Concordia University has been rooted in the life and workforce of Greater Montreal for nearly 50 years and the Cooperative Education Institute is proud to have been at its heart for more than 40 years.
Over the course of economic changes and shifts in the labour market, the Institute has partnered with industries to both provide a pool of talent during periods of growth and competitive human resources during downturns. Over the years, we have always been committed to supplying talented new professionals.
Our Institute, founded on the principles of workplace learning and experiential learning, ensures that student interns have the interest, skills, knowledge and professionalism required to excel in their placements. In addition, our students are prequalified, trained, and supported at every step of the process. Thanks to our approach, our partners continue to return semester after semester and year after year to hire interns. Many of these partners also dedicate a permanent intern position within a team, which allows a rotation of students in the same position throughout the year. This cycle of talent rotation is a breath of fresh air for employers, allowing them to learn from young professionals who bring different perspectives and ways of working. Employers often tell us about the lasting impact of interns beyond their time with the company.
During our mid-placement and end-of-placement evaluations, we collect employers' feedback. Note the remarks from a BRP supervisor, one of our long-time partners:
"[the intern] has demonstrated good critical thinking so far; on several occasions she brought me good strategic insights during our meetings! In terms of teamwork/collaboration, [she] shares the problems she encounters with my colleague, showing that she is capable of going beyond her duties and that she is concerned with optimization. I would also like to highlight her organization and her attention to priorities."
From another BRP supervisor regarding another intern, we received the following comments:
"She established good relationships in a very short time with her colleagues. She's a 'go-getter' who did not hesitate to contact several people to obtain the information required to move her files forward. She is extremely motivated, naturally very curious because interested in many subjects, and conducts a lot of research on her own. She has an exemplary attitude and it is very pleasant to work with [her]."
Finally, during an internship at the STM, an Institute student received the following comment:
"I find that he is very rigorous and analytical (he even found an error in a file we had been using for a long time). He understands and learns very quickly. Knowing that he was looking for another internship next summer, I took steps to renew his internship with us. As a manager, it is a pleasure to have a student like him. I also believe that we have a duty to train the generations to come."
We place great trust in the feedback and experiences of our partners, because they are the first to evaluate the performance and contribution of our students. Moreover, these employer evaluations are part of the reflective, learning-based approach we encourage in our students in the context of their studies and professional experiences.
Our students are enrolled in a variety of programs in engineering, management, the pure sciences, and the humanities and social sciences, and they put their abilities, passion and strong work ethic at the service of companies such as BRP and STM mentioned earlier, as well as Blue Solutions in the past and, starting in winter 2022, Lion Electric.
We invite you to collaborate with us and our students too — you are certainly missing out on our unique talent. As one of Quebec's most dynamic, international and multilingual institutions, our students bring not only their skills, energy and perspective, but also an international outlook and diverse language abilities that enrich the global reach of their host employers.
In addition to our flagship "Undergraduate Co-op" option (3 work terms alternating with academic semesters), we offer other options such as the one focused on graduate students ("Graduate Co-op"), flexible ("C.Edge"), intensive (ACE) or enriched by mentoring for women engineers (FEI-ELC). I therefore invite you to contact our team of coordinators who are always ready to discuss with you our 4,000 students eager to work for you as of the next academic session.
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This partner content was produced as part of the project En route! – La destination carrières en transports électriques et intelligents.
