Do you remember that feeling when you checked your co-op rankings at 12:00pm on the day that all rankings came out and the anxious feeling of trying to spot that “1” next to a job that you’ve been praying to land? Then came that instantaneous feeling of relief when you that “1” next to one of your top choices, to which you do a quick happy dance for because by successful interview or by luck, you actually managed to get matched during your first round, and don’t have to face the anxiety accompanied with continuing to apply for jobs in the continuous round.
That feeling of accomplishment is one I will never forget when I landed a job at my dream company for my second co-op term.
During interview season, I had three interviews for three positions in the same company, and I knew that there was a relatively high chance that I would be able to land one of those positions. When the time came in which I discovered that my dream actually did come true, and that I would be working for the company in my upcoming co-op term, I was thrilled to say the least. This was a big company, known to pay their co-op students a generally high salary, which I was super happy about, and which made me excited to learn more about what work I would be assigned there – I am not a picky co-op student.
I rarely complain about work being boring, even with administrative tasks. As long as I’m doing something that’s of use to the company, and it’s something that makes time at work pass by faster, I’m happy to complete it with complete due diligence. However, I just felt that this time, my expectations were totally different from reality.
Since I write blogs for Her Campus, as well as blogs for my personal blog, I think it’s inferred that I like to write; it’s one of the rare skills that I’ll actually say I’m good at. Unfortunately while the co-op term passed by, I realized that I was doing more editing work, which would be just as interesting had I actually thoroughly understood the content that I was editing. While working at this co-op placement felt “alright”, it didn’t quite feel “spectacular” like I’d experienced before during my previous co-op term. Although I really liked the people who I worked with, and appreciate the experience of knowing what it is like to work at a big company, I just wish I was assigned tasks that more reflected my true strengths, and not a skill that I was only average at.
I must say though, that one lesson I’ve learned while working at the company is that I’m not always going to be the best fit for every company I work at. Just because I did really well at my first co-op, doesn’t necessarily mean all my co-ops are going to be that great, and that’s ok – it’s part of life. I’m also glad to have learned what my strengths and weaknesses are, so I can better prepare for future job interviews, as well as the actual work itself.
My question to other co-ops reading this blog; what have you learned during your past co-op experiences, and how has that changed your thinking?