by Brent Thornhill.
Co-op work terms are the perfect opportunity for students to test drive their careers and make strong contributions to their employers. They also give employers the chance to tap into the talent pool here at the University. In the case of RL Solutions, an organization that specializes in healthcare software, Waterloo co-op students have become a vital part of their talent pipeline. Student work terms often lead to full-time employment after their graduation.
“RL has had great success hiring full-time people out of our co-op student program,” says President and CEO Sanjay Malaviya (BASc ’93). “Over 80 per cent of the students we’ve hired as full-time employees have come from Waterloo, and every single one of them is a superstar. I can’t imagine our company today without them.”
RL Solutions was born out of a project to collect patient complaints that Sanjay took on in his spare time when he was a co-op student at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. Word spread after St. Mike’s presented about the system at an American Hospital Association conference.
Fast forward to today, and the healthcare software company now has a suite of software being used in over 2,000 organizations around the world. RL’s tools help healthcare organizations track patient feedback, report adverse events, manage claims, and reduce infection outbreaks. RL’s software is also used to determine root causes of errors and to conduct peer reviews.
The company has been hiring Waterloo co-op students since 2009, and has been very impressed with the scope of knowledge they bring to the organization right from day one.
“At the risk of sounding cliché, it’s the outside-the-box thinking that they bring with them,” explained RL’s Stephanie Radcliffe (BA ’06), marketing manager, communications. “We love the entrepreneurial spirit Waterloo co-op students have. Their proactive approach to finding and solving problems combined with the lack of fear to share new ideas is very important to us. RL was founded and bred with that culture.”
Work terms are available in every function of the business including client management, software development, quality assurance, marketing, sales, and IT. RL hires students from a wide variety of programs, with Science and Business, Arts and Business, Software Engineering, and Computer Science being the most popular.
The company prides itself on giving its co-op students a lot of responsibility and treating them just like full-time employees.
“We place a lot of trust in them,” says Kate Zaparanuik (BA ’13), who had two work terms at RL before joining them full-time. “While I was a co-op, I lead several projects including planning the open house for our new office for almost 300 people. Another co-op student, Skye Wattie (BA ‘15), was implementing software for our client by himself by his second work term.” Skye was recognized for this work as the 2015 Arts Co-op Student of the Year.
RL strives to create an inclusive culture for co-op students, often inviting them to team off-sites and Sanjay hosts a co-op appreciation event each semester.
“I’ve never forgotten the autonomy, faith, and respect that I was given as a Waterloo co-op student at St. Mike’s,” says Sanjay. “I always dreamed about being in a position to hire other students and give them the same opportunity. Little did I know, my efforts would be put to shame by so many of these bright young Waterloo alumni we’ve been blessed to work with.”
