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The Unique Perspective of a Co-op Student on a New Career Path

Co-op Student Profile: Christian van Langendonck

Christian is an Algonquin College Computer Programming student who is completing his second work-term as Co-op Career Leader at the Co-op Department. Christian is currently making a career transition from being a lawyer in his home country to computer programming, a lifelong interest of his. This is Christian’s unique perspective on his co-op experience and on transitioning to a new career.

On Being a Co-op Student Working for Cooperative Education

Christian identifies one of his greatest accomplishments during his time working in the Co-op Department as his leadership and creation of an automated reporting tool that reports student and employer performance and engagement on a program-by-program level. “We have been doing these reports for a while now, but with the growing number of programs, it had become a resource drain on our Co-op Student Advisors. Christian’s customized reporting tool has been a time-saver for the team,” said David Hall, Manager, Co-op Department.

Christian is also working on an interactive resume activity, putting his programming skills related to JavaScript, HTML, and CSS into practice. “We love everything Christian brings to our team”, explains Hall. “He is dedicated, caring, insightful, positive, and has strong technical and professional skills.” As Co-op Career Leader Christian also helps students with their resumes and cover letters, he leads orientation sessions and helps students prepare for interviews.

“Starting as an international student, I have met other students in similar circumstances. However, it was in my co-op placement that I met so many other students in almost the same situation I was in. It was an eye-opening experience, I could see other students struggling in areas I had and I could advise them, give them words of encouragement and share my personal experience.” According to Christian, the best part of his job is being an active part in a student’s success. So many students are waiting for the opportunity to prove themselves.

“Co-op is a fantastic opportunity to take the first steps towards a new career.”

Christian graduated in 2003 with a Law degree from the University Center of United Metropolitan Faculties, in São Paulo, and practiced law in Brazil until 2019. Computer programming has always been a subject of great personal interest to him, and as his desire to live abroad grew stronger, so did his motivation to explore his interest professionally. “Changing careers is not easy. So, I’ve chosen something that I previously had an interest in; software development. This is something I can practice anywhere in the world,” explains Christian. He began his computer programming studies at Algonquin College in September 2019.

Advice on the Co-op Process

“Ask for help when you need it. Getting all the information earlier in the process will ease the stress involved in searching for jobs,” explains Christian. This piece of advice comes from Christian’s own experience in the earlier stages of the co-op process. The Co-op student advisors are there to help the students in every step of the process. So many resources are available such as workshops, orientation sessions and much more.

“Apply, apply, apply and pay close attention to dates.” Christian recommends students keep an open mind when searching for jobs while also focusing on the areas where they excel rather than worry about where they might fall short.

“My Co-op placement has provided me with the confidence I needed to take on more senior roles in my new career, while also allowing me to demonstrate to my employer how much I can contribute and turn myself into a significant company asset.”

Christian will be graduating this spring with the skills and the confidence he needs to begin his second career. Congratulations Christian and thank you for your many contributions.

 

Algonquin College Biotechnology Students Help to Fill Talent Gaps at Big Rig Brewery

Big Rig Brewery was founded in 2012 as a small batch brewery and restaurant. In the last eight years, they have significantly expanded across Ontario and now produce over 30,000 litres of beer per year. Their growth in the marketplace has resulted in the build-up of their brew house lab in Ottawa. This expansion resulted in the need for qualified employees with introductory lab skills and the ability to keep up in a fast-paced production environment.

The brewing process at Big Rig Brewery is more than just hops and yeast. Their beer is brewed in a historic style but with modern processes and quality controls to monitor yeast health and cell counts. As Big Rig looked to fill positions in their brewing team they found there was a talent gap. “Many of the skills we are looking for can be found in basic lab techniques and unfortunately there are not many qualified Brewery Technicians”, says Philip Kochanke, Director of Quality Management and Packaging at Big Rig.

“We had hired Electrical Engineering Technician co-op students in the past for our processing line and through this process; we learned that Algonquin College also has a great Biotechnology co-op program”. In the summer of 2019, Big Rig decided to hire two Biotechnology co-op students, “These students brought a formal lab background and experience to their job which helped us to manage everyday brewery operations while our team focused on improving our Standard Operating Procedures as we continued to expand”, Kochanke said.

“Algonquin’s Biotechnology students really helped us. They were able to apply basic biotechnology principals to their role in the lab which included taking and processing samples in a specific way and helping to implement quality control measures.”

Funding opportunities helped in the hiring process. “There are really great financial incentives to hire a co-op student. We were able to hire two full-time co-op students due to the funding that we received from Biotalent Canada. The application process was simple and the staff at Biotalent were extremely helpful in the process.”

When asked about the future of talent in the Brewing Industry, Kochanke said “There is definitely a need for Biotechnology students and graduates in our industry; they can work in roles such as Lab Technician, Yeast Management Technician, and Packaging Line Technician. The skills they learn in their program can help breweries by applying scientific methods to troubleshoot and maintain process management in a production and food-processing environment.”

Kochanke added, “Our experience hiring co-op students has been great, it has been a real pleasure working with everyone from Algonquin and we hope to hire more co-op students in the future.”

If you are interested in hiring a Biotechnology Advanced Co-op student, please contact the Cooperative Education Department at Algonquin College by phone at 613-727-4723 Ext 7623, by email at coop@algonquincollege.com or by visiting our employer request for information form.

Images provided by Big Rig Brewery.

622 Co-op Interviews Conducted in the Past 2 Weeks!

We are only partly through our hiring process for the Winter 2020 Term (January – April) though we are pleased to share that 622 co-op interviews were conducted in the past two weeks alone with over 113 of our employer partners. There are still plenty of students available to be hired for Winter 2020 but we would like to take this opportunity to thank our employers who have posted jobs with us thus far. Thank you to all our employers who have interviewed as part of our new Rank and Offer process, we appreciate your patience and understanding as we streamline our processes to support the growth of cooperative education at Algonquin College.

“Based on our research, and continued consultation with other high-performing co-op colleges and universities, we decided to test a new co-op job posting and interviewing model that can serve our stakeholders in a more efficient and timely way,” says David Hall, Manager, Cooperative Education. “This change has enabled us to conduct three times the amount of interviews in the past two weeks when compared to the same time frame last fall.”

Starting this semester, we’ve updated our job application, interview and job offer process to a co-op industry standard called Rank and Offer. This will allow the Co-op Department to manage the interview process more efficiently to better support our learners in their journey to find co-op employment while providing a more streamlined hiring process for employers.

“These self-serve and automation improvements mean our students get more choice in the jobs they accept, allow employers to know the results of their interviews sooner, and allows the co-op team closely manage the entire hiring process from start to finish,” adds Hall.

“With new co-op programs offered each year, we are constantly evolving to find new ways of becoming more responsive and scalable while continuing to provide an exceptional co-op experience for learners and employers.

With Rank and Offer we will have an initial first round of co-op hiring early in the semester and then we will employ a continuous process, where employers can post their jobs, interview, and send job offers at any time, for the remainder of the term.

It might seem early in the semester for students to have their job offers for a Work Term in Winter 2020 but there are several ways that our learners benefit from this new process.

  • More time to apply for jobs and interview with several employers
  • First round of offers are sent during a specified period potentially allowing multiple job offers for them to consider
  • More opportunity for interview feedback and reflection
  • Job offers will be fully automated, learners and employers will be notified as soon as a job offer is extended and accepted

If you are interested in hiring an Algonquin College Co-op student for a work term starting January 2020, now is the time to post your job as we still have plenty of students available!

Send us an email or visit our website to learn how Cooperative Education at Algonquin College can help support your business.

We look forward to hearing from you!hire

Algonquin College Co-op Team