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Best practices > Maximize your co-op investment

Employers invest in co-op for a variety of reasons, but either first or second on everyone's list is early identification of potential long-term hires. Most employers are concerned about making the best possible selection of new hires, increasing the cost-effectiveness of recruiting expenditures, reducing the new-hire turnover, and building bench strength. However, not every co-op will receive an offer of post-graduate employment and not every full-time offer will be accepted.

What can employers do to improve the likelihood that their best graduating co-ops will accept offers of after-graduation employment? In late 1993, we participated in a survey of engineering co-op graduates who had accepted full time employment. The survey asked respondents to rank order a list of reasons for accepting (or rejecting) a full-time offer. Based on their responses, two general recommendations can be made:

1. Pay close attention to the co-op's on-the-job experiences
2. Review your interview/offer process.

Co-op students have ample opportunity to assess whether a job or company is a comfortable fit for them. They're able to evaluate a co-op employer's offer from an insider's perspective. Not surprisingly, the number one reason students listed for accepting a full-time offer was the type of work . Related factors -- the co-op experience, work environment, organization "reputation" and responsibility level -- rounded out the top five reasons why a student may choose to stay with a co-op employer. There are a number of reasons why a student may choose to stay with a co-op job that is less than satisfying -- convenience, income, and the university requirements come to mind. Employers should not therefore, assume that retention of co-op students prior to graduation automatically means they'll retain those co-ops after graduation. If you're worried about long term retention of your co-ops, it pays to take a close look at the quality, quantity, variety, and challenge of their work assignments. It pays to find out if your co-ops like what they do and feel they're a valued part of the team. Implement an exit interview or questionnaire to ask students for an honest assessment of their experiences at the end of each work term. You might also ask the college co-op office if they have student feedback to share with you.

Why do graduating co-ops turn down offers from their co-op employers? Three factors stand out:

• Perceived lack of advancement opportunity
• (Lack of) job security
• The interview/offer process itself

This suggests that employers who are downsizing or experiencing limited growth need to make an extra effort to discuss long-term career opportunities with those co-ops targeted for post-graduation hire.

Finally, graduates who decline offers from former co-op employers often point to "the interview/offer process" as a significant reason for choosing another offer. What does this mean?

1. Don't take your co-op's interest in the company for granted. Co-ops with good grades and solid experience will be heavily recruited by other employers, and they need to know that their co-op employer wants them as much as other companies do. They should feel that their co-op employer wants them more than other companies do! Sadly, this is not always communicated. Make sure that you recruit your graduating co-ops as enthusiastically as you recruit other candidates. If you're doing any campus recruiting in addition to making offers to graduating co-ops, make sure that you treat your co-op candidates as well as their fellow students.
2. Whenever possible, extend an offer at the end -- or shortly after -- the last work term. Many co-ops accept other employers' offers because their co-op employers' protracted hiring process meant that they had two or three other offers -- with pending deadlines -- long before a concrete offer came through from their co-op company.
3. Don't pressure your co-ops to accept an offer immediately. When employers give graduating co-ops very little time to consider an offer, students may perceive this as a "now or never, take it or leave it" attitude and decline an offer rather than be forced into an early decision. Successful recruiters will make an early offer and tell the candidate, "We're eager to hear your acceptance because we know your capabilities and have confidence that you have what it takes to be a strong contributor to this organization. But we want you to take the time you need to be as confident of your decision as we are of ours."
4. Keep in touch with strong candidates during their decision process -- your competition will! Successful recruiters may give a student several months to respond to an offer, but they keep in touch by phone, sending the company newsletter, e-mail, regular correspondence, or even a birthday card during the decision period. When distance isn't a problem, some invite co-ops to return from campus to participate in company social events.

Does this seem like too much trouble? If so, remember that these strategies take less time and effort than starting from scratch to recruit a new hire. You've already invested resources in developing your co-ops -- make sure that your interview/selection process helps you to maximize that investment.

Reference
Abel, Richard J. and Robi I. Love. School to Work Study: Recruiting Co-ops Upon Graduation. January, 1994. Study of 455 engineering graduates at twenty-one universities developed by University of Cincinnati and Mead Corporation.

Author
Rosemary L.M. Hill
Director, Engineering Career Services
The Ohio State University