<p>How hard is it to get a good Co-op position at Norheastern with little/no prior experience in the work field or a in a position similar to your major? Do people with prior experience normally get the best Co-ops? Should I be looking into volunteering/ shadowing in my current area of study my senior and freshman summer in order to be placed in one of the better positions?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Co-op employers are like regular employers. They look at a stack of resumes. They pick the best candidates and interview them. They offer the job to the best candidate. If that candidate turns them down, they offer it to the next best.</p>
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It’s not hard to get a co-op, but it is harder to get a good co-op. Good co-ops go to the good candidates, good candidates have work experience. Older students (with prior co-op experience) generally get the best co-ops, because they are better candidates and more qualified. But you gotta start somewhere.</p>
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Yes. Just like with real jobs.</p>
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Having something to put on your resume will always make you a stronger applicant.</p>
<p>:/ Do most NU freshman have experience in their major or will I be alone in that regard? I was planning on working this summer and then next summer I’ll try to look for a job/ volunteer experience in my major. Hopefully they’ll have some shadowing options at NU my freshman year…</p>
<p>Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>Don’t count on the “shadowing options”. Some majors have undergrad research available, but other than that you’re pretty much on your own for getting applicable experience. Don’t worry too much about it though. For my first co-op the only experience I had was working at Applebee’s. But if you create a good resume, keep your grades up and prep a lot for the interview, you should be fine. The kids who come in with three internships and international research in their fields before their first co-op begins are very rare.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks! That makes me feel better. 
And even if I don’t get a good first co-op, at least I’ll still have two more to count on.</p>
<p>I have almost no work experience (just babysitting my cousins, which I didn’t put on my resume, working at Kumon senior year of high school, and being a peer tutor here). I do, however, have some volunteer experience through one of the student groups I’m involved with here. And volunteer experience from the service-learning requirement for the two Advanced Spanish courses I took here. And I have two executive board positions with student groups here. During my interviews for my first co-op last month, all the employers just kept asking about my e-board experiences. And I ended up with two competing offers! I was so nervous about not having legit work experience, but it’s all about how you spend your free time when you’re here.</p>
<p>(I’m an International Affairs major, so it may vary by major a lot. But I feel like my e-board experience could translate well to a lot of majors/co-ops.)</p>
<p>There a tons of places to internship before you go on co-op and you are more than able to get class credit for it as long as you do 20 hours. It actually gives you a nice advantage when applying against other sophomores for co-op.</p>