SLCC’s Employment Office can be a very helpful place for students. They bridge the academic and workplace environments together for students, by providing Cooperative Education opportunities and helping students seeking employment.
The Cooperative Education program, or CO-OP, enables students to earn college credits while working. Despite the apparent benefits, many students are not taking advantage of Cooperative Education. A total of 280 students took advantage of the CO-OP program last year, and just 80 students are enrolled this current semester.
“Students don’t know about the program,” Jack Hesleph, Director of Employment and Cooperative Education said. “Some training areas don’t have a lot of internships available due to the economy.”
Another reason more students don’t take advantage of the CO-OP program is because it is not offered for certain areas of study; currently the CO-OP is only offered to students enrolled in applied science programs and general studies.
Costs for the CO-OP program are usually the same as any other class, including registration fees, and the possibility of pre-requisite classes, depending on the program.
Students might have to take pre-requisite classes depending on their program. Students have to pay registration fees for the CO-OP, the same as they would for any other class.
“The Employment Office does get the word out about Cooperative Education every semester. The office sends out a subscriber to students. There is a web page in the college’s web site, and there is a section about the CO-OP in the college catalog,” Hesleph said.
Nick Kaneshiro is an electrical engineering student who currently works in the same field he is studying at SLCC. Kaneshiro is signing up for Cooperative Education.
“I found out about Cooperative Education from an e-mail I got from SLCC,” Kaneshiro said.
The Employment Office offers different services to students who are looking for a job. In addition to putting out a list of employers that are hiring, the office has a large database of employers with about 300 job listings. The job listings are updated and changed twice a week in most main buildings, and updated once a week online on the college web site. The school does contact prospective employers to list on the job board.
The Employment Office also has computers for students to use, as well as employment specialists to assist students with the job hunt. The specialists are able to give students a referral letter for prospective employers and help the student contact the employer. They also help with resumes and provide a fax machine for the faxing of resumes.
SLCC’s Employment Offices are located at the following campuses:
• Taylorsville Redwood Campus, AD building, room 195 (801-957-4014),
• South City Campus, room W134 (801-957-4304),
• Jordan Campus, room 164B (801-957-4218).
Another means for students to find job openings are the help wanted ads in The Globe under the classifieds section. These listings are separate from the listings the Employment Office distributes.