By Max McKee
Securing a first co-op work term is no small task – reviewing job postings, preparing applications, and attending interviews can be a lot of work – but for 2A Software Engineering student Ben Morris, the effort paid off. Ben landed his first co-op position at innovative healthcare technology company MedAvail.
“Coming to a workplace like that, they didn’t treat me like a student. Even from the first day I got there, they gave me real development work that needed to be done,” said Ben. “It was really beneficial for me as a new developer to have people who have been working in the industry for 10 or 20 years to criticize my work. It was good criticism; I learned from it.”
After experiencing the positive and hard-working environment at MedAvail, a company that allows customers to fill prescriptions on the go with their one-of-a-kind kiosks, it wasn’t hard to convince Ben to come back for a second work term later in the year.
Ben, now in his 3A term, talked about how co-op allowed him to gain valuable work experience while still pursuing his undergraduate degree.
“If I didn’t have co-op, I’d be going into the job market with next-to no experience and a lot more debt, and frankly I’d be scared.”
Ben said the process of applying and interviewing for jobs was just as beneficial as the work experience itself when it comes to preparing for life after university. It gave him perspective, expectations, and insight into what it takes to be competitive in the job market.
MedAvail has consistently hired Waterloo co-op students over the last two years with interests in many areas of study. This growing business will continue to offer unique job opportunities and a wide variety of positions for current and future co-op students.
