Panel members Dan Barry from Sun Life Financial, Waterloo co-op student Navin Vigneswaren, Geoff Williams from Manulife Financial, and Waterloo co-op student Nicholas Tan
By Naz KittaniEarlier in July, Co-operative Education (CE) hosted a five-day tour for 10 Indonesian delegates. The goal of this tour was to learn more about co-operative education in support of the Risk Management, Economic Sustainability and Actuarial Science Development in Indonesia (READI) project. Amongst the events the delegates attended was an Actuarial Science Employer/Student Panel at the Tatham Centre. The delegates, who were from Indonesian insurance companies and universities, learned about students’ and employers’ experiences with co-op first-hand.
Malaysian Waterloo Actuarial Science co-op students Navin Vigneswaren and Nicholas Tan represented students on the panel and their employers, Actuaries Geoff Williams from Manulife Financial and Dan Barry from Sun Life Financial, discussed co-op from the employer perspective. The panel covered a variety of topics, including how the co-op system works and the benefits both employers and students gain from the program, and also answered questions from the delegates.
“The co-op program is a recruiting tool more than a work force tool,” explains Williams. “Co-op is the best source for full-time hiring. It is an opportunity to get to know the students’ skills and capabilities to see if they meet full-time standards. Up to 25% of all [Manulife] co-ops get offers for full-time employment once they graduate.”
Launching READI in 2015, Waterloo took a major step in representing Canada as co-operative education leaders for the international community. The project was created by Waterloo to introduce co-operative education to Indonesian institutions.
To find out more about READI, you can visit the project’s website for information on partnerships, news updates, and upcoming events.
