Step 3: Admission to Co-op

This is the third step in a three-step application process. To ensure your application goes smoothly, ensure you have completed Step 1 and Step 2 before continuing. 

When you are granted admission to co-op, it's important to understand that jobs are not guaranteed and that you will be competing against other students to secure employment opportunities through the recruitment and selection process. Your success is based on many factors, including:

• how active you are in the job search process
• the number of positions to which you apply
• how well your cover letter and resume sell your experience and skills
• your interview performance
• your past experience, both paid and unpaid
• your grades
• having a positive attitude and realistic expectations

Co-op Process

When admitted to co-op, you will be required to:

• participate in modules or seminars on all aspects of the job search, such as the Fundamentals of Co-operative Education Course
• apply to many job postings
• be available for interviews during primary recruiting periods.
  • we advise students not to make travel commitments during primary interview periods, including during the fall reading week before a winter work term
• not take vacations during work terms
• be willing to relocate for jobs (including finding housing in another city or town)
• pay co-op fees to participate in the program

Applying to Jobs

The Co-op Office invites employers to recruit students each term. Coordinators review job descriptions, decide which programs are suitable, and post them on Navigator.

You view the job postings that are open to students in your program, and apply to the jobs that interest you.

During the primary recruiting period each term, the Co-op Office arranges all interviews, and you see your schedules on Navigator. Your interviews will be by phone or video conference, not in person, during the pandemic. Employers rank you and you rank them, and we use an algorithm to “match” employers and students.

If you are not matched when we announce the results of the ranking and matching process, you will start applying to jobs again. During the continuous recruiting period, employers may contact you directly to arrange interviews or offer jobs We usually give you up to 24 hours to accept or decline an offer.

You are also welcome to do an independent job search, in addition to applying to co-op postings. Before accepting a job you have found on your own, please send details and contact information to your co-op coordinator, who will decide whether to approve the job for co-op.

Primary Recruiting Period

• If you are seeking accounting work for your first work term, you will begin applying to jobs in November and attend interviews with CPA firms in early January, whether your first work term is scheduled for spring or fall.
• The primary recruiting period for the spring work term begins once we announce the results of the match for CPA jobs, and interviews take place from late January through mid-February.
• We begin posting jobs for the fall work term in early May, and interviews take place in late May and early June.
• We begin posting jobs for the winter work term in early September, and interviews take place from mid to late October, including during the fall reading week.