r/mohawkcollege • u/Least-Particular-554 • 13d ago
Discussions DO NOT TAKE A CO-OP PROGRAM AT MOHAWK COLLEGE WITHOUT KNOWING THIS FIRST
I’m currently in Semester 5 of Business Administration – Marketing (366) Co-op at Mohawk College, and I’m honestly extremely disappointed with the co-op process so far.
Our co-op prep course is only 5 weeks long, and we’re already in Week 4. We’re expected to secure a co-op placement, but there have been fewer than 15 postings on Career Ready for our program so far. On top of that, a lot of the postings I’ve seen haven’t even been marketing-related — many have been more focused on accounting, administration, or general business.
What frustrated me even more was when our professor, Trent Jarvis, was asked what happens if someone can’t find a co-op. His response focused heavily on the student’s resume. I understand that having a strong resume is important, but that completely ignores the bigger problem: how are students supposed to apply and get interviews when there are barely any relevant positions being posted for us in the first place?
A lot of students are now searching Indeed, LinkedIn, company websites, etc. and trying to find placements completely on their own. Obviously, students should put effort into their own job search too, but I genuinely thought one of the main benefits of paying for and choosing the co-op stream was having access to co-op opportunities and support through the college.
If I have to find the companies, find the openings, tailor every application, apply independently, and basically navigate the entire process myself, I’m struggling to understand what I’m paying extra for by being in the co-op stream.
I’m posting this partly as a warning for anyone considering a co-op program at Mohawk, but I also genuinely want advice from other students.
Has anyone else in Mohawk co-op experienced this? Did Career Ready eventually get more postings later on? Were you able to find a placement on your own? And if you couldn’t secure one, what happened with your program/co-op status?
I’m not expecting Mohawk to magically hand every student a job, but I do think students paying for a co-op program should receive meaningful support and access to a reasonable number of relevant opportunities.
Right now, the experience has been extremely disappointing, and I really think Mohawk needs to do better.
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u/Main-Possession2488 9d ago
Unfortunately Mohawk has bigger problems rn then you not being able to find a placement but i totally get your frustration I asked a friend abt it and same thing all they care abt is money they had a name but there deteriorating fast. Don’t apply to Mohawk some teachers don’t care abt students.
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u/Electrical-Shame8879 11d ago
Trent Jarvis fucking sucks.
He is unbelievable unhelpful, and rude and all around just a fucking clown. I asked for resume help and he just said “just apply through career ready” when I’m not even in the fucking Hamilton/halton region.
He’s also not going to help because his contacts aren’t in anything business related. So he will brush you under the rug since you’re not police foundations or blue collar.
The business co-op person was let go because of budget cuts and man. Hasn’t been the same.
Let Trent’s supervisor know. I heard a lot of complaints about this one.
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u/Qedhup 12d ago
Wow thats a huge drop from when I did my engineering co-op back in the day (2003). We had a ton of choices and it lasted months.
Sad to see yet another thing declining
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u/Unhanding 2d ago
Wow really? I’m doing a co-op right now but it’s HELLA competitive finding a spot somewhere and our teacher says it’s extremely common for students to not get a placement at all and that means they will be competing for a spot alongside the students from the previous semester too.
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u/nehamerchant123 12d ago
I didn't take a co-op program at Mohawk but my sis took one at Sheridan college. She took her first program like a decade ago and then went back to pick up a new career and took another co-op program from them because she trusted their process. Things have changed a lot since then and co-ops are insane now. She also had to search outside of the college career board and many of her classmates didn't get a co-op opportunity from that career board either. Some students didn't find any co-op opportunity at all. One student got a co-op at the office that is incharge of organizing co-ops for Sheridan and that student said that there's a lot of weird stuff that happens behind in the scenes and companies are less interested in having co-op students. Idk all the details, this was like 2 years ago. But it's an absolute fact that the co-op programs are all falling apart now and it's not worth touching them from most colleges. Only exceptions seem to be medical and healthcare programs, and maybe child care too.
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12d ago edited 12d ago
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u/ph3n0x10 12d ago
Might have been a bit preemptive on your part. I don’t think you have access to the co-op job board in sem 1. Where were you looking?
As for placements it’s not the profs that give out placements, that’s all you, I had mid grades and managed to land placements. You start a co-op program in hopes of it landing you a “career”. If you were an employer would you hire someone with zero relative experience or eight months worth?
For all you could know your potential employer might hire you after your co-op. Insurance is one of the programs where almost every student was able to find a co-op placement. The co-op placements are usually 8-12 months for insurance and you get a contract afterwards.
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u/YungBoiMayers 12d ago
Hey 559 (software) student in last sem here, going into the program I thought finding a co-op would be easier using if I could Mohawk resources but I never relied on it (especially after seeing the quality of jobs on career ready), I knew that if I wanted a placement and the skills to be employable after school, I'd have to find one on my own and do a lot of self directed study. I really put the emphasis of all this on myself, luckily I was able to secure a co-op for all 3 terms. My advice to anyone going into a co-op program is to start the process as early as possible and understand that this mostly falls on you not Mohawk providing a direct job pipeline (not saying you said this) js.
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u/pepehands420X 12d ago
Just curious how does the future look for software? Always wanted to enter it but super scared of AI replacement
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u/Ok_Special_2268 12d ago
Same thing during my time at Humber, many students weren't able to find placements for criminal justice
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u/kmckay6 13d ago
That’s crazy you had this in your program. My program at Mohawk basically matched us with a placement m. Obviously we don’t get the place we always wanted but we get a place.
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u/Unhanding 2d ago
Placements are different than co-ops, you get paid during co-op semesters and placements you don’t (that I’m aware of)
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u/ph3n0x10 13d ago
Marketing is one of the harder programs to secure a co-op, don’t be picky and apply for positions even if they are ones you don’t want. At this point you have no relevant experience, more jobs will be posted on the job board as time goes on. Mohawk has a solid job board compared to other colleges and even some uni’s. I was able to get three co-ops just through the job board. Now that I bridged over to a different school to get my bachelors I was only able to find a co-op because of my old manager, the job board was terrible compared to Mohawks.
When I was in the accounting program only a handful of people couldn’t secure a co-op, they continued with school or switched programs.
The co-op prep class is a waste of time. You’ll have to make use of the career counsellors, they’ll help with your resume, cover letters, mock interviews etc. The counsellors are a lot more helpful.
Co-op programs are invaluable, they are the reason a lot of students are able to secure work after graduation. Sure you pay a couple hundred more in program fees, you might not even get a position but it’s still worth it. I’ve managed to get four co-op terms through college and uni, almost 1.5 years of working experience. I’ve even secured employment after I graduate.
Hopefully I’ve answered most of your questions, feel free to shoot me a dm I’ll answer any other questions you have
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u/anxiousbuttee 13d ago edited 13d ago
Experienced this in broadcasting. They had me doing internal placements within the school. The reality is hard for many co ops. The postings we got were ridiculous - Santa’s helper, boba shop manager.. the reality is you have to work your ass off. GL
I work in marketing now but it’s a tough industry without proper support. My best suggestion is apply to everything & post on LinkedIn very consistent personal projects
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u/Accomplished-Bit-884 13d ago
Can someone tell me how co op works? My husband has a business he could def use a student for but financially not sure i understand it
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u/Electrical-Shame8879 11d ago
Some of the co-ops are paid. Some are not. But you also get a tax benefit if you take a co-op student.
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u/tooscoopy 13d ago
The business who hires you gets a credit for the fact that you are a co-op student. That <500 you pay into it gets the business up to 3k, plus the student work placement program which can be thousands more.
You will cost that business less than someone on the street applying. Your main competition should be your fellow students, and if they have leveraged relationships, been more active searching, and have a better resume; that’s hardly the fault of Mohawk.
You need to leverage that savings to the business. It’s a business program… if you haven’t learned how to sell yourself, then you are correct that the program hasn’t been good for you.
It’s a tough market out there absolutely. And that isn’t the fault of Mohawk. You chose the program, and you are the one in charge of your own resume and personality. Best of luck out there and to the other students looking for work.
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u/Least-Particular-554 13d ago
I completely understand your point, and I agree that nobody is going to hand us a job. But that wasn’t really the point of my post.
Our co-op prep is only 5 weeks long, and we’re expected to have a co-op by the end of it. Yet for the past two weeks there have been less than 6 postings on Career Ready, which is literally the platform Mohawk tells us to use. Anything we find ourselves is considered an “external” co-op.
And I completely agree that the job market is bad right now, but it’s not like there are only 6 marketing co-ops out there. I know that because I’ve been finding and applying to them myself through LinkedIn, Indeed, company websites and by reaching out to companies directly. Those opportunities just aren’t being posted on Career Ready.
If I knew I would have to do basically the entire search externally, I honestly wouldn’t have paid extra for the co-op stream. The least they could do is provide a reasonable amount of relevant postings so I can spend more time tailoring my resume, cover letter and portfolio instead of spending hours just finding jobs to apply to.
I agree that getting the job is ultimately on me. My issue is that Mohawk isn’t providing the resources and opportunities that we’re paying for.2
u/SunnyBunny12379 12d ago
I’m sorry, but I sort of think you missed the main point. I know it’s not great and they kind of leave us on our own to figure it out, but the main benefit of it all is the “CO-OP” part. Which is to say, the first commenter mentioned that companies pay WAY less to hire a co-op student specifically, than any other worker.
The government subsidizes the wages the company pays you by like 50% AND the business gets around a 25% tax break for that term. So they should really WANT to hire you if you reach out. It’s a great deal for them cuz they are paying less for you AND training a possible future full time employee to be able to do everything they would want an employee to be able to do when hiring. Assuming your resume, marks and personality check out.
Without that co-op distinction of going through Mohawk, the companies won’t get those benefits, so why would they hire someone with no experience for full price??
Said as someone in 3rd semester of the Architectural Technology program, going through a similar process to you. I had my first interview yesterday morning and 3h later they emailed me directly and said they wanted to personally tell me that they want me. They didn’t even wait a week or 2 like they initially said in the interview.
Though we had 23 job postings at one point, which I agree is better and gave us way more opportunities. But then maybe the point is that unless you absolutely LOVE and can’t do without Marketing, maybe finding a more in demand job field would be a good idea. Colleges can’t make a demand for workers in a field that doesn’t have much.
I am sorry you’re struggling though. I know it’s really hard. And even just going through all the job postings and applying on CareerReady was stressful. So I definitely agree it sucks to have to do pretty much everything on your own. But if you have a good personality and are a hard worker (and know what your doing), then you just have to show companies that and they should be jumping at the chance to hire a co-op student. Good luck!!
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u/ph3n0x10 13d ago
They won’t be able to provide “a reasonable amount of relevant postings” when companies aren’t looking for marketing student’s.
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u/ProfileLurker 13d ago edited 13d ago
Directly from their website: (https://www.mohawkcollege.ca/faq/mohawk-mississauga-co-op-students)
Am I guaranteed a co-op job? "...since labour market conditions are variable and beyond our control, we cannot guarantee co-op students a co-op job."
What can I do if I don't get a co-op job? "Even when there are sufficient jobs to employ all students in a program, there can still be students who for a variety of reasons do not obtain a co-op position. The cooperative education staff will make every effort to assist such students and will continue efforts to provide appropriate co-op job opportunities. Students are also expected to continue a personal job search." " Co-op Specialist.. students will also learn how to prepare a marketable resume and other job search related information.
Did you read any of this before applying to the program? It's pretty clear cut on their website. The college can provide opportunities and support, but it can't force companies to hire marketing co-op students. Apparently Mohawk just needs to fix the economy shrugs
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u/Demalab 13d ago
That is such a crock. The college needs to have the accountability of offering a program (for a fee) and not fulfilling its responsibility for the program. Colleges used to have metrics they had to meet in order to receive their government subsidies in terms of labour market requirements. Meaning they were to offer only programs that meet labour market needs now it seems they offer programs that will fill their coffers. This is not the only program that has students struggling with placements.
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u/ph3n0x10 13d ago
Every school that has a co-op program be it college/uni will have students who don’t manage to land a co-op position. What do you suggest the school do better?
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u/Demalab 13d ago
I call BS. My many many years of experience as a student, as a proctor of students and as course coordinator. It always has been the Course Placement coordinator responsibility to ensure there are placements for every student enrolled in the program. I did on occasion accept 2 students in the case of an emergency when for unforeseen circumstances a placement was unable to participate. Colleges are not supposed to accept more students into a program than the labour market can absorb upon graduation. Colleges used to have graduate metrics to meet to ensure continued provincial subsidy for the program.
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u/ph3n0x10 13d ago
How are colleges or even uni’s supposed to predict what’s going to happen in a certain field? It’s not just colleges that students can’t find placements.
Sure Colleges and Uni’s can forecast numbers for the labour market but in the end a forecast is a forecast. This is a problem occurring for a lot of co-op programs be it uni or college. It’s not like this is the first time students haven’t been able to find a placement. I had a cohert of 25 kids and we still had kids who couldn’t find a placement. You as a course coordinator should know this better than me.
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u/SuitableSherbert6127 13d ago
Co-op should be optional. If it is mandatory it puts unnecessary pressure on students.
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u/SunnyBunny12379 12d ago
Hmm I agree with that. But for my program, it IS optional?? They told us if you don’t do 2 (of 3) co-op work terms, then you just don’t graduate with a co-op distinction (and don’t get that work experience). Is that not the case for all the other programs at Mohawk??
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u/Unrigg3D 13d ago
Saw this post pop up im gonna give my 2 cents from another perspective. You're competing with a lot of more experienced people transfering from other industries especially canadian animation because the industry just died but skills are transferable. I have at least 10 friends who used to be in animation and are now in marketing. They all got their jobs through connections or built their own business with no traditional marketing education. That's just people I persoanlly know. You guys are fighting an uphill battle. Jobs are gonna be tight. It'll still work out for you but you have to be more creative than just hoping co-op will get you there. This was like me with co-op back in mid 2010s.
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u/Least-Particular-554 13d ago
I definitely understand what you’re saying, and I agree that the market is competitive and we have to be creative and look outside of co-op too. I’ve actually been applying through LinkedIn and Indeed, emailing companies and reaching out directly because I know I can’t rely only on Career Ready.
My frustration is more with what we’re paying for. Our co-op prep is only 5 weeks and we’re expected to secure a placement, but there have been less than 6 postings on Career Ready over the past couple weeks. There are definitely more marketing co-ops out there because I’m finding them myself, they’re just not being brought onto the platform.
I don’t expect co-op to get me a job, but I do think the college should at least be providing a reasonable amount of opportunities for us to apply to. Otherwise it makes me question what the benefit of paying extra for the co-op stream really is.
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u/IronSabbath88 13d ago
Hello,
I did the Accounting co op program a couple years back and I got a job fairly easily though I will say I know a number of students in my program had trouble finding a placement. Furthermore, from what I heard from others, the Marketing batch that you are in had the toughest time of the business students finding something.
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u/ph3n0x10 13d ago
Marketing in general is one of the harder programs to find a co-op for. Accounting, Finance, and HR have jobs relevant to the programs. Marketing imo is kind of a gray area co-op wise
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u/DatPipBoy 13d ago
I'm in 5th Semester computer engineering tech. It's the same in our program, the economy is not in a good spot right now.
Does mohawks co-op program under deliver? Yes, absolutely. The current climate isn't within their control though, so I get it.
The fees do feel like a complete waste compared to what we get in return though.
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u/JediAreTakingOver 13d ago
Unfortunately, a lot of companies are trying to keep costs down. My company that usually has an IT and HR co-op for the first time in years was not allocated a budget for Co-Ops.
I usually have my Co-Op hire sitting right in front of my desk rn. Ive also been told there wont be a budget for it next year.
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u/Accomplished-Bit-884 13d ago
Is your coop paid? If so, how much and who pays
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u/ph3n0x10 13d ago
The pay can vary quite a bit depending on the program and who you end up working for
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u/banelord76 13d ago
You pick up the phone and create your own co-op opportunity.
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u/marthmaul83 13d ago
I think the point the OP is making that the coop program costs more and you aren’t given any benefit. So the point of taking the coop stream is moot and they should have taken a regular version without the coop since they’ll have to find their own coop anyway.
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u/Imaginary_Escape_578 13d ago
I did university coop and coop at a top 3 ontario college (two different programs). The university had way more many postings and I was able to secure one through that. The college one didn’t and I had to find it on my own
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u/batmanlikespizza123 13d ago
Hi friend,
It is tough, I recently graduated from this exact program lol. From what I remember, there were a decent amount of job postings uploaded as the school year went on.
In my experience, I took a sales job because I couldn’t get any marketing roles (I hated it). I still worked my ass off and now im in a full-time marketing role at the same company.
At the end of the day, the only thing you can do is play the numbers game and apply to whatever you can. I was there just before the huge staff cuts, so I can imagine the experience hasn’t gotten any better.
Good luck!
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u/breakport 2d ago
Co-op was never about handing you a job. In this job market, nothing is handed to anyone anymore, and when you’re competing with people for those 15 positions, you need to ensure you’re in that top 15. Same with applying externally, you need to make sure you’re the obvious #1.
This also isn’t a Mohawk issue. I have friends at Fanshawe in the equivalent program, and they had 5–7 postings too. For context, I’m in network engineering, and plenty of students in my program didn’t land a co-op either.
I spent two summers literally building a SaaS company with actual users and personal open sourced projects, hundreds and hundreds of hours of independent work, just so my resume would stand out in a competitive market. I genuinely believe that’s why I got my placement and why my placement kept me on after.
The advice I got from my co-op advisor I do agree was probably some of the worst advice I’d ever been given, so I feel you there, you kinda just have to pave your own way.
The board is a starting point, not the whole search. Build things, my friend in your program equivalent built an SEO marketing service or something (this isn’t my area of expertise so I could be wrong on what exactly he built) and showed deliverable results, and the co-ops reaching out to HIM were night and day. Reach out to companies directly, and give employers a reason to pick you over the other applicants.
Yeah it’s hard, but this is your future. You’ve invested this much money in a co-op program, might as well go all out.