Comments on: Co-op vs. Permanent Employment http://www.otherlobe.com/2009/09/co-op-vs-permanent-employment/ A Blog About Experiential Education, Social Media, and the Brain... Sat, 04 Sep 2010 23:24:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Mercedes Carota http://www.otherlobe.com/2009/09/co-op-vs-permanent-employment/comment-page-1/#comment-231 Mercedes Carota Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:07:04 +0000 http://www.otherlobe.com/?p=249#comment-231 Hi Natania, Thank you for writing this piece. I think it is invaluable to "try out" a job while still in college, but not just any job a "real" job and see if it suits you. Just like you, my first co-op turned out to be a job I did not want to do. However, gaining that knowledge while still in college has proved more valuable than any class either of us could have taken. I am going out on a limb here, but the second part of your definition describing learning: "However, information that the subject seeks out because she is passionate about knowing that information, will be retained for long periods of time", seems to describe how you are currently in your workplace. You were not given much training and expected to leap into a job. Some people do not respond to this type of "learning" well. But, like you, I think this is the most valuable type of learning. It ensures that you will spend the most time enriching your life (which is most important) and the lives of others in ways that you enjoy, not ways that have been prescribed to you. I was also interested in the dichotomy you presented between a full-time, post-undergraduate job, and a co-op. I have often wondered how these two types of learning situations have differed and if they differ across industries, companies, and people. My assumption is yes, that they do. However, nothing can trade co-op experiences. As you have stated they have prepared you, in some ways, and challenged you in others for a job post-undergraduate! Thank you for writing about co-op! Mercedes Hi Natania,
Thank you for writing this piece. I think it is invaluable to “try out” a job while still in college, but not just any job a “real” job and see if it suits you. Just like you, my first co-op turned out to be a job I did not want to do. However, gaining that knowledge while still in college has proved more valuable than any class either of us could have taken. I am going out on a limb here, but the second part of your definition describing learning: “However, information that the subject seeks out because she is passionate about knowing that information, will be retained for long periods of time”, seems to describe how you are currently in your workplace. You were not given much training and expected to leap into a job. Some people do not respond to this type of “learning” well. But, like you, I think this is the most valuable type of learning. It ensures that you will spend the most time enriching your life (which is most important) and the lives of others in ways that you enjoy, not ways that have been prescribed to you.
I was also interested in the dichotomy you presented between a full-time, post-undergraduate job, and a co-op. I have often wondered how these two types of learning situations have differed and if they differ across industries, companies, and people. My assumption is yes, that they do. However, nothing can trade co-op experiences. As you have stated they have prepared you, in some ways, and challenged you in others for a job post-undergraduate! Thank you for writing about co-op!

Mercedes

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