GENERAL CAREER AND CO-OP CENTER FAQS
Your career development success will depend entirely upon you! But luckily, we’re here to help with each step of your journey. You can find a year-by-year roadmap in our Career Strategy: Steps to Success Year By Year Guide.
Absolutely! You can set up a one-on-one appointment on Handshake with one of our full-time staff members for any of the topics above.
Additionally, you can drop-in without an appointment to go over resumes, cover letters, and basic interview prep with our Career Peers.
Yes – we have a dedicated interview room for phone, virtual, and in-person interview rooms. You can reserve the room by stopping in to the Career and Co-op Center. The interview room is not a study space – we keep it available for students and employers.
The Engineering Career and Co-op Center is located on the third floor of F. Paul Anderson Tower (FPAT). You can find directions and our business hours here.
No, we do not place students. Students earn their place! What that means is that students have ownership over their career success journey and they can pursue co-ops, internships, and research opportunities that best fit their goals.
We are very proud of the positive feedback we consistently get from employers regarding how our students perform during the job search process, and we believe that is because students choose the opportunities and earn their place with employers!
You can learn more about what we do here.
CO-OP AND INTERNSHIP FAQS
Some might say the difference is semantics as some employers may use the terms interchangeably, but in the Career and Co-op Center we use the term “co-op” to refer to a semester-long or year-long paid experiential education opportunity. “Internship” in our office refers to a summer experience or part-time experience during the academic year.
Key differences between co-ops and internships:
• Co-ops are typically longer which means they allow students more time than an internship to build skills, increase responsibilities, and complete projects.
• Co-ops are a full-time/40 hours per week experience and students must enroll in the Engineering Co-op class in order to maintain their full-time enrollment and academic standing. Summer internships do not require enrollment in the Co-op class.
No, co-ops are not required but they are expected. We know that students who plan to go into industry, who plan to go on to graduate programs in engineering or computer science, and who plan to go into the medical field will be more competitive with co-ops rotations included in their experiences. In addition to the hands-on aspect of experiential learning, students completing 2-3 co-op rotations have significantly higher starting salaries than students who did not participate in co-ops.
Absolutely! In fact, the Engineering Career and Co-op Center strongly discourages unpaid co-ops or internships in agreement with the NACE’s Position Statement on Unpaid Internships. Our students have the right to expect financial compensation for the work they do as co-ops and interns. If you would like to get an idea of what kind of pay Pigman College of Engineering and Computer Science students can expect, please review the average hourly salaries for our co-ops and interns.
We strongly discourage students from adding to their co-op responsibilities with additional classes. Co-op roles typically require students to work 40 hours per week so classes could only be completed online or in person outside of a traditional work day. (Online classes and class work cannot be completed during your paid co-op working hours.)
We do not have a restriction on co-op location or companies for our engineering and computer science students. The companies do need to be doing work that is related to engineering or computer science, but they do not have to be in Kentucky. In fact, we have students take co-op opportunities all over the country.
Students are often offered some form of assistance with housing from co-op employers. While not all employers offer financial assistance, more and more are making it a part of their co-op experience. If you have questions or need help navigating this part of your co-op search, please make an appointment to talk with one of our full-time staff members.
What if I have a housing contract for the UK Residence Halls?
If your co-op will be out of town, you can usually be released from your housing contract without penalty for a co-op. Do not do anything with your housing contract before you speak with Zach Fuqua!
If your co-op assignment will be in Lexington and you have a housing contract, you do not have to do anything! Because you will be enrolled in the Co-op Class, your housing eligibility remains the same.
Students are able to defer scholarships or financial aid during a co-op due to enrollment in the co-op class, which maintains full-time enrollment, while only paying tuition on the credit hours enrolled. It is important to make an appointment with Zach Fuqua to discuss your situation. You will need to complete a simple deferral process with the appropriate scholarship office. For current rates and information on tuition and fees please visit the UK Tuition and Fees information page.
Yes. Under current INS regulations, any student in the U.S. with an F-1 visa may work up to 364 days under Curricular Practical Training (CPT) authorization. CPT requires that international students receive credit for both Co-op and internship assignments outside of university work. Be sure to talk with Zach Fuqua, your academic advisor, and the International Office because there are complexities to the policies in place for international students and co-ops as well as important distinctions to keep in mind regarding employers/employers’ industries while you search for co-ops.