{"id":76751,"date":"2014-07-14T07:30:46","date_gmt":"2014-07-14T12:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=76751"},"modified":"2014-07-12T13:20:20","modified_gmt":"2014-07-12T18:20:20","slug":"to-co-op-or-not-to-co-op","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=76751","title":{"rendered":"To co-op or not to co-op?"},"content":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Sarah Dashow, Senior\u00a0Assistant, INALJ Newfoundland<\/a>, Northwest Territories<\/a>, Nunavet<\/a> & Yukon<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

To co-op or not to co-op?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\"Sarah<\/a>I can\u2019t say I know any statistics on how many people go through library school with little to no professional or working background in libraries or information science, but I do know that I am one of those people.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I knew when picking schools that the availability of a co-op program was very important to me, because I feel like a lot of employers follow the trend that recent graduates are not valuable (not true, but you can\u2019t argue reality).<\/strong> At least, that was my experience job hunting post-undergrad, and it was not fun. Maybe this isn\u2019t the case for master\u2019s degree holders, but I knew I didn\u2019t want to go through that again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sure, my work experience in retail, residence halls, and a dog kennel could be tailored to fit certain positions, but customer service, multi-tasking and attention to detail can only get you so far.<\/p>\n

So when I got accepted into a program that included a co-op, and then actually nailed the co-op interview and got my placement, I was ecstatic. I would finally be able to put my skills to the test, gain a better understanding of the information science field, and get some solid work experience under my belt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019m working in knowledge management, and as such, I am using databases and HTML and strengthening my communication, information architecture, metadata, and writing skills within a professional environment. It feels different to put something to work instead of just writing a paper or having a class discussion.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I now feel like I can put something on my resume that I can be proud of, and that I can talk about, and I\u2019ll no longer struggle trying to answer questions like, \u201cWhen did you have to handle a difficult situation in the work place?\u201d or \u201cWhen did you go above and beyond on a project?\u201d Before, I would have to stretch for answers, now I\u2019m being given opportunities every day to learn new things, grow my skill base, and challenge myself.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I am sure it helps that where I am working has been doing this co-op position for a few years and a handful of my current team did this co-op themselves and ended up working here, so they know how to work with students to make the best of their time. However, I think any of the available co-op positions would have proved useful and valuable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So now it comes down to the question \u2013 should you do a co-op?<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As a student, especially if you\u2019ve never worked in the field before, I say absolutely yes. Even if your school does not have a program, find places near you and try to make your own co-op, even if it\u2019s unpaid. Your school will probably work with you. It may add some extra time to your degree, but it would be worth it. As a job seeker, a co-op position could be just as valuable as a contract.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No matter what position you are in, the most important thing I am getting from working here is the network.<\/strong> I am working with fellow librarians who have been all over the field, who are members of SLA, and who know people who know people. I will be leaving here at the end of my term with my foot in door with some great people, and that alone should be enough to show the merits of a co-op.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Sarah Dashow, Senior\u00a0Assistant, INALJ Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nunavet & Yukon To co-op or not to co-op? I can\u2019t say I know any statistics on how many people go through library school with little to no professional or working background in libraries or information science, but I do know that I am one of those people.…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,5,3592,6359,6358,3667,5978,5977,6357],"class_list":["post-76751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-bio","tag-blog","tag-co-op","tag-inalj-newfoundland","tag-inalj-northwest-territories","tag-inalj-nunavut","tag-inalj-yukon","tag-sarah-dashow"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/sarah-dashow.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-jXV","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/76752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}