Blog

Three Things We Learned About Co-op from the LinkedIn 2017 Workplace Learning Report

Recently, LinkedIn came out with their 2017 Workplace Learning Report. It’s focused on how employers provide learning experiences and personal development to existing employees, but it resonated with us in Cooperative Education, too.

Much of the conversation around workplace learning and development ties into co-op. In fact, in some ways, co-op is ahead of the curve when it comes to professional development. When looking at the ideal industry standards for learning and development, we see that co-op is already there.

Here are three key takeaways from the article that show how co-op will give your professional development a boost.

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Why Students Need Business Cards (And How to Use Them)

Business cards seem like such an old-fashioned thing to have. With the advent of cellphones and LinkedIn, isn’t the humble business card now obsolete?

Surprisingly, the answer is no: business cards are still a key part of networking in many fields. And therefore, it’s important that you have one—even as a student.

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Three Steps to Brand Your Part-Time Job for Career Success

A common question from students is how to build a relevant resume when you don’t have any relevant experience. You know you should create a resume that shows employers why you’re the best pick for the position, but if you’ve never worked in the field, how are you supposed to do that? With only retail or service industry experience, it can be daunting to try and prove that you’re a viable candidate for a professional job.

If you’ve been reading this blog, you know that the answer is to brand your experience. You want to take aspects of your part-time job and show why having worked it makes you the perfect hire. You need to make the position relevant.

But what does that mean, and what does that entail?

Below, we look at the three steps to brand your part time job.

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Who to Use for References as a Student (And How to Ask Them)

References are an important component of any successful job or placement search. You can have an impressive resume, interesting cover letter, and exemplary portfolio, but for employers there’s nothing like having another person tell them how awesome you are.

You should dedicate some time to choosing who you use as references. Your references can make or break your job hunt efforts.

Here are some foolproof ways to have awesome references.

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Three Key Ways to Defeat Impostor Syndrome

Impostor Syndrome is the feeling that you’re a fraud in constant danger of being found out. It’s the feeling that no matter what you’ve achieved, you’re not actually good at what you do. This feeling is a lie, but tons of people are subject to it: this constant sense that we are not good enough.

Impostor Syndrome can hold you back at school, in your co-op placements, or at work. If you listen to it, you hesitate to take promotions or leadership roles because you might feel like you aren’t qualified enough. And it’s simply not true.

So how do you beat this feeling? How do you stop these kinds of thoughts from holding you back?

Below the cut, we look at some real techniques to deal with Impostor Syndrome.

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