<p>I mean, we go to college to get skills for jobs. How can they set us with actual jobs if we don’t have that knowledge?</p>
<p>We actually do internships at my high school, as juniors and seniors (a mini-mini co-op of 3 weeks). And our school doesn’t even provide connections - it’s on us to go out there and contact people and secure something. I’ve had two awesome experiences, one at a legit news station (WTOC-TV 11 in Savannah, GA) and one marketing and communications department in my local city. As long as you’re eager to learn and help, lots of businesses are willing to take on interns: )</p>
<p>um, thanks for sharing, but I am talking about co-ops and Northeastern, not high school and internships</p>
<p>Yes, I know, I was just trying to show that you don’t necessarily need particular “knowledge” to engage in a co-op or internship or any real-world experience before you get a degree. Plus, you don’t start co-ops until sophomore year, after the co-op orientation class thing and a year and a half of college education, so I would think you’d be well-enough prepared…</p>
<p>gotta start somewhere.</p>
<p>■■■■■…</p>
<p>first co-ops are very entry level, and you will be perfectly prepared for it when it happens. The second poster had a good point, the most important thing is your attitude and your willingness to learn.</p>
<p>Ok, well lets say I’m majoring in biochem. My freshman year will be mostly core classes, and in my sophmore year I’ll only take a few biochem classes. If I get hired at a biochem firm, how can I do anything? I mean maybe they would teach me, but that’s an internship, not a co-op.</p>
<p>I assume first co-ops are mostly paper filing and coffee runs. You get a taste of the 9-5 work day and they may give you a little experience in the field, but nothing too complicated. Second and third co-ops become more involved. That’s just a thought, seeing as I’m in the same place you are right now.</p>
<p>Parent of a middler here. My son’s (engineering major) first coop was at a firm just outside Boston. His first task was doing time studies on the manufacturing line; ie, timing how long each task took. He then moved on to HELPING design a new component and then, efficiently laying out a floor plan for a new addition.</p>
<p>Remember, not all employees of a biochem firm are research scientists. They need support staff. So, you’ll be given tasks you can handle the first day; then, as they see your aptitude; they may move you into assisting someone, etc. The point is that you will be in the environment of your major - absorbing the daily ebb and flow of how business in your interest operates. </p>
<p>Don’t worry, every business has plenty of work they can find to give to you. Where did you get the idea that an internship teaches you but a co-op doesn’t?</p>
<p>A co-op basically just means a 6 month internship. There’s not much of a difference, if any. And you will definitely be taught things on the job, its not like you can just go in on day one and jump right in. You will be working full time, but that doesn’t mean you will be doing the same work as full time employees. </p>
<p>I’m a business major so I really can’t say much about a biochem co-op, but it all works essentially the same way. As your co-op moves forward, you will learn more and hopefully take on more responsibility.</p>
<p>^^I disagree. Some “internships”, especially unpaid internships, involve training and shadowing of employees only. On a coop job, you will be trained like any new employee but you are expected to be productive for the company.</p>
<p>mrfish, how can that be true? That would mean Northeastern is a waste of time because I can intern at other places</p>
<p>Enjoy NYU!</p>
<p>facepalm.</p>
<p>10chars.</p>
<p>does anybody know if BC or BU get an advantage (compared to NEU) when it comes to landing an internship? Let’s say a biology major at the woodlawn medical campus?</p>
<p>I’m really confused what the point of this conversation is…</p>
<p>To the person who said most first co-ops are paperwork-type stuff, absolutely not. For example, if you go into a computer related job you’ll be given QA work (they’ll show you the steps), simple coding (either just Excel or languages you learned in class), or even simple fixing-the-printer tasks obviously depending on your job (again, they’ll show you). </p>
<p>For sciences, if you in an actual lab, they’ll most likely show you how to do something and then want you to do it 30 times. Then they’ll show you how to do something else, and you’ll do that 30 times. Eventually when you prove you’re not a moron, most co-ops get to take on a lot more responsibility.</p>
<p>I went from fixing small bugs that my boss pre-screened for me so that he’d know I could handle them (but I still had to ask him questions every time), to coordinating and completing every single internal request for spreadsheet changes. By the end of my co-op, I was doing assignments my boss didn’t know how to do. </p>
<p>Co-op doesn’t have a “shadowing” or huge training program, but you learn a LOT on the job. They know you aren’t an expert at every little thing. I’m doing an accounting co-op right now and already landed a post-graduation job offer, and three months ago I swear I couldn’t have told you the difference between an income statment and a balance sheet.</p>
<p>To the above poster- they don’t pick people for internships based on what school they go to (exceptions for top 10 schools), they pick based on your stats. So if you are a bio major and took tough classes, got good grades, was part of clubs, maybe even did some undergraduate research (or a co-op), then you’ll be better off than a slacker with a 2.7 who happens to go to BC.</p>
<p>It’s quite common for Finance majors to get 20-30 dollars an hour for their 2nd/3rd Coops. Clearly companies view these students as more than just interns. Often times they view it as an extended job interview. In 6 months the student will be fully trained and, being just a couple semesters from graduating, a more than ideal candidate for a full-time position.</p>
<p>Check out the Intuit Co-op page via the link posted below to get an idea of what co-op students do there. They are one of the top co-op recruiters for NEU Comp Sci students. The video link at the bottom of the page provides much insight…including the fact that they don’t make coffee! </p>
<p>[Student</a> Co-op’s | Intuit Careers](<a href=“Explore Career and Job Opportunities | Intuit Careers”>Explore Career and Job Opportunities | Intuit Careers)</p>