Hi everyone!
My name is Edmond H. and I am in my second year of the Math/CPA program and am currently on my first co-op work term through the Bridging Entrepreneurs to Students (BETS) program. “What is the BETS program?”, you might ask. Well, the BETS program is a specialized co-op program offered through the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business that allows engineering, mathematics, and School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) students to gain experience working for startup companies. The program pairs teams of two entrepreneurial co-op students with companies for a 12-week project placement.
At first, I was scared of entering my first ever co-op because I had no real work-experience prior, however, the BETS program really came in clutch and helped me enter my first co-op placement extremely prepared. For instance, one of the training sessions offered by the program talked about the Business Model Canvas (BMC). Though I learned about the concept of BMCs from previous classes, the training session taught me a lot about the practical usage of BMCs and the importance of creating one — especially for startups. I wanted to mention this specific training module on BMCs because my first ever task asked from my employer was to create a BMC on their startup! When I was assigned to this task, I felt extremely prepared because of the training sessions I received.
All the training modules truly did prepare me, not only for specific tasks but to prepare myself with an entrepreneurial mindset that continues to be useful for my day-to-day tasks and my overall understanding of startup operations.
Learn more about the BETS program.