Prepped for reality: Canadore College Co-op placement is confidence booster.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: TRAINING & EDUCATION

When Canadore College student Krystal Robertson thinks back on her co-op experience, it was more than being parachuted from the relaxed campus life into the button-down environment of a government office.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

A 16-week taste of the real worsld became a real confidence booster that she has translated into her studies.

The third year Canadore College Business Administration student in North Bay feels she has leg up on her peers when she graduates this spring into an uncertain job market.

The Sudbury native was part of Canadore's school of business co-operative education program, completing two placements, one at the town office in nearby Callander, and another at the Ministry of Transportation (MTO)'s McKeown Avenue offices in North Bay.

She was assigned to the ministry's outreach program to get young people in colleges, universities and high schools thinking about careers at the MTO and in the public sector.

The daily preparation, report writing, deadlines, problem-solving skills and the interaction with professionals helped take her abilities to another level.

"It's something you don't learn in school," said Robertson. "It really helped me step outside of my bubble."

Once a shy and reserved student, the experience enable her to deliver a presentation "with conviction" and sharpened her study skills.

"I've got 4.0 in all my classes and I think it's because I've been able to apply my real-world practical knowledge to the text book, and vice-versa."

She emerged from the placement feeling as if she had contributed something, and that the ministry had invested something back in her. Along the way, she squirreled enough money away to pay for a year's tuition.

Robertson, who wants to get into the human resources field, highly recommends the program. "I don't know where I'd be if I didn't do it. I'm not sure if I would be achieving my academic goals."

Canadore has developed a student pipeline straight into the provincial ministries along with local mining suppliers, banks and small businesses in the city. Six programs at Canadore - including business administration--participate in co-op with as many as 50 students signed up.

The fresh blood and youthful enthusiasm is certainly welcomed in the MTO offices, said Cindy Bethune, head of the Ministry's Business Support Section in North Bay.

She serves as the point person placing Canadore students within the various provincial government offices in North Bay. The MTO has had five...