1. Engineering Work Experience

2. A Job and Experience
“How do you get experience without a job, and how do you get a job without experience?”
-National Commission for Cooperation Education
Experiential learning
Career-related experience
Important supplement to students’ education
Most students used to work to afford school
Now students work to keep up with steadily costs

3. Employment Change Trends
1980’s: Major recession hitting large manufacturing sectors
Automobile industry in Midwest
Blue collar jobs
: U.S. economy revived
Engineers hired with salaries way above inflation
: Major restructuring within corporate America
White collar workforce affected

4. Employment Change Trends
1994 to March 2000: Strong job market
Increases in productivity, mergers, low birth rate
2000 to present: Bear market and recession
Further collapse with attacks
Wars with Afghanistan and Iraq

5. Good to all this Bad Need for college graduates is constant
Many employers expect graduates to have significant work experience
Require less training and can produce results more quickly

6. Summer Jobs and Other Work Experience
Engineering employers prefer career-related experience
Whatever experience can be helpful
Build a foundation along with classroom and career-related activities
Strengthen communication skills, learn to work in teams, and develop problem-solving capabilities
Seek out employment during year and summer for experience

7. Volunteer or Community Service Experiences
Can be short- or long-term arrangements
Nonprofit organizations
Interest in individuals with strong math, science, and computer skills
Unpaid positions that help students gain significant experience and develop important skills

8. Internships
Can be paid or unpaid work experience arranged for a set period
Usually occurs during summer to avoid disruption of school class schedule
One-time arrangement with no obligations for future employment
Many employers use internships to screen for future candidates
Sometimes involves menial tasks

9. Cooperative Education
Promoted and preferred form of experiential learning by schools
“Engineering cooperative education (co-op) programs integrate theory and practice by combining academic study with work experience related to the student’s academic program.”
-Cooperative Education Division of the
American Society of Engineering Education
Assignments relate directly to major
Become stronger students and more valuable employees

10. Advantages of Cooperative Education Programs
Advantages for Students
Co-ops may lead to full-time position
Higher seniority, benefits, increased pay, etc.
Use classroom skills and apply them to real world problems
Helps solidify career decisions
Exposure to many fields
Modification to reflect interest in career

11. Advantages to Employers
Cost of recruiting co-op students is less than recruiting new employees
Almost 50% co-op students accept permanent positions
Total wages average 40% less for co-op students
Co-op programs provide opportunity to evaluate employees prior to offering full-time
Co-op students easily adapt to environments

12. Advantages to Employers
Regular staff can focus on more complex and profitable assignments
Co-op graduates can be promoted sooner and farther than other graduates
Co-op programs build positive relationships between business and school

13. Advantages for Schools
Provides extension of class experience
Integrates theory and practice
Keeps instructors informed of current business and industry trends
Provide relationships and access to knowledgeable people in industry
Enhance institutions reputation
Additional business and industry training facilities that would have been unaffordable

14. More Benefits of Co-op Written and oral communication skills
Networking
Self-discipline
Interactions with a variety of people and groups
Supervisory and management experience

15. Note of Caution
May not be consistent with overall goals and objectives of student
Biggest drawback is intermingling of work and study
Overextending leads to stress and poor academic performance
Class scheduling problems