Photo Courtesy / Anna-Maria Kalesoski

The co-operative education (co-op) program at UTSC is home to around 1,700 students enrolled in arts & science and management programs. It combines classroom-based education with practical work experience.

At UTSC, students have to complete a minimum number of credits, go through a recruitment cycle to look for a job and then go on either two or three four-month work terms.

Safwat Ruba, second-year management co-op student specializing in the accounting stream, applied to the program because she wanted practical work experience. “I was researching schools in Toronto with great business programs and I knew co-op would give me that edge, so I chose the management program here,” she said.

Once admitted, the limited enrolment program of co-op in arts & science has a cGPA cut-off of 2.5. To remain in the management co-op program, a cGPA of 3.0 must be maintained.

“We want the students who can handle the considerable effort that comes with being in co-op,” said Malcolm Billing, interim director of the management co-op program. “And we want to give other students the reason to work harder to get into the program.”

Danielle Rideout, a fifth-year international studies co-op student, thinks the real co-op experience is the learning curve. “You learn a lot more than just skills from your job. You also learn things like how to communicate, network, and work hard.”

Rideout completed both her work terms in government-related fields and credits the program for her decision to apply to law school. “Being in co-op and especially working with [the government] had given me a glimpse into what could be my future.”

While students like Rideout and Ruba are attracted to co-op because of the experience, Tharsini Sivananthajothy, a fourth-year cell and molecular biology co-op student, cited a different reason.

“I didn’t want to work in a lab, but I still wanted experience – which was a strange situation for a student in science,” Sivananthajothy explained.

She is currently employed with a not-for-profit organization that deals with public health issues. She said it is a welcome change from the lab work she does during her academic terms.

“I’m a people person, so this job is perfect for me because I can still work within my field and yet help people the way I want to,” Sivananthajothy shared.

Ruba was selected to work at Deloitte, one of the “big four” firms in the management program, but she faced many challenges during her recruitment cycle this semester.

“The job search is equivalent to a course on its own,” said Dallas Boyer, manager of operations at arts & science co-op. “They need to realize that not getting hired during a recruitment cycle is not is failure, it’s part of the whole process.”

Boyer said the most important thing for a co-op student is to be engaged. “As long as you apply, you still have that chance,” she explained. “And it’s only when you stop trying that your chances go down to zero.”