Co-Op

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Co-Op

The RIT Dubai Office of Cooperative Education and Career Services is driven by a simple mission: to provide effective, high-quality services to RIT students and alumni, empowering and supporting them in the achievement of their experiential learning, career and employment goals.

The Career Portal features jobs, events, information, resources, and more.

What is Co-op?

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Cooperative Education, or co-op, gives you the opportunity to gain meaningful work experience before you graduate! It will help you further define your career path and fully realize the value of what you are learning in the classroom. 

Co-op is the best way for you to immerse yourself in the real world and apply what you’re learning and experiencing while at RIT Dubai.

Cooperative education is a unique kind of education. It is different from summer employment and different from an internship. Co-op employment...

  • Is related to your field of study
  • Is full-time, productive work
  • Increases in complexity and challenge according to your academic level
  • Includes formal evaluation and documentation of your performance

Co-op gives you the opportunity to:

  • Apply much of the theory you are learning in your coursework
  • Experience a typical workday and focus your career choice
  • Earn a reasonable salary that will help you finance your education
  • Take a breather away from your "grind" as a student
  • Develop additional technical skills and enhance vital personal skills such as judgment, written and oral communication, teamwork
  • Make contacts (network) that may be helpful when you seek full-time employment

Be a more attractive candidate for full-time employment after graduation and probably obtain a higher starting salary than students without co-op experience

Career (Co-op) Preparation Course

Female student in an interview

The Co-op Preparation course is designed to support students to start their co-op journey and careers. This is a compulsory course, which all undergraduate students are required to complete in their second year. This is one of the pre-requisite courses for students before they can start their first co-op ( internship) experience.

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

  • Submit professional applications (CVs)
  • Use LinkedIn to their advantage in the job search process
  • Leverage and combine job application techniques
  • Succeed in job interviews
  • Develop work readiness
  • Improve professional communication skills
  • Cultivate work ethic
  • Apply design thinking in careers

Careers Services

We prepare students for their careers through individual workshop sessions, as well as employer sessions and career fairs.

One-on-one sessions

We focus our attention on building both, soft and hard skills such as  CV writing, interviewing skills, job application techniques, online and offline networking, LinkedIn, workplace skills. Students have access to all resources on our Career Portal.

Employer Sessions and Workshops

Career Wednesdays have been a longstanding tradition where we connect students with diverse career options in a professional and light environment. Students get exposed to various career challenges and opportunities of climbing the corporate ladder, succeeding as an entrepreneur, becoming a professor or researcher, emerging as a consultant, and beyond! At Career Wednesdays, conveniently organized in lunch breaks, students meet industry leaders, experts, alumni, and faculty to refine their career goals and get the right exposure to develop their network. Since 2019, we have organized 100+ successful events, and we are proud to have hosted representatives from Siemens, Emerson, Henkel, Johnson Controls, Schneider Electric, Aramex, KPMG, McKinsey, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HSBC, Thales, LinkedIn, KPMG, du, Exxon Mobile, GE Aviation and more.

Careers Fairs

career fair

RIT Dubai regularly hosts two career fairs per year: one in Fall and one in Spring. This is a key event where students and alumni can meet employers, have short interviews to make the first impression in the hiring process. We conduct career fairs online and in person, and before the event, we provide Career Fair preparation workshops and top tips for students which helps them maximize theirs chance to land the positions they are aiming for. Returning corporate partners, amongst them Emerson, Siemens, KPMG, Aramex, Hira Industries, Axiom, KPMG, Engie Copley, Schneider Electric, Schindler, Bosch, appreciate students and alumni preparedness to embark on their career journeys.

Student Resources

Learn more about co-op requirements per major and the reporting process.

Requirements and reporting

Frequently Asked Questions

No. But, remember the Office of Co-op and Career Services does guarantee we will help you in any way we can with your search. By being flexible on your expectations and fully utilizing the resources available to you, you will become skilled in successfully conducting your job search.

Standard academic credit is not given for co-op. However, you earn "credit" in that your department assigns a grade of "S" when you have met all of their requirements and have successfully completed your co-op assignment.

You do not pay tuition or any institute fees while on co-op even though you remain eligible to utilize all the facilities and services of the Institute.

Please see the typical steps for co-op placements.

It is ultimately up to the employer, but they often base it upon comparable co-op salaries and a candidate's experience. There may be room for negotiation. Your employer also determines eligibility for benefits, if any. 

You should strive to be in a position that will give you hands-on experience that you have never had before. If you obtain a co-op position on your own and are not sure if it is acceptable, see your faculty advisor before accepting the job. Keep in mind that if the job meets the criteria, it doesn't matter if a company calls the job an internship or temporary employment.

See your program coordinator as soon as you feel anxious about your co-op job search. We can evaluate your search, make suggestions, and provide additional services that will assist you in meeting your goal. As a last resort, if co-op is mandatory for your program, a discussion with your academic department may be in order. 

Website last updated: December 5, 2024