Student Internship Experiences

No good reason ‘not’ to co-op, according to this accounting senior

Student: Caroline Wong. senior, accounting
Co-op company: IBM, Raleigh/Durham (RTP)
Position: Fixed Asset Accountant
Role and responsibility: Responsibilities primarily involve capitalizing assets and correcting data errors. I also am responsible for answering depreciation questions for the divisions I support.

Q: Why did you seek out a co-op opportunity?

A: I sought out a co-op opportunity because I wanted to gain work experience and have something on my resume to set myself apart from my classmates when I graduate.

Q. Why did you select this one?

A. I only applied for one, and I got the job, so I did not need to look for other options.

Q. What were your expectations for the co-op?

A. I expected to have real work. I'm really happy with my co-op because I can see that I do real work. My manager told me specifically that if I weren't there at my desk, there would be a full-time employee doing that work.

Q. What were your responsibilities? How did you prepare for them? How did you get acclimated to the position?

A. My general responsibility is mainly to capitalize assets. I run reports, see charges, gather information about the charges for the assets, and I put the information in the system, so the assets move from work in process to fixed assets. There is not much preparation involved daily. It is an ongoing process. We have monthly meetings during which we report on our measurements, and preparation for that includes inputting numbers into a spreadsheet that summarizes the previous month's activities.

Q. What did you learn through the co-op? Anything surprising about yourself, about the industry, etc.?

A. I have learned the importance of preparing myself for opportunities for a career. They told us that students who don't co-op look like they're more concerned with graduating than with preparing themselves for a career and getting a job with a good company. The connections I make during my co-op will prove valuable in finding a job after graduation, and the experience on my resume will carry me if I choose to go to a different company.

Q. Additional comments you would like to share with another student about the co-op experience?

A. There's no good reason NOT to co-op. Every semester, students graduate in your program, so students should not fear graduating a semester or two "late" [co-op students alternate academic and work semesters and typically take a little longer to complete degree requirements] because employers will think much more highly of a student who took a year out to co-op and graduated in five years compared to a student who did not co-op and graduated in four years.

Plus, you get to explore a "real world" job in your field of study. I learned that I do not like finance from my first co-op. From my second, I have gotten a feel for the difference between finance and accounting. It is really nice to take a break from school. We as students get so sick of going to class, studying for tests, etc. Co-oping really makes me appreciate the precious time I do have in college. You have the rest of your life to work. Why be in a hurry to graduate? It's beneficial to take the time out and explore some career options, gain some work experience, and better position yourself professionally in the long run. You get the opportunity to earn a significant amount of money for a college student. You also get the opportunity to secure a job long-term - if you can convince your manager that they cannot get along without you.