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Cooperative Education

Often confused with internship, Cooperative Education or Co-Op for short is an academic program that is meant to complement your education through hands-on application in your field of study. Through aa Co-op you can grow your skillset and gain industry experience by participating in alternating semesters of academic classes and paid full time work within a company. Co-ops offers the unique benefit of balancing your studies by taking advantage of alternating semesters. Staying with one company affords you the ability of obtaining in depth and increasingly more robust work experience and developing meaningful relationships with potential future coworkers.

Things you will need:

  • Resume
  • Student Agreement Form
  • Signed Offer Letter
  • Meet with your advisor
  • Proposed schedule for work vs school

Benefits of Co-Op

  • 1.

    Allows you to apply what you learn in the classroom to your chosen career field

  • 2.

    Provides relevant work experience

  • 3.

    Earn Academic credit

  • 4.

    Build your professional network

  • 5.

    Opportunity to earn while you learn – the average hourly wage for co-ops was $20.20

Find Your Next Co-Op

Since your cooperative education opportunity must be related to your academic course of study, your first step should be to check in with your academic advisor to see if such an experience is allowable in your discipline and to learn the process your academic department has set up for you to get involved. 

If you need to identify employers that are interested in recruiting students for co-ops, log into Gator CareerLink. 

Gator CareerLink

Gator CareerLink is a free service that provides incredible access to internships, co-ops, job shadowing, part and full-time job opportunities. Companies recruiting on Gator CareerLink are looking for Gators.

Find a Co-Op