Concerns about the job market bleed into Dalhousie’s co-op program

Gripes about co-op work terms echo in the halls of Dalhousie University’s campus, as students struggle to land the employment required for their programs. 

For many students, including Yassin Ibrahem, applying and interviewing for co-op work terms comes with many challenges. 

Ibrahem, an international third-year applied computer science student, says he sent over 200 applications through Dalhousie’s employment resources, such asmyCareer, a centralized recruitment system that integrates the university’s co-op resources for employers and aspiring employees.

“I had no other options, [other than to] take courses again and enter again to the job posting for next semester,” he says.

“It was really tough for me.”

Ibrahem was offered just two job interviews, one of which didn’t come from the resources provided by Dalhousie. 

That interview landed him a remote co-op job in the United Arab Emirates. This was his first of three required co-ops for students in Dalhousie’s applied computer science program. 

Doug Gallant, director of the program development team for Dalhousie’s work-integrated learning and co-operative education program, attributes the drop in co-op employment rates to shifts in the IT sector.

He says the computer science program is facing a slimming job market. Roughly 72 per cent of computer science students have been able to find placements through Dalhousie’s co-op program. 

“We’re going through a pretty rough patch; it was better during COVID,” Gallant says. “If I’m a computer science student, that’s not fun to go through.”

He says the current co-op employment rate for students across all programs at Dalhousie is 88 per cent, a decrease from the “usual rate” of over 90 per cent.

Is Halifax part of the problem? 

Hallie McQuinn, a second-year commerce student at Dalhousie and Halifax resident, says over half of the co-op opportunities available to her were located in Ontario. 

“There’s no way I’m going to move out of the province just for a co-op,” she says. 

McQuinn’s not the only one who struggled to find a placement in Halifax. 

“I found there were a lot more people who wanted to stay [in Halifax] than there were firms to take students,” says Nick Leech, a second-year Dalhousie master’s of architecture student.

“They encouraged us to reach out to firms in other provinces, or even abroad, to help mitigate that. It was a challenge.”

Are the resources working? 

An advisor with Dalhousie’s management career services helped McQuinn land a placement. The advisor helped her navigate the application process, assemble her resumé and prepare for interviews. 

“[The advisor] was phenomenal in helping me through the whole process,” says McQuinn. “Going through it the first time is overwhelming.”

Not everyone had a positive experience with Dalhousie’s advisors. Mar Dunkley, a third-year chemical engineering student, wasn’t so lucky. 

“When I emailed, I just got an automated response back, or a response that said, ‘If you’ve done this, do this,’” says Dunkley. “None of the things listed were what my question was about.”

Both program heads and students stress that landing a co-op requires students to advocate for themselves.

“A lot of the time it comes down to being self-driven and talking with peers and other people to see what their past application methods have looked like,” says Jacob Rusen-Steele, a second-year master’s of architecture student.

“Even though the resources are there, it’s a lot of self-directing.”

Gallant says persistence and networking are the best ways for students to separate themselves from other applicants and stand out to employers. 

“Just keep going, keep applying, never give up,” says Ibrahem. “I applied to more than 200 places, and I didn’t stop. I put in my mind that I will have a co-op, even if it is remote and far away in another country.”