The Reasons Why Co-op is Awesome for Employers
Posted on Tuesday, December 12th, 2017
As an employer, you may not be sure about the co-op process. Is it beneficial? Is it time-consuming? What are the advantages of bringing students on board at your organization?
Here’s the thing—co-op students bring a ton of benefits to the organizations they work for. These benefits go way beyond just fulfilling the role they’re assigned. Co-op students are proven to have positive last impact at their placements, and that means they can help you grow your organization.
What does that positive impact look like? Why are co-op students so awesome for employers? Read on for more.
Lasting Impact
This past summer, the Globe and Mail ran an article written by Steven Murphy, the dean of the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University in Toronto. The article explored a case study between the Ted Rogers School of Management and CIBC Mellon, with 5 students pairing up with 5 employees to see what benefits the organization and the students would experience.
We wrote at length about the study’s conclusions, but in short the experiment was a huge success. Students were brought into a supportive environment where it was safe to take risks and fail. They were also granted full access to the CIBC Mellon teams. With those parameters in place, some really good things happened.
For one, students came up with actionable ideas to improve the organization’s processes and organization. They brought real, innovative ideas to the table, and the organization felt the benefit. And something else happened, too—the energy and excitement of the co-op students proved contagious, and even spread to departments that didn’t have co-op students. Bringing the students onboard sparked innovation through the whole organization.
Investing in Your Organization
So where did the magic at CIBC Mellon come from? What is it about co-op students that proves so beneficial to organizations?
When you hire a co-op student, you’re hiring someone who is still in a learning mindset. That means they come to your organization with tons of energy, new ideas, and the latest information. They’re eager to get to work and learn as much as they can about the workforce.
Co-op students are also in a great position to help your organization meet key goals. Because co-op terms are limited—typically 4 to 8 months—they’re well designed to help you tackle special projects or bring on another set of hands during a busy period.
This is also a great time to vet co-op students as potential permanent employees after their term is done. That means that you’re getting access to the best and brightest of the talent pool, before they ever even hit the job market. It’s a low-risk way of planning for your company’s succession needs and ensuring that you’re getting the best talent on the market.
Read more about why hiring a co-op student is a sound investment.
A Helping Hand
As an employer, you’re probably a busy person. That’s why the Algonquin College Co-op Department is here to help you through the whole process of hosting a co-op student.
From building you a pool of qualified candidates, to running interviews on our campus in Ottawa, to supporting you throughout the co-op term, the Co-op Department will make the process as easy as possible for you.
It’s even easy to get started. All you need to do is upload your job opening to our website, or call our office to get more info. Get in touch today!