Studentsnot taking advantageof availableco-ops

The amount of students involved in a co-op is slightly under the average rate of what students normally fill. According to Nancy Hutchinson, director of co-op/Career services, many of the co-ops offer salaries and benefits. Students can also get experience in what life is like in the career world and gain confidence about their careers, according to Hutchinson.

by Chris Nielsen staff writer

Are you stuck working in a dead-end job with no real prospects?

Well, if you are a second semester sophomore or older, the office of Cooperative Education and Career Services can help you get a job that will help you pay the bills and prepare you for the future.

As the college has rapidly grown in the past few years, so has the number of job opportunities for upperclassmen.

At this time, there is an overabundance of job positions available and waiting to be filled by Cabrini students.

And these are not your run-ofthe-mill minimum wage jobs.

There are currently over 600 salaried co-op jobs available, along with over 600 unsalaried. These positions are with some of the most prestigious companies in the area, including CIGNA, Marketing Edge and Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

While many of the positions would be more attractive to students majoring in English/communications, business or computers, the jobs are available for the entire student body to consider all year.

At this time, only 40 of the available co-op positions are filled.

According to Director of Coop/ Career Services Nancy Hutchinson, this number is slightly lower than the average number of 50 students in the fall semester.

However, Hutchinson pointed out that the early fall semester is traditionally not a big time for coops.

Hutchinson also stated that most students who take a co-op cite the salary as only one of the many benefits.

She feels that among the other reasons to consider a co-op are to gain confidence and to get a better idea of what you do or don't want to do when you get out of college.

Senior Jen Peterson strongly agreed with what Hutchinson was saying.

Peterson worked a salaried coop job with the acc-ounting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers, which underwent a huge merger while she was there.

Peterson said that her experi- ence with the firm was interactive, and she also did a lot of networking over the summer.

The company even offered Peterson a full time job after graduation.

This is actually not an unusual situation for seniors.

Fifty-four percent of graduating seniors who have worked co-ops in the past three years have been offered and accepted full time employment with their co-op employers.

Even though not every student will receive a job after graduation with their co-op employers, there are innumerable other reasons to look into the program.

Students can receive up to 12 credits through taking different co-op jobs, and the experience and networking connections are great assets in any srudent's job search.

One of the difficulties for some srudents is fixing their schedule around their co-op.

A student with 16 or 17 credits would be unable to get much out of a co-op, according to Hutchinson.

She also stated that it is more beneficial for the employers for the students to work long days instead of short ones.

This is especially true for students who have a long commute to their jobs.

Co-ops are available to students who are second semester sophomores or older all year round, including in the summer.

The office even has the ability to develop co-ops for students back at home during the summer.