Getting Paid to Take Off School (kinda..)
Hi! It’s been too long friends!
I know B term has been crazy for all of us but I hope you’re still thinking about internship or co-op opportunities. I’m currently hyped on caffeine and full of advice, so let’s do this!
You might ask…. “Sooooo Matt, what’s the difference between a co-op and internship? Isn’t a job just a job?”
Well friends, there’s a few slight differences. I got a small list to help you out!
- When they happen. For internships, they are usually in the summer months when students are out of school. For co-ops they span a semester (either A/B or C/D terms) plus a summer for your working period.
- Co-ops are longer. Like I said earlier, internships typically run over the summer for about 8-12 weeks. Co-ops, on average, last for 6-8 months at the same company. For a co-op, you’d take a semester off school (no tuition bill) to work and get paid ($$$$$$$$$).
- Co-ops go through the school. To participate in a co-op you need to 1. Find an opportunity 2. Figure out if it fits in your schedule 3. Get an offer 4. Do some paperwork. Since you need to take some time off school to work, there’s a bit of work needed to be done by you, your advisors and the CDC!
- Payment. The average hourly wage for 2014 summer internships at WPI was $18.75. For co-ops, the average total payment for students’ work has been 20,651$. Like I said, $$$$$$$$$.
What both of these opportunities have in common is workplace experience! You can’t go wrong with getting a taste of a real world job but If you have the extra space in your college schedule, go for the co-op! Might as well get more out of your four year degree. If not, look for those summer internships!
By now the coffee has worn off so I guess I should go grab another. Cheers to the last couple weeks of B term and a successful job search!
Your friendly neighborhood Peer Advisor,
Matt
Send an email to cdcpeeradvisors16@wpi.edu if you have any questions.
