Cooperative Education

What is Cooperative Education?

Cooperative Education (Coop) gives you the chance to experience the world of work before you graduate. Your Coop placement is a formal element of your degree here at UL and will help you to develop a range of skills that will allow you to plan for your future career. The Coop placement is one of the top reasons students choose to come to study at UL and UL graduates consistently say that Coop is one of the highlights of the UL student experience. The Coop programme is big, with about 1800 placements every year. If you are interested in undertaking an international Coop, UL has Coop opportunities in twenty five different countries.

What can Coop do for you?

• It gives you practical work experience built into your degree programme
• It’s an opportunity to apply your academic knowledge in a work environment
• Coop gives you the chance to develop lots of important skills including teamwork, problem- solving and communication skills
• Coop allows you to make useful contacts for your future career
• Graduates who have done Coop have a higher success in finding employment

In circumstances where placement restrictions apply owing to personal limitations or when unfavourable economic conditions exist, alternative education and practical programmes are arranged for the benefit of the students.

““The interns have proved themselves to be responsible, conscientious and dependable employees. (Their) work ethic, willingness to learn, problem solving skills and interpersonal skills have been recognised by their management teams as outstanding. They have had a positive impact on their branch customer service goals, corporate goals and financial goals. Overall, we see the programme as a great success and look forward to continuing our relationship with the University of Limerick”
Tony Holbrook, Group Human Resources Manager, Enterprise-Rent-a-Car of San Francisco, August 2010.

Cooperative education awards

If you excel on your Coop placement, you may be nominated by your Coop employer for the Cooperative Education Award. This award recognises outstanding performance during placement. There is an award for each faculty and, if you are an Education student, a separate award for excellence in Teaching Practice. The awards are presented at the graduation ceremony.

How are placements organised?

The Cooperative Education & Careers Division is responsible for managing the placement programme. We have about 1700 employers involved in the programme and we work with them to identify suitable Coop placements. We will help you to write your CV and to prepare for interviews with Coop employers. During your placement, you will be monitored by an academic staff member.

What will I be doing?

Placements take into account the needs of the employer and the skills and abilities of the student. Some Coop jobs are very closely related to your degree programme but this is not always the case. The most important element of your Coop placement is the opportunity for you to experience the world of work and to develop skills that will equip you to succeed in your chosen career.

International Opportunities

UL has a very large international placement programme and every year about 28% of UL students do an international Coop. If you are studying a language as part of an Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences degree, you are expected to spend your Coop placement abroad. Many students from Business, Engineering and Science do international placements. Examples of countries include France, Germany, Spain, UK, US, China, Japan, Argentina, Mexico, Ghana, South Africa and New Zealand. There is high demand from employers for graduates who have international experience, and have fluency in a language.

Teaching Practice

If you are doing a degree in Education, you will be placed in a school on Teaching Practice as a formal part of your degree programme. This is a great opportunity for you to develop your teaching skills in a real classroom environment. You will have two periods of Teaching Practice, one in your second year and another in your fourth year. While on Teaching Practice, you will be visited up to five times by your tutors. Your tutors will support, advise and assess you on your Teaching Practice.

For further information, visit our website at: www.ul.ie/coop