Co-op and Career Services | Parents and Families

It is never too early for your student to start planning for their career.

Cooperative education (co-op) and internships give students a head start with significant, full-time, paid work experience directly related to student’s field of study and career interests.

Parent Tips and Conversation Starters

It is important to know that students are not assigned co-ops and internships; they must search and apply similar to what they will do for full-time employment. Some students must apply to many positions before successfully securing a co-op or internship opportunity. You should encourage your student to use all resources available to them, including RIT resources, LinkedIn and other social media, professors, and their personal network.

Tips

Each student is assigned a career services coordinator by their college or program.
Encourage your student to take advantage of all RIT resources, including career fairs and resume writing support.
Students can build their resume with campus jobs, leadership positions, studying abroad, and volunteering.
On-campus jobs help students stay organized and on task in other areas, including academics.
Career Services support continues following graduation.

Conversation starters

Does your program require a co-op? When is it scheduled?
What types of jobs are you thinking you’d like to do for your co-op?
When is the University-Wide Career Fair this semester? Does your college have a separate career fair?
How often are you updating your resume? Have you had someone else review it?

Resources

Office of Career Services and Cooperative Education

This office provides career and employment services to current RIT students and alumni. Some of the primary services include:

Career counseling—Students can meet with a career counselor for help with career and academic exploration or planning for graduate school.
Career Connect—Through Career Connect, students can find and apply for co-op, internship, or full-time jobs; access information on events including career fairs, employer information sessions, and career-related workshops; and make an appointment with a Career Services coordinator or career counselor.
Student programming—Each semester, Career Services organizes career-related workshops to prepare students for their co-op and full-time job search. Career Services also coordinates employer information sessions, which students can attend to meet employers and learn about their employment opportunities
Career fairs—RIT offers two University-Wide Career Fairs each year during fall and spring semesters. In addition to these, there are college- or major-specific career fairs offered throughout the year.
Co-op and job search preparation—Students have access to a wide variety of co-op and job preparation support, including cover letter and resume writing, interviewing, networking, and much more.