My Co-op Experience: Part 1

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You may have noticed that I disappeared from the blog for a while… and that is because for the past year I have been off campus working for Kimberly-Clark Corporation as a co-op student. I plan to share my co-op experience with you all in a three-part blog series.

 When I started college, I was not planning to do a co-op at all, in fact I was eager to complete my four years of school as fast as I could. It was only when I talked to other co-op students that I realized it was something I might be interested in.

For a little background, a co-op is essentially an extended internship. The difference is that you spend multiple terms with the same company, usually with a different work assignment each term. It is a great way to really get to know a particular company and the various opportunities they offer, as well as a way to get work experience that is more in-depth than is possible during a single summer internship.

Purdue has a ton of resources for students interested obtaining a co-op position, and different programs to meet the needs of all students. To learn more about the Purdue co-op program, click here! 

I found out about Kimberly-Clark when I met some recruiters at a Society of Women Engineers networking event before the Fall career fair, Industrial Roundtable (IR). I was really drawn to what they told me about the types of projects that their co-ops work on, as well as the company culture. I showed my interest by visiting their IR booth as well as talking to recruiters at other networking events, and I ended up obtaining an interview for a co-op position.

The night after my interview, I received a call that I had gotten the position, and I was thrilled! I was scheduled to start the following summer in Neenah, Wisconsin at one of their research headquarters.

In a traditional co-op arrangement, usually you rotate between work and school each semester until you fulfill the number of co-op terms you committed to with the company. In my case however, I decided to do all of my work sessions consecutively because of my plan of study, which meant I was going to be off campus for an entire year.

It was a little scary at first to imagine being away from school and my friends for a year, but at the same time it was also very exciting to have the opportunity to get in-depth industrial experience.

Look out for the next part of the series where I share what I worked on during my co-op terms!


-LilyAnn

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