Co-op or regular? Whatever you choose, get career-ready skills and experience.
Our co-op program provides great experience and skill development. And you can also find great opportunities to develop your skills and experience in our non-co-op (or regular) program.
Don't believe me? Here are two students' real résumés that prove it.
(Jump right to our quiz: How to choose — co-op or regular?)
Regular (non-co-op) program
NOTE: Students in the regular system of study don't have access to the “Hire Waterloo Co-op” job board, but can access thousands of part-time, full-time, and summer job opportunities through our "Other Jobs” and “External Job” boards. They can also access 1-on-1 support and workshops through the Centre for Career Development.
More about Oumar
Career goal
Medical school
Education
Fourth-year Kinesiology (regular)
Skills
- Responsibility
- Communication
- Seeing the bigger picture
- Good judgement
- Self-advocacy
Hobbies
- Hiking and backcountry
- Intermural soccer
- Weightlifting
- Type racing (I can type about 150 words per minute)
- Self-taught unicycling
- Self-taught guitar
- Dragonboat racing
Relevant work and volunteer experience
Student assistant — Westheights Medical Clinic and Pharmacy
Worked with medical clinic and pharmacy staff to chart, document, and organize patients' medical records in an online system.
Community tutor — House of Friendship
Taught children of all ages from local low-income communities math and English.
Anatomy Lab Teaching Assistant — University of Waterloo
Mentored and supervised first-year anatomy students to ensure they understood course material and were successful in the course.
Faculty of Health Student Ambassador — University of Waterloo
Supported large-scale event days, prospective student tours, and email inquiries.
Peer Mentor — University of Waterloo
Mentored upcoming first-year students during their transition from high school to university.
Orientation Leader — University of Waterloo
Supported the planning of Orientation, led various activities, and participated in a well-attended student panel the week of the event.
Co-op program
All about Krista
Career goal
Physiotherapist, chiropractor, or researcher
Education
Third-year Kinesiology (co-op)
Skills
- Communication
- Time management
- Collaboration
- Organization
- Leadership
Hobbies
Relevant work and volunteer experience
Student kinesiologist — Compass Community Health
Assisted physiotherapists and a diabetic kinesiologist with their clients, managed scheduling, gym supervisions, and exercise prescription of roughly 30 clients.
Visitors Centre Associate — University of Waterloo
Gave tours to visitors and supported large-scale event days.
AHSUM Kinesiology Representative — University of Waterloo
Advocate for the undergraduate Kinesiology student body to ensure their voices and concerns are heard by the department.
CCCare Start-Fit Volunteer — University of Waterloo
Guided participants through personalized exercise programs in small group settings.
Anatomy Lab Teaching Assistant — University of Waterloo
Mentored and supervised first-year anatomy students to ensure they understood course material and were successful in the course.
Both co-op and regular are great options that offer practical, hands-on experiences — they're just different.
- In co-op, you have a competitive, structured job process built into your degree program.
- In regular, you'll have more time to gain experience through part-time jobs, extracurriculars, clubs, and volunteering — but it's up to you to take initiative and make sure you get these experiences.
If I don't choose co-op, can I still get hands-on experience?
Sure can! Here are some examples from each of our programs.
Examples of hands-on experiences in Kinesiology
- There are seven labs built right into the program, where you get to do all the things you're learning in class, in state-of-the-art lab spaces (using research grade equipment).
- You can volunteer as a Teaching Assistant in the Anatomy Lab, where you'll help first year students learn important concepts from class. This is is a great opportunity for more senior students to provide informal mentoring to more junior students.
- Volunteer as a student trainer with our athletics department.
- We have connections with local partners, like physiotherapy clinics, where you can volunteer to help them out and learn more about working with patients.
- The Center for Community, Clinical, and Applied Research (CCCARE) is just around the corner from campus. You can volunteer there in a variety of programs, including STEPS (for stroke patients), Brain and Body (for individuals with dementia or mild cognitive impairment), and WELL-FIT (for individuals who have had a cancer diagnosis).
Examples of hands-on experiences in Health Sciences
- Create an entire research report from start to finish, including interviewing different people, in our Policy of Health and Illness course. You'll learn all the important components of writing and conducting sound research.
- In our Ecological Determinants of Health course, you'll write a policy brief and, if it's the strongest submission, it might be submitted to Health Canada!
- Participate in an in-depth examination of social determinants of health in North America and around the world in our Advanced Studies in Social Determinants course. Apply your knowledge and understanding of nonbiological contributors to health by observing, studying, and 'unpacking' actual health issues in the local community.
Examples of hands-on experiences in Public Health
- Take our Community Learning course, where you'll get to volunteer with local organizations like The Working Center, Lot 42, House of Friendship, and the Waterloo Region Crome Prevention Council.
- Choose to do an Honours Thesis, Independent Study, or fourth-year seminal course, where you'll have some freedom to explore topics that matter most to you.
- Create an entire research report from start to finish, including interviewing different people, in our Policy of Health and Illness course. You'll learn all the important components of writing and conducting sound research.
- In our Ecological Determinants of Health course, you'll write a policy brief and, if it's the strongest submission, it might be submitted to Health Canada.
- Participate in an in-depth examination of social determinants of health in North America and around the world in our Advanced Studies in Social Determinants course. Apply your knowledge and understanding of nonbiological contributors to health by observing, studying, and "unpacking" actual health issues in the local community.
Examples of hands-on experiences in Recreation and Leisure Studies, Recreation and Sport Business, and Therapeutic Recreation.
- Therapeutic Recreation students do a mandatory 105-hour practicum and 560-hour internship, where you can get real experience working with patients.
- In our Aging and Leisure course, you'll get to participate in weekly seminars with older adults to talk about real-world trends/issues in aging and explore the implications of them. You'll also meet practitioners with real issues they're struggling with and help them develop possible solutions as a class.
- Work with organizations on real consulting projects in our Innovative Solutions in Recreation and Sport Business course. Take a field trip to MLSE Launchpad, an organization that uses sport and physical activities to build healthy communities.
- Design and beta test a board game for children in our Play, Creativity, and Child Development Course.
- In our course, Principles of High Performing Organizations, you'll participate in a "trade deadline day" to learn about building rosters and the difficult decisions that managers need to make at the league's trade deadline. You'll be broken into teams and need to identify your team's strengths, weaknesses, and direction before negotiating with other teams to complete a trade.
- Conduct a real accessibility assessment on a campus or public trading building in our Physical Disabilities course.
- Go on an overnight retreat at an outdoor recreation facility in our Program Management and Evaluation course to learn about managing and evaluating recreation programming. Then, put on your own program for the local community.
- In our Leisure and Community course, you'll participate in a micro-funds challenge where you connect with a local community organization and run a 3-hour fundraiser using little (less than $10/group member) or no start-up funds. 100% of proceeds raised go to the community groups.
More ways to get hands-on experience in our regular program
- Check out the EDGE program, an experiential education certification available to all Waterloo students.
- Although students in our regular program don't have access to the WaterlooWorks co-op job board, WaterlooWorks has other job boards with thousands of opportunities that all students (co-op and regular) can access. Theses additional job boards contain full time, part time, and summer opportunities.
- Students in regular can also access free appointments, drop-ins, and workshops through the Centre for Career Development to get help with things like career planning, interview prep, and job searches.
Related articles
