By Heather Liau

Julie Walchli has an ACE up her sleeve when it comes to innovative hiring solutions.

Currently President of the Association for Co-operative Education in BC/Yukon (ACE), Julie Walchli has worked in the field of co-operative education since 1997.

That was when she founded the first co-op education program in Arts at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in the English Department.  Since then, she has helped to create an Arts-wide program that offers career training and opportunities to students throughout all undergraduate programs in the faculty and a graduate co-op program at UBC’s School of Library, Archival, and Information Studies.

ACE represents 17 public, post-secondary institutions across the region that offer co-operative education programs. In 2011/12, 10,682 BC students completed paid, full-time co-op terms—a nine per cent increase from the year before.

What role does ACE play in the support of BC businesses and non-profit organizations’ human resource needs?
ACE acts as a unified voice that lobbies the government and other industry partners to strengthen co-operative education in the province. Currently ACE has proposed options to encourage more small businesses to hire co-ops through hiring incentives, including a small business tax subsidy. Recently, ACE and its member institutions used their collective voice to demonstrate the value of a three-year special program the BC Arts Council administered for co-op hiring in the arts and culture sector. We were delighted to see the provincial government’s recent announcement that the program is being funded for another year, as we know these will provide numerous learning opportunities for students in arts and culture. Our aim is to continue advocating for similar co-op funding opportunities for small businesses and non-profit organizations across the sectors in BC.

How can co-op hiring support the skills shortage and human resource mobility issues that companies in BC are facing?
Co-op students are a flexible, highly-skilled source of short term labour for special projects or peak periods. They’re also a great way to bring in expertise the organization might not already have, especially the latest skills students learn in school.

In the short term, students make up a talent pool that is highly mobile and can fill positions across BC, from densely populated city centres to more remote locations in the province. In the long term, hiring co-op students is a proactive way for organizations to feed their pipeline for permanent roles, especially given the changes we are experiencing with an aging workforce. The co-op model allows employers to assess fit and performance without much risk, while also getting a jump on identifying star students that they can hire after graduation.

In 2010, self-employed and small businesses with less than 50 employees accounted for 98 per cent of all businesses in BC*. With such a high proportion of small businesses, are there resources to support the hiring of a co-op student? *Source: Small Business Profile 2011: A Profile of Small Business in British Columbia
Canada Summer Jobs is a federally funded program that many employers use to hire co-op students during the May to August term. Small businesses with 50 or fewer employees are eligible to apply, as well as non-profit organizations and public sector employers.

The application period is typically in February of each year. For 2013, the deadline to apply is February 28^th and more information is online. Be sure to check the local priorities set out for each region, as this is part of the application assessment.

How can participating in co-op programs help address the issue of youth unemployment?
Studies show that 90 per cent of co-op graduates receive job offers within one month after graduation, versus 19 per cent of non-co-op graduates**. By participating in co-op programs, students develop critical skills needed to succeed in the workplace, thereby making them more marketable to employers after graduation and helping them get a head start above non-co-op students. Co-op students also graduate with smaller debt load and a professional network that they can leverage and build on for years to come.

**International handbook for cooperative education: An international perspective of theory, research and practice of work-integrated learning, 2004

There seems to be many kinds of student labour. How is the co-operative education model unique and how would an employer make the most of it?

The co-op model is unique in that students are integrated into organizations as paid, full-time members, working in four, eight or sometimes 12 month blocks throughout the year, not just in the summer. Students do co-op as part of their post-secondary degree programs so are highly-motivated to perform well. Many co-op programs pre-screen students to participate in co-op, so employers gain access to high-calibre candidates who are a direct fit for the work that needs to be done.

To make the most of co-op, supervisors can find out and help develop their students’ learning goals and provide opportunities to achieve those goals during the work term. As co-educators, employers play an important role in teaching students workplace skills to complement their academic studies. The employer would be supporting the growth of a highly-productive employee during the course of the co-op term and ideally beyond if he/she is hired after graduation.

To access BC co-op students, employers can visit the ACE website at www.co-op.bc.ca as a one-stop source for posting with multiple schools across the province. If you need guidance, co-op staff can work with you to develop your job description and support your hiring needs at no cost.

Heather Liau is Co-Chair of the External Relations Committee with the Association for Co-operative Education in BC/Yukon (ACE). She is also Manager of Marketing & Industry Relations with the University of British Columbia’s Arts Co-op Program.