Benefits of Hosting a CO-OP
- Meet specific and/or short term staffing needs.
- CO-OP students can be used to free regular employees for projects and tasks they seem unable to start or complete under the full load of their regular duties.
- A cost-effective recruiting tool. CO-OP students could prove to be strong candidates for permanent job positions and you can shape them throughout the duration of the CO-OP to help that student become well-suited to your needs, mission and goals.
- Contact with CO-OP students and BGSU faculty and staff exposes you to new ideas, developments and technologies available in industry through higher education research.
- Through this relationship with BGSU, you are exposing your organization to developing seminars, workshops, consultants and specially designed on-site training programs.
Become a CO-OP Employer
Potential employers may contact the College of Technology Office of Cooperative Education with information about positions you have available.
Steps to Becoming a CO-OP Employer
- Contact our office to determine your specific needs as an employer. See "Requirements of a CO-OP Employer" below.
- Determine when you need students. (We are on a semester schedule)
- Send our office (via email preferred) the job description(s) of the position(s) to be advertised. (schedule)
- Our office then advertises your position using BGSU's WorkNet system. See "CO-OP Recruiting Process" below.
Requirements of a CO-OP Employer
- The CO-OP student is assigned job duties related to their major.
- The employer offers the student full-time work (40 hours a week) lasting approximately four months (one semester). Please see the CO-OP Calendar for specific dates.
- The student should be supervised by an employee who can act as a mentor for the student, someone that student can learn from.
- The student receives compensation for their employment.
- The employer completes an evaluation on the student's performance.
- The employer meets with a BGSU representative sometime during the student's CO-OP semester. A BGSU representative will schedule this meeting.
- Essentially, there should be no major difference between a CO-OP employee and a full-time/entry-level employee, this is the essence of CO-OP.
- To protect the student, the employer should practice ethical standards that follow the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) as directed by the United States Department of Labor.
- All employers are expected to comply with laws enforced by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
CO-OP Recruiting Process
Our office does most of the work for you, once we have determined an employer meets the requirements above, all you need to do is supply a job description. The detailed process (mostly conducted by our office) is listed below...
- We obtain the following information from you, the employer:
- Position Title, description, location, pay rate, etc.
- Employer contact information
- Employer company information (website, mission statement, etc.)
- Deadline Date: Date employer would like to receive student resumes (set in coordination with CO-OP semester dates and deadlines)
- We post the position on WorkNet (online recruiting system), making it available for students to log into their account and apply electronically.
- On the previously set deadline date, the students’ resumes are sent electronically to the employer contact’s e-mail account.
- The employer contact then reviews the resumes and notifies the CO-OP Office ASAP, which students are chosen to interview for the available position. The employer contact will, at this time, also provide the CO-OP Office interview dates, times and a length of interviewing time needed with each candidate of their choosing.
- The CO-OP Office will arrange interviews with the employer through one of the below locations/methods:
- BGSU Technology CO-OP Office can host the employer at our offices in Bowling Green, Ohio.
- BGSU Technology CO-OP Office can coordinate interviews at your location.
- Phone interviews.
- Video conference interviews.
- The College of Technology CO-OP Office will then contact all students who applied. Those students who were chosen will select interview times. The students who were not selected will be notified.
Employer FAQ
Please click on a question to show the answer.
How does a company become a CO-OP employer?
All details and steps are listed in the
Become A CO-OP Employer tab above.
An industry representative wanting to create a CO-OP program can contact the College of Technology Office of Cooperative Education with information about positions they have available.
Do the students have access to our available positions?
The position and the deadline date for student applications are advertised through
WorkNet, our web-based CO-OP management system. Students who are interested in the position submit their resumes through WorkNet, which are then forwarded via e-mail to the interested employer at an agreed upon deadline date.
How are interviews scheduled?
The student is notified if they will receive an interview and where it will take place. The student can be notified by the employer or the CO-OP Office and the interviews can be scheduled wherever is most convenient for the employer. The CO-OP Office will be involved as much or as little as the employer desires.
Does my company need to maintain contact with the CO-OP Office for future CO-OPs?
Yes. Our office understands that your plans may change, that is why communication is important, to keep all involved parties informed. If the employer would like to set up a future CO-OP, this can be done via your personal
WorkNet account. Please contact our office for more information.
What qualities do you look for in a CO-OP employer?
Qualities we look for in a CO-OP Employer include:
- A company who is able to provide a learning experience for a student, related to their major.
- A company who is willing to work with our offices for student application and student interviews.
- A company that is interested in supplementing its work force or interested in using CO-OP as a mechanism for grooming candidates for hire upon graduation.
Where should I go with any more questions?
Please feel free to
contact us using any of the below listed methods, or stop by our office
Maps/Driving Directions
Bowling Green State University is located in Bowling Green, Ohio. It is a two and a half hour drive from Cleveland, about one and a half hours south of Detroit and three hours north of Cincinnati.
- Interstate 75 borders the eastern edge of the campus; BGSU is located at Exit 181.
- U.S. Route 6 bypasses the south side of the city.
- Interstates 80 and 90 (the Ohio Turnpike) are only twenty minutes to the north; Turnpike exit 64 provides the most direct route to the campus.
- Toledo Express Airport is about a 30 minute drive northwest from campus.
From I-75 (from North or South) - exit 181:
- At the end of the exit ramp, turn West on OH-64, Wooster Street, to the first stoplight.
- Turn Right onto Alumni Drive and proceed North to the Visitors Center.
- At the Visitors Center, request visitors parking pass for LOT TE.
- Continue West on Alumni Drive, until you reach the stop sign.
- At the stop, turn Right onto Mercer Road.
- Continue on Mercer Road until it dead ends into Poe Road.
- Turn Left onto Poe Road and head West until you reach Park Avenue.
- Park Avenue is the first road to the left past the Airport.
- Turn Left onto Park Avenue and continue South to LOT TE.
“The program has benefited Marathon Oil Company in the following ways: It gives us an economical means of addressing cyclic manpower needs. It allows MOC to evaluate students for potential long-term employment. The CO-OP program benefits the students in the following ways: The students are able to take their classroom training and apply it in business situations. It allows the student to demonstrate his/her abilities above and beyond a resume for future employment.”
Marathon Oil Company
Your involvement and mentorship is an integral part of the goal of College of Technology, through CO-OP, to produce prepared, quality students ready to enter the workplace.
Cooperative Education is an experience that allows students the opportunity to apply academic coursework to a work environment. These experiences provide students with skills that are essential in their future careers and in life.
There are many benefits that come from participating in the CO-OP program. The student benefits from gaining related experience. The employer benefits by having the opportunity to evaluate a student before hiring them permanently. A cooperative education experience also provides employers an inexpensive way to supplement their work force for a short period of time without obligation to hire.
What are College of Technology students learning that could benefit your company/organization? The College of Technology serves eight majors. These majors include:
To recruit students for you, the employer, the Office of Cooperative Education in the College of Technology uses an online system called WorkNet to manage the process of posting available CO-OP positions and hiring students in these CO-OP positions. If interested, please contact our office on how to set up your own account, let us do the work for you!
For examples of previous students completing various cooperative education experiences, please explore our GALLERY to see examples.
Qualities of a CO-OP Employer
• A company able to provide a learning experience for a student.
• A company willing to work with our offices for student application and student interviews.
• A company interested in supplementing its work force or interested in using CO-OPs as a mechanism for grooming candidates for hire upon graduation.
CO-OP Compensation Rates
| MAJOR | MIN | AVG | MAX |
| Architecture | $9.35 | $10.75 | $20.00 |
| Aviation | $8.75 | $10.10 | $16.00 |
| Construction | $9.60 | $12.40 | $19.00 |
| Elec. & Comp. Tech. | $9.50 | $12.49 | $20.00 |
| Elec.Mech.Systems Tech. | $10.00 | $13.50 | $22.00 |
| Engineering Tech. | $10.50 | $13.85 | $21.00 |
| Mechanical Design | $11.00 | $13.80 | $20.00 |
| Visual Communications Tech. | $9.50 | $10.35 | $17.00 |
