UW waterloo 1st compsci coop job

[desertfox]

Hi guys Im currently a first year cs student, and soon i'll be applying to coop job. To be honest my transcript isnt so good average in the 60s and didnt pass the elpe. Im just wondering what are the chances of me find a coop job in the CS field. Despite having a bad transcript and bad writting skills. I have a very good resume and very good oral communication skills. I just want to know how important are transcripts for first year. Like do employers turn down coop students just because they didnt perform well in school, even thou they have a pretty good resume. To be more specific, what are the chances of a person getting interviews in the computer science fields.
Thanks you very much for reading over this. Really concerned as a first year coop student...

[Tony]

Good news -- CS field has the most co-op jobs.

Bad news -- 1st year students are typically picked last, and the transcript might be the only thing to go on, if there is no relevant job experience already. Most 1st year students have fairly similar (and vanilla) resumes.

Writing custom resumes + cover letters will likely put you ahead over other 1st year students, but there's a large gap to 2nd year students who have some experience (3rd/4th years will typically not be applying to the same job pool as you). So try to find a good balance of effort.

Try to widen the area where you are willing to work (not a lot of students are willing to travel); and don't be discouraged if you are not getting many (or even any) interviews right away -- that's a norm for 1st year.

[desertfox]

Hey Tony, ty for replying so fast. Im wondering what are some useful things I could possibily do to increase my chances. Could you give me some tips that were useful when your a senior programmer or were a junior programmer. Im already making a cover letter. Besides that do you have any other tips.

[Tony]

In addition to the tips above -- take advantage of existing services offered by CECS, such as resume review/critiques. Don't take those as authoritative changes that _have_ to be made, but it could give you some additional ideas.

This is an interesting read -- http://paulbutler.org/archives/experiment-in-testing-my-resume/

[unoho]

i got a question for u guys..
wht type of question would you ask the employer at the end of the interview? also, should i ask anything related to my salary?

[Tony]

Something company specific, but if it's easily available online, you loose points for not researching the company/position ahead of time. Ideally you would go in with a number of questions for a conversation, and all of them would be answered. It's somewhat of a bad form for the interviewer to not let you ask anything until the very end.

If needed, you can always fall back on a generic "how do you like working at this company?", and watch for reaction/body-language. They will probably not allow themselves to openly criticize their employer though.

Bonus points for leaving an impression with something personal. I once had great success asking about the proximity of the closest coffee machine (it was relevant to my previous experience).

Re: salaries.
In the real world you would get an offer and then you negotiate that offer (salary, stocks, terms of contract, NDAs/non-competes, etc.) protip you can edit any contract before signing it.

UWaterloo co-op is not real world. Once you get a matched, you're "locked" into that position. This is before the signing of any documents, so you could _still_ negotiate; but should the employer choose to not accept your counter-offer and you don't get the job, Waterloo will deem it a failed workterm (I believe even if you find another employment in time).

Companies that hire Waterloo students often know this. New interviewers might be less aware of the situation. It might be odd talking about salaries if you don't even know if you'd be getting an offer, but you need to know this information. UWaterloo doesn't want employers and students talking outside of their system, but if you can get your interviewer's email address, you could discuss such details then. Another tasteful approach would be to ask how the company compares to the published "co-op salaries" chart. Keep in mind that the top 10% or so are not represented, so the numbers are somewhat skewed.

[unoho]

oh i wasn't planning on negotiating on my first co-op term.. lol just need a job..like i just wanna know how much they will be paying me so that i could get like a mental picture.

mann...this whole interview thing is soo intense...like i really dunno how to prepare myself for 30 mins interview (or even 20 mins)

[[Gandalf]]

In my experience, time flies during interviews. As long as you've done research on the company, know your stuff, and have some questions in mind, it'll be a jam packed 30 minutes. Often times, employers want detailed descriptions of your previous experience (if applicable) and skills. This alone is usually enough to keep you talking for half the interview.

Remember that both your and the employer's time are valuable. Things get right to the point quickly.