and one at a large design consultancy in Cleveland that was handed down from a former co-op student. Good Luck…it all really does work out. Eventually.