Taking steps to a successful co-op work term

Tuesday, October 20, 2020
by Nicole W., AFM

My name is Nicole and I’m in my 2A term of Accounting and Financial Management and I recently attended the Steps to a Successful Co-op event held by the School of Accounting and Finance (SAF). This event was part of Co-op Ready, a professional development conference to prepare second year AFM, Math/CPA, and Biotech/CPA students going into their recruitment term.

The event specifically catered to students who had already arranged their first co-op work term. The workshops for Steps to a Successful Co-op had an emphasis on becoming an effective employee in the co-op work environment. Some of the things we analyzed in the workshop were:

  • Determining our individual personality type
  • Our strengths and weaknesses based on our personality
  • How different personalities can mesh together in a collaborative work setting

Nicole standing in front of University of Waterloo
My greatest takeaway was how each unique personality type can complement one another! Often in work scenarios, you need many different personality types working collaboratively to have the most success.

Attending this workshop was helpful because I was able to analyze my character traits more in-depth and establish what my strengths are. Coming out of Steps to a Successful Co-op I feel that I have a better grasp on how I work best, what my strengths are, and how I can be successful in my co-op work term!