A recent Waterloo grad myself, this goes against what I've heard from my peer group. (Most consider it to be a blessing alone) I also think many of the downsides listed in this article have little to do with co-op.
Here's a summary of my pros and cons.
Pros:
- Work experience (2 years)
- Travel (Within Canada, the US and even Europe if you're up for it)
- Money. Far more than we probably deserved at that age.
- Ease of mind regarding future employment. (Speak to any peers who haven't interned or gained any work experience)
- Break from school every four months.
- Break from work every four months.
Cons:
- Travelling can be annoying.
- New cities can be lonely. (I spent a term in Ottawa where I knew literally no-one)
- No summer break.
Other:
- The issues with deadlines and stress mentioned in the article are not related to co-op.
- The issues with stressful work terms are not related to co-op. It will likely be the same once you begin your fulltime work.
I think you've taken my words at being solely towards co-op, not a co-op program itself. Deadlines, school, and stress are part of being in a co-op program. Having a stressful work term, that is when you are supposed to be on break from school, is part of being in a co-op program.
It's hard, some handle it better than others, but it's naive to say that the downsides are trivial and have little to do with being in a co-op program.
> I think you've taken my words at being solely towards co-op, not a co-op program itself. Deadlines, school, and stress are part of being in a co-op program.
Deadlines, school, and stress are part of being in a program. Co-op or not.
I'd say moving and looking for employment are two very stressful things for any individual, and for Waterloo co-ops we have to do at least one of those things every 4 months. Never-mind the "deadlines and school".
As someone who went through Waterloo co-op, I consider those one of the greatest takeaways.
It's taken me a while since graduating to realize that most people - tech or otherwise - consider interviewing to be stressful and unpleasant. Waterloo ground that out of me early on, I enjoy interviewing. Going into an interview room doesn't even begin to stress me out - and that's gotten me much further career-wise than anything else.
My interviewing and job-searching ability, and my confidence in it, has given me insane leverage in the market.
I for one am glad that Waterloo's trial-by-fire job-hunt (find a job in your 1A term? sheesh) happened to me. Negotiating, interviewing, and networking are 3 skills that most people leave school knowing almost nothing about, but a Waterloo student can easily rack up 70+ interviews by the time they walk out the door, and negotiated a dozen or so offers.
I think everyone is overlooking a major benefit that the co-op program brings, to the school as a whole. I feel the co-op program at Waterloo is responsible for the awesome entrepreneurship/startup culture that I don't think exists anywhere else, including places like Stanford or MIT. I believe Sam Altman even once talked about how Waterloo have the best track record when it comes to startups. This culture is the reason I was really set on Waterloo when I was deciding where to go for school.
Here's a summary of my pros and cons.
Pros:
- Work experience (2 years)
- Travel (Within Canada, the US and even Europe if you're up for it)
- Money. Far more than we probably deserved at that age.
- Ease of mind regarding future employment. (Speak to any peers who haven't interned or gained any work experience)
- Break from school every four months.
- Break from work every four months.
Cons:
- Travelling can be annoying.
- New cities can be lonely. (I spent a term in Ottawa where I knew literally no-one)
- No summer break.
Other:
- The issues with deadlines and stress mentioned in the article are not related to co-op.
- The issues with stressful work terms are not related to co-op. It will likely be the same once you begin your fulltime work.