Co-op Programs: the Farm Teams for Corporate America

By Philip M. Coniglio

During my more than forty years as an operations executive working in six high tech manufacturing companies here on Long Island, I observed one challenge that all of those companies I worked in faced: the lack of adequate skilled technical talent. Needless to say, recruiting that talent was a major requirement for those companies’ continued success. Even when we were able to hire entry-level engineers, a significant amount of time was spent in mentoring and training the new employees to transform them from college graduates to contributing career engineers. Frequently we had to recruit from out of the tri-state area, which entailed further risk. Once those employees relocated to Long Island, many of them would be unhappy living in an unfamiliar and high-cost area of the country, and they would prematurely quit their jobs. This would result in additional rehiring expenses because of a high turn-over rate.

All through the second half of the 20th century, many large and medium-sized manufacturing companies offered in-house career development programs to selected entry-level employees. These employees would rotate through various different departments for three to six months within the organization, working on special projects, and in the process, learn all aspects of their company’s business. As each industry started to consolidate in the late 20th century and early 21st century, many of these programs were scaled back or even eliminated, resulting in fewer career development opportunities for entry-level professionals. At the same time, with the average age of employees in most companies edging closer to retirement age, companies are finding it harder and harder to fill their diminishing ranks with qualified skilled replacements. As the business environment continues to evolve, on the job training will grow in importance as one of the key challenges facing companies.

One way for companies to address the issues of lack of skilled employees, cost of employee turnover, and a need for a long term reliable source of technical and professional talent, is to team up with a local university that offers a formal co-op program. These types of programs place students, usually when they are juniors and seniors, in full-time paid co-op positions working for local companies. The student takes a semester off from his/her coursework in order to be available to work full-time for six to eight months. This enables companies to train the co-op hires in their corporate procedures as well as evaluate their performance over a significant period of time on the job. This type of program has proven more effective than a summer or part-time internship position, which is significantly shorter in length, and which doesn’t allow the employee to be assigned to long-term projects.

Another benefit that companies can realize when they collaborate with a local university’s co-op program is that the students that participate in these programs are usually mature, career-minded individuals who have made the decision to invest additional time to obtain their degree since most of the programs require more than four years to complete. Universities find that many of the students that complete a co-op experience return to their campus with a more serious and real-world approach to their coursework. These students have gained an appreciation of how their academic training relates to the technical professions they will be entering when they graduate.

Time has proven that a well-run co-op program is a win-win for both the university and its corporate partners. Over 100 years ago universities such as Northeastern and Drexel pioneered cooperative education programs. Often these programs start in engineering programs but today many universities have expanded the co-op experience to include other majors. In 2012 Hofstra University created the Fred DeMatteis School of Engineering and Applied Science and in 2015 it introduced the first New York downstate co-op program. Plans are now in place to expand the program to our Frank G. Zarb School of Business in 2017, utilizing students in its full-time MBA program.

As the world of business continues to become globally competitive, companies must ensure that they develop every advantage they can to stay innovative. Having an efficient talent acquisition system supported by a local university co-op program goes a long way to giving that company a more effective staffing result over its competition. To use a baseball metaphor, co-op programs are the farm teams for Corporate America. A win-win for all involved!

For more information about Hofstra University’s co-op program contact:

Mr. Philip M. Coniglio

Co-op Director and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Hofstra University

Fred DeMatteis School of Engineering and Applied Science

516- 463-5548 or by email at [email protected]