Hi everyone,I wanted to know the value of Co-Op experience to recruiters in the management consulting industry. For young students who are graduating with no real experience, is co-op experience a large asset? Is there a difference (in a recruiter's eyes) between 1 co-op term of experience as opposed to 2 or 3?I ask simply because I'm getting mixed results in my research on what recruiters think about co-op experience. I'm leaning towards going into an MBA program that has 3 four-month co-op terms, because I'm very low on experience (basically none).Cheers,NewMBA

2-3 continuous terms in a single posting would be preferable as you can demonstrate a lot more depth and responsibility than in a single term of work experience.

Good point. I will be looking for any chances to extend my co-ops if I get them. Getting 8 months in at a place would look much better than just 4...The question still stands, however. How do recruiters tend to perceive co-op experience?

I doubt many people will even know what a co-op is. I thought it was a national chain of small supermarkets.

In the U.S., co-op programmes are well-known and well-regarded by consultancies since their graduands tend to have a more rounded business understanding and experience of tactical workplace politics. The rise of "semi-experienced" undergraduate hires has corresponded with a fall in Analysts taking early MBAs and an increase in those progressing directly to Associate grade; take from that trend what you will.

If you say on your CV ("resume" for you Americans) that you have co-op experience, I'd wager that 99.9% of people in the UK will think you spent a few months working at somewhere similar to this: http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2008/Jul/Week3/15037286.jpg

I am a graduate and therefore slightly ignorant. What is the co-op?

So is a co-op basically an internship/secondment/placement?

Interspersed work and study - like courses with placement years in the UK, except usually a co-op involves more than one placement/internship period. Both work and study components are a formal part of the degree. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_education

Sorry to confuse you, perhaps it's only a north american term. By Co-Op I just mean a short term internship of 4-8 months.