Co-op

Who to Contact

For help finding a job, posting a job, or work related questions please contact Cheryl. For questions related to academics and work term reports please contact Greg.

When are Work Term Reports Due?

Work reports are due on the fifth class day of the semester following your work term. Please email Greg a link to your website. You do not need to get your employer to evaluate your work term report. If you are on an eight month work term at the same company doing the same job, you can submit your report at the end.

Outstanding Reports from Summer 2011

Andrew
David
Juan
Michael

SOCS Co-op Work Term Report Guidelines

All Co-op students must submit at least three work term reports during their academic career. The report is in the form of a website or blog, and you should keep adding to it as you gain Co-op experience. The University has web hosting, but it might be better to host it yourself or use a free solution such as Blogger or Wordpress so you can keep the site when you graduate. (This information was updated September 2011, and is up to date. It does not apply to past work term reports which have already been evaluated.)

Web Pages: Content

  • The website should reflect on aspects of your work term experience.


  • Elements of a Work Term Presentation
    • Abstract/Introduction
      • It is always nice to introduce the reader to your work by just telling them what you hope they will take away from the website. Make this short and to the point.
    • Information about the Employer
      • Briefly describe your employer and the area of computing science that is related to this company or agency.
      • Include interesting facts about the employer (people, location, products, etc.).
    • Goals
      • Did you have any goals for this work term?
      • Did you develop goals relating to your job tasks?
      • What skills did you want to learn?
      • What technologies did you want to work with and why?
    • Job Description
      • Give an overview of your job or project.
      • Highlight the most interesting or unique aspects of your job.
      • What skills did you need for the job? Did you learn them in class or on the job?
    • How does this job relate to your academic studies?
      • The co-op experience is suppose to enhance the academic experience. Was this true for your job placement?
    • Focus of the Report
      • This part of the report explores a particular aspect of your work term. It can focus on process, technology, the co-op experience or the people aspect of computer science and its application in business.
    • Conclusions
      • Review what is important.
      • If your audience were asked to describe the contents of your website, what would you want them to say?
    • Acknowledgments
      • Politeness dictates that you thank the people who helped you during your work term and/or in the making of this work term report.

Web Pages: Style

  • Simplicity
    • Do not be too wordy - a diagram is worth a thousand words. Be creative. Use colour!
    • Figures are always easy for your audience to appreciate. Do not be afraid to add many figures. But remember to label them and if you use images from other sources (ones you did not create) then you must properly acknowledge the source.
    • Do not use more than 3 font types (suggestions: Arial, Times New Roman, Tahoma).
    • A navigation bar or column (or some sort of table of contents) are a great idea - they organize your thoughts and guide the reader.
    • Use italics and bold to emphasize important points but do not over-use these devices.
    • Use colour but do not over-use it.
    • Make sure that the background does not overwhelm the text - remember that dark text on a light background is easiest to read.

  • Google web page design or website tutorial to learn about website design and tips.

Website Impact

Answer the following questions in your report:

  • Who?
    • Who are you - semester level, degree programme, number of work terms?
  • What?
    • What do you want the reader to remember about your website?
    • What was important about your work term?
    • What were you goals on your work term?
    • What did you learn?
  • How?
    • How did you accomplish your work term goals?
    • How did you find this work term as opposed to other work terms or if this was your first work term then how did it meet your expectations and how did it not?
  • Why?
    • Why did you chose this employer?
    • Why are you good at what you do?
    • Why are you in co-op - did this job confirm anything in your mind about the value of co-op to a B.Comp. student?