extracurriculars & co-op / internship

[SoBored]

i was wondering, does having alot of extracurriculars help in finding a job after you graduate? i've been trying to join some clubs but the only one that seems relevant is the business one.. which is only one thing..

also.. is it beneficial to do some type of co-op or internship? is it possible to do something like this even if its not in the university program? i.e independantly?

[Sylvestre]

It depends.
When you see a resume and it just lists extra-cirric. clubs/whatever by name, but not position or what you did, I tend to disregard it.
I may mention it in the interview and it comes out very quickly if the person actually did anything, or if he/she just used it as filler.

If the "club" is geared towards some kind of technical skill, I'll definitely ask questions, and again, it comes out if the person did anything or not.

e.g. I see lots of engineers who were on some kind of car race team (formula sae, solar, etc). When you ask what area they worked on, and what principles they applied from their courses, most can't give a single example. It's usually obvious they didn't do much.

As for non-specific clubs (e.g. anime club, cooking club etc) I could care less, but then again, I'm usually looking for technical people. If those skills matter to the job, then sure.


and regarding your second question: any experience is better than zero. Get some, either through summer jobs, co-op or internship. Don't graduate without some applied knowledge or you will be behind the pack.
Co-op's great, but if you work hard, you can get the exact same "experience" via summer jobs. And you save paying the fees for co-op and graduating a year later.

[Derringdo]

I'm an advocate of co-op programs, mainly because I'm in one at UW. I think it's definitely beneficial and will hopefully give me an edge over other graduates who don't have any co-op experience.

Basically in a co-op program at Waterloo, you can get 20-24 months of real work experience depending on your program, and graduate with a 4 year undergrad degree in a total of 5 years. I'm not sure how it works at other schools but I also know that Laurier has co-op placements for its BBA students provided you pass their interview. Laurier BBA co-op students get 12 months work experience and graduate in the normal 4 years.

As far as internships go, you can probably get one on your own without being in a university program. You do have to be in a university program to do co-op though.

[SoBored]

I'm an advocate of co-op programs, mainly because I'm in one at UW. I think it's definitely beneficial and will hopefully give me an edge over other graduates who don't have any co-op experience.

Basically in a co-op program at Waterloo, you can get 20-24 months of real work experience depending on your program, and graduate with a 4 year undergrad degree in a total of 5 years. I'm not sure how it works at other schools but I also know that Laurier has co-op placements for its BBA students provided you pass their interview. Laurier BBA co-op students get 12 months work experience and graduate in the normal 4 years.

As far as internships go, you can probably get one on your own without being in a university program. You do have to be in a university program to do co-op though.


well i'm in a university BBA program but it doesn't have a real co-op. just maybe a 100 hours or something work experience.. so i was wondering if i could get an intern somewhere for extra experience? im not exactly sure what the difference between co-op and an internship is either

[Sylvestre]

well i'm in a university BBA program but it doesn't have a real co-op. just maybe a 100 hours or something work experience.. so i was wondering if i could get an intern somewhere for extra experience? im not exactly sure what the difference between co-op and an internship is either

variations on the same theme. Most schools that say co-op refer to 4 x 4-month placements (or sometimes 2x4-month and 1x8-month).
Schools that say internship usually mean a 1x12-month or 1x16-month placement. There are benefits and drawbacks to both (variety, depth of involvement etc etc).

And I stress (cause seems a lot of students tend to think co-ops/internships are the only options), if you work hard and get good summer job experience, it's as good as anything else, and you save money, and you graduate in 4yrs. Obviously it requires more effort to get a good summer job equiv. to what co-op gives, but it's absolutely possible.

[civ@uw]

Even if you join clubs which aren't completely relevant to what you are doing, it can show that you are versatile and well rounded.

[drucillica]

When we were screening for co-op candidates, we barely got to that section, and if the person wasn't qualified for the position, no amount of extra curriculars would save them.

[TheGoods07]

Co-op and internship is valuable but when you get to your full-time jobs you will notice that there will be MANY people who did not get a chance to gain this experience. It is easier to get a full-time job than it is to get an internship.

[Jucius Maximus]

i was wondering, does having alot of extracurriculars help in finding a job after you graduate? i've been trying to join some clubs but the only one that seems relevant is the business one.. which is only one thing..

also.. is it beneficial to do some type of co-op or internship? is it possible to do something like this even if its not in the university program? i.e independantly?
It depends on which companies you're applying to. Some companies wanted to know everything about my extracurriculars, even if they had nothing to do with the job. They specifically wanted to know how many hours per week I spent, what things I did, etc. Other companies didn't really seem to care one way or the other.

I did co-op and I think it is extremely helpful. You'll gain a real world perspective in a number of varied jobs so you can find out what you like and don't like. This was extremely helpful for me and it heavily affected the kinds of jobs I searched for after graduation and what I looked for in companies. Also co-op gets you money to pay for university, and many people who take co-op are eventually hired by the companies that they worked for.