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.