The relevance of a co-op student’s work experiences is associated with several desirable outcomes - including better student performance at work. In other words, if your co-op student feels the work you give them is relevant, they may perform better.
So, what makes a work experience relevant to a co-op student? Our researchers wanted to find out.
They interviewed 17 university co-op students from a wide range of academic programs and analyzed their answers.
After interviewing these co-op students, our researchers noticed two overall categories of relevance, based on the broad concept of “connection”:
- connection to academics
- connection to career goals
Connection to academics – what does this mean?
Some participants evaluated work experiences as relevant when the experience was based on a strong academic connection. This applied even when the experience didn’t relate to their career goal.
When a co-op student applied theories, concepts or tools learned in the classroom to their job, or when they saw the connection between what they did in a work term and future academic terms, this was considered a connection to academics.
Connection to career goals – what does this mean?
For other students, relevant work experiences also had a direct connection to their career goals.
Students with a career path in mind may evaluate a work term by how instrumental it is towards their career goal. For example, a student who wants to be a lawyer would assess working at a law firm to be highly relevant.
The students' answers suggested if they had at least one of these two connections, academic or career goals, the work experience would be relevant to them.
Researchers also identified four specific sub-categories, or building blocks, of relevance, based on the student's individual experience in the workplace.
These are the four specific sub-categories that make a co-op student’s work experience feel relevant to them:
- Social integration
- Appropriate level of challenge
- Alignment with their desired field of work
- Opportunity to learn new knowledge and skills
Social Integration
Students felt that if they had the opportunity to integrate socially at work, it would educate them on things like future career steps. For example, a student might ask a full-time colleague about how they got their job or how they entered the field over coffee or lunch. Greater social interaction was associated with greater relevance.
How can you implement this building block at your organization?
Treat your co-op students like full-time employees and make sure they know they’re part of the team. By doing this, you create a culture where your co-op students feel comfortable connecting with their peers. They’re far more likely to observe and learn from others when they feel close to them.
Appropriate level of challenge
Students who felt challenged enough in their work described it as a relevant experience. Researchers refer to this as “optimal challenge” - which means co-op students feel challenged and they have the tools they need to support these challenges. If the students didn’t feel challenged in their work (i.e., only completing basic tasks), they didn’t feel its relevance.
How can you implement this building block at your organization?
Build a role for your co-op students that presents them with opportunities for core work to be done alongside stretch assignments (and make sure you provide them with the resources they need to successfully complete these assignments).
Alignment with students' desired field of work
Researchers also found a connection between the work the student was doing and the “field of work” they ultimately wanted to end up in (fields like engineering, business, health, etc.) made the work experience relevant. For example, one Health student didn’t feel that their work in accounting was relevant because they were not planning to pursue a career in accounting.
How can you implement this building block at your organization?
During the recruitment phase, ask the co-op students you’re interviewing if they think their career goals align with the role. It can also be helpful to talk with them about different career paths at your organization once they're working with you.
Opportunity to learn new knowledge and skills
A relevant work experience also includes gaining new knowledge and skills. If the student worked in a field unrelated to their academics or career goals, but gained new knowledge or skills, they still felt the work experience was relevant. Participants even found relevance in the work experience if they learned new knowledge about a type of job or field in which they did not want to work.
How can you implement this building block at your organization?
This boils down to skills identification. Sometimes, a co-op student knows they’ve learned new skills (i.e., I learned a new software during this co-op work term). But other times, it’s not so obvious. You can proactively help co-op students to identify the skills they’ve learned and highlight how these skills are necessary in their field of work.