Co-op: do your homework

Colleges & Universities Northeastern University
1

<p>[RateMyCo-op.com[/url</a>]
[url=<a href=“http://www.coopratings.com%5DCo-op”>http://www.coopratings.com]Co-op</a> Ratings - Home](<a href=“http://www.ratemycoop.com%5DRateMyCo-op.com%5B/url”>http://www.ratemycoop.com)</p>

<p>My friend in civil engineering had a co-op scooping Nalgene bottles full of human waste from aeration tanks for testing. She quit because it was so disgusting, and her advisor threatened to have her suspended. Yes, you can be suspended for quitting. </p>

<p>Also, course registration closes before most people hear back about the co-ops they’ve applied for. If you aren’t hired, you may be stuck doing nothing for a semester.</p>

2

<p>Note as well that participating in the typical three co-ops will keep you there for <em>at least</em> five years. Tuition costs rise every year, well ahead of the inflation rate. </p>

<p>Lately, the poor economy has forced some companies to reduce or eliminate co-op positions, making them less of a sure thing. Former employers Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers aren’t even around anymore. I know an engineer who was promised a permanent, post-graduation job with this co-op, but the firm’s financial situation prompted it to rescind the offer. He’s been making sandwiches in Cambridge for about half a year now.</p>

<p>If you’re going into engineering, your time on co-op does NOT count toward the required years you must spend as an engineer-in-training before you can sit for the PE exam. A lot of engineering students go out on their first co-op before taking any actual engineering courses, so you can guess how much responsibility they are given. </p>

<p>Even with its crappy pay, the Boston Globe was pretty much the Holy Grail of the journalism co-op program (for the reason that there isn’t much else), even if it was unlikely they’d let you actually write much, if at all. The paper’s cash flow has plummeted to crisis-levels, their budget’s been slashed by millions and there’s been talk of it shuttering completely, so that’s not such a sure thing anymore, either. </p>

<p>Some of the most-coveted co-ops–ABC, Disney, MTV, CBS, N.E. Patriots, FOX–pay little or nothing; they don’t have to. A lot of them are in pricey NYC, and yes, you’ll most likely have to work out living arrangements on your own. </p>

<p>You can see for yourself on the review sites I’ve posted, but a lot of co-op jobs are pretty disappointing:</p>

<p>Emporio Armani: sales clerk/rep or security guard at the retail store down the road
Neiman Marcus: sales clerk/rep
Snell Library: co-op in the Northeastern Library
Curry Student Center: manning the info desk in Northeastern’s Curry Student Center
Dell: stand on college campuses handing out pens and trying to sell computers to college kids
Foster Miller: testing switches as they roll off the assembly line…to make sure they, you know, switch</p>

<p>I have a friend who is majoring in linguistics. Her co-op? Changing diapers at a daycare center. Another sold souvenir pins at Disney World for ~$16/week take-home pay. All of the rest was taken out of her paycheck to cover Disney housing (trailers) and crappy food. Before beginning your co-op, Disney/ABC will show you a print-out of their extensive family tree of related and subsidiary companies, all of which you will never, ever in your life work for, should your performance on co-op **** them off.</p>

3

<p>I see what you’re saying but there are definitely a lot of kick*** jobs out there and if you do well and stay at the top of your major academically, there is still no reason why you shouldn’t get an enjoyable, well paying coop.</p>

4

<p>There definitely are. :slight_smile: I just wanted to lay out a few pitfalls (which all of my friends seemed to have no problem locating, lol) so that otherwise unsuspecting students can be prepared and avoid the same co-op-induced angst. </p>

<p>Something else to throw out there: I know an NU structural engineer (graduated and w/in weeks landed a great job), who did his own sort of co-op. He ran into money problems while at NU, and had to take a full year off to work so he could pay for tuition. What he did was every bit as educational, albeit outside the traditional NU co-op channel: he was hired (at very good pay) as a construction inspector, learned a ton, networked, and picked up a bunch of certifications along the way. I should add that the engineer he interviewed with for his current job is also an NU engineering alum, and he said that that plus the fact that they had the same professors probably was big part of the reason he was hired on the spot! :D</p>

5

<p>Of course there are going to be some crappy jobs, especially with the economy how it is. But there are still a ton of awesome jobs.</p>

<p>If you have a good GPA and interview well you should have no problem finding a good job.</p>

6

<p>Downsloper is an idiot.</p>

7

<p>What is your problem? I’m a first co-op student. I worked hard for my gpa and I got part time jobs so I could hit the ground running. My job isn’t super awesome, but it’s going to prevent me from starting with such an entry level job when I graduate. You don’t HAVE to do three co-ops, and if you do two you can still graduate in four years. It’s your choice. Obviously if you can’t financially handle five years, you’d graduate in four. It’s not like you’re locked into anything when you come here.</p>

<p>A linguistics major doing diapers? Well she should have asked about the job more in her interview. If she wanted something more about her major, then she should have fought harder for jobs that she was interested in. I’m a math/econ major and I got a job that is EXACTLY math/econ, because I looked for those jobs and I fought for them and did well in my interviews. If I had wanted something in music or in writing, I would have applied and fought for those. You can’t blame northeastern if your co-op job isn’t what you thought it would be. They give you the connections, but YOU get the job. You write your resume, you choose the jobs, you do the interviews.</p>

<p>Some employers have dropped out, of course. But guess what? Those same employers are also way less likely to hire people right out of college with no experience, because there are so many people WITH experience who have no jobs. Notheastern has lost some co-op jobs, but students with co-op experience still have a better chance than students without.</p>

<p>Plus, all of the examples of jobs you listed are the students that absolutely can’t get a job elsewhere. Guess what? Those students are better off with a job at the library than they were before. If they couldn’t get one of the other (more traditional) co-op jobs, then they certainly wouldn’t be able to get a good job after college! At least with some work that’s typically part time, they have a better shot at an entry level job than they would have without the kind of crappy job.</p>

<p>Yeah we have some crappy jobs. But it’s better than nothing.</p>

8

<p>i wouldn’t put much effort into responding to downslopers accusations. Clearly he/she has the intentions of putting down Northeastern. It should be pretty intuitive that good jobs come with good GPA’s. One obvious benefit of attending Northeastern is that you realize the competitive nature at such a young age and if you do well you will reap the benefits of having a good coop/research experience. Northeastern provides a plethora of opportunities and by the schools retention rate of above 90% I think its safe to say that students are satisfied. Neuchimie is also correct, those jobs you posted are the absolute worst ones you could find and are reserved for the underachieving students.</p>

9

<p>downsloper’s first two posted just scared the bajesus out of me. But I’m glad to see (from everyone else) that if you put in some effort, you can land a fine co-op, in your field of choice. </p>

<p>Yeah, obviously most of them probably don’t pay very well now, during the recession. But that’s not NU’s fault at all, everyone in the country (well, most) are taking paycuts.</p>

<p>Speaking of which, does anyone know what the actual average pay is? Factor in those co-ops that aren’t paid at all (as in, count all the "0"s into the approximate average). And, if anyone knows, the average pay for music industry co-ops? I’ve heard that most of those are unpaid but I’m just wondering.</p>

10

<p>Not sure about the averages, but mine (15) is supposedly decent, 20 is great, and 25 is somewhat unheard of (certainly for a first time co-op). I heard, again just a guess, that most are around 11 or 12, but it really really depends on the major and then what you want to go into. For instance I am economics/math major, so finance would pay better than entry economist research, which would pay better than data analysis (pretty much what my first co-op is), which would pay better than data entry. GPA and past experience will land you the better paid jobs.</p>

11

<p>Oh, and also how much you are paid depends on if your job will require a lot of overtime and if so, if they pay time and a half. I know a lot of people doing basic accounting work that are doing 60+ weeks (as part of their contracts, they have to agree to do it!) but are getting time and a half for the 20+ extra hours. Next thing you know, they are getting way bigger paychecks than me.</p>

<p>Course, in my opinion, filling out a million of the same forms isn’t worth it, but… to each his own. :P</p>

12

<p>Im a econ/math major what do you suggest the classes i need to take before going on co-op and what is a gpa that will get you good jobs</p>

13

<p>I make around 20, a have friends in the mid 20s (engineering), I’ve heard of a few finance majors in the high 20s (28, 29), I know of an accounting major who made 31. All first coops.</p>

14

<p>Downsloper also posted a thread about how Northeastern students are getting murdered left and right. Credible as a source? Methinks not.</p>

15

<p>(For econ/math) definitely take the principles of macro and micro courses before co-op. Having statistics and calculus done helps a lot. Also since a lot of the jobs are computer based, I noticed that my interviers really liked that I had taken a Fundamentals of Computer Science course (that isn’t required for the major). So I’d suggest taking the Computer Science and it’s Applications course (that is required for the major) before co-op, at the very least. Most co-op students have also taken at least one of the theory courses, but unless you’re going for an actual economist position, I doubt they are required. I also took Multivariable Calculus before my first co-op, but not sure if it was required.</p>

<p>I was told it was “really great”, 3.5 is “pretty good”, 3.2 is “okay”, and below a 3.0 shouldn’t really be put on the resume… The problem is that since econ and math are hard majors to get good gpas in, but you are competiting against (depending on the job) for people in finance and such who are known for having really high gpas… it can get a little difficult. Just do your best, and if your gpa is a little weak, make sure you emphasize what you are good at.</p>

16

<p>Yeah engineering tends to make more (I had an unfriendly engineering student make fun of me for getting 15 dollars by saying “oh… is that high for your major? we make more” before he even got a job offer), and finance/accounting can make a lot, but depends on the job.</p>

17

<p>@neuchimie thanks I’ve already taken the Principles classes, stats, cs classes this semester. Since i transfered i have to take calc 1 again and i will be taking the theories also. I just wanted to make sure i was on the right track. My first semester gpa may be a little low but i do have some experience in presentations in front of actual business CEOs . What would you recommend for a first business-esque co-op?</p>

18

<p>I had friends work at UBS and Morgan Stanley UK. all were second coops at around $26-28/hr</p>

19

<p>I interviewed at John Hancock for a couple of positions, but they all went to third co-op students. Depending on your interest, you don’t need a “business” co-op as your first, even if you want to go into business.</p>

<p>For example, I’m working at a pension benefits investment place. I’ll be doing the data analysis required in order to prepare these intense spreadsheets that the calculation team (data entry stuff) uses to calculate the benefits. I however want to go into actuarial science. This job doesn’t have me doing anything like that, but I’m doing a LOT with computers. When I interviewed for actuarial positions (at John Hancock) they were focused on getting people with LOTS of computer experience. Voila, I’m now more prepared for next cycle. Plus, the place I’m working for has an actuarial co-op student there, in a different position. So while I’m working in my position, I can make a great impression to that manager and have a huge leg up on the competition when I apply for that actuarial co-op position next year. So it’s also a nice idea to look for positions places where you could use connections to help get a really hard co-op. That’s not to say that you should work in the same place for all of your co-ops. </p>

<p>This would be my advice: Don’t go into your first co-op determined to do nothing but something in your dream field. Instead, figure out what those jobs want in their students, and if you don’t get them (because the better jobs typically go to more experienced students) look for jobs that would help your fulfill those requirements. If the company tends to hire past co-ops, look for a co-op job somewhere else in their company. If they only hired third co-ops as a rule, make sure your first two co-ops are great. If they want to make sure that their students can handle 60 hour weeks, then get a co-op job that would let you do some overtime, to prove to future employers that you can handle it. Your co-op advisor will be able to really help you figure out what to look for, if you set a meeting with them.</p>

20

<p>Oh, and always always always always always go to the information sessions if employers have them on campus. EVERY interview will ask “so what do you know/like about our company”. Research for interviews is of course one of the most important things, but if your interviewer knows that they had an info session on campus and you don’t throw in a “oh well I went the information session on Northeastern’s campus and I really enjoyed learning about…” then they’ll start to wonder how much you really like them and how much you are just randomly applying to jobs.</p>