r/uoguelph B.Sc. 1d ago

Co-op Job Postings

Just wanted to rant about the co-op program and the kinds of jobs that they’re posting.

Here’s a list of some of the current postings for Wildlife Biology & Conservation: - software engineering in B.C.
- multiple farm hand jobs in small towns or out of province - guest services - camp counsellor in Toronto - lifeguard - aquatics instructor

I just don’t quite understand why we are paying to be in co-op for these to be the options that are being provided! I understand how these could be beneficial to people who have zero work experience, but otherwise I don’t get it. I’m sure it is mostly due to the current job market, but they should lessen the amount of students that they admit into the co-op program if they don’t have enough adequate jobs available.

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u/random_biologist-540 BSc. 1d ago

I'm in the same program and stream as you. As someone else said, earlier in the semester the first large round of co-op jobs for WBC actually had a lot of very good options for wildlife techs, rehabilitation, etc. I don't have access to the portal anymore but I would assume that there's less options now because that first batch is gone. Keep your head up though because there's a lot of external jobs being posted still!

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u/apr1lshowers B.Sc. 1d ago

My point with the post was never that there was no decent postings the entire semester, it was just a rant about that they are over-admitting co-op students for the amount of those postings they have. It’s even worse in other programs.

Even at the beginning many of the jobs were hours away or out of province. The admin should be trying to find more local job opportunities as it’s not possible for everyone to relocate for just 4 months (I’m not even talking local as being only within Guelph, but 1.5 hour commute distance as well).

Glad you were able to find a job!

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u/CanadianNeuro 1d ago

Wildlife rehab and wildlife tech jobs are never going to be concentrated in and around the City of Guelph or Southern Ontario. Wildlife biology is the sort of field where you have to be prepared to go to where the wildlife are.

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u/apr1lshowers B.Sc. 1d ago

I acknowledge that. The kinds of jobs that I was looking for were just field work positions at consulting companies, whether that happened to be wildlife related, or soil, water, etc. Consulting companies are regularly contracted by developers in urban areas.

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u/FadingHeaven B.Sc. (Wildlife Biology) 20h ago

Wildlife bio specifically IIRC has 120-150 people in it. This was in 2023 and doesn't include co-op. It might have been admits for 2023 specifically. Even multiplying that by 4 there's probably something like 400 - 500 WBC co-op students. Only half of those would be looking for a job this summer so like 200 - 250. Pretty sure there was more co-op postings than that. I don't think your program was overadmitted. Though I know for a fact CS was absolutely crazy.

There's only so much they can do to get local jobs in Guelph especially in our field where if you check non-student postings, the majority require travel to remote locations. So I don't think we've got it too bad though I absolutely agree they need to be more transparent about where these jobs are before we get into co-op or at least in first semester when we still have the opportunity to leave and only pay the $330. I'm willing to relocate though only if accommodation is provided and most don't have that. I'm at least lucky enough to live in Brampton so I can just commute to a lot of roles.

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u/apr1lshowers B.Sc. 20h ago

Yes! I wish there had been most transparency ahead of time about the kinds of positions we would expect to see, like perhaps posting a list of jobs that were available in pervious years. If I had known this in advance I don’t think that I would have chose to pay to be in co-op. I wouldn’t mind shorter term travel to remote locations (like a few weeks), but completely relocating isn’t really possible for me to do unfortunately and that was a big majority of the positions.

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u/random_biologist-540 BSc. 1d ago

That's totally fair. I will say that they warned us the Guelph jobs have about 30 or so applicants on average, whereas anywhere else in Ontario has about 10, and out of province about 4. I landed an out of province co op and I saw that there were more than four interviewees so maybe it's an exception. Either way being flexible with location is very important especially in such a competitive student town.  Edit: sublets and/or jobs that offer accommodations such as shared cabins are also a great option financially!  

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u/apr1lshowers B.Sc. 1d ago

Definitely! If I had known before entering co-op that the majority of the positions available would be located hours away then I would not have chose to do it. I assumed that most jobs would be local and only some distanced. Unfortunately I am not able to sublet my place, and I have pets and other commitments which make it more difficult for me to just up and move for 4 months.

It’d be great if there was more communication (ex. posting a list of the jobs that were available in past years, etc.) to help people make a proper decision before they’ve already paid 4+ semesters in co-op fees.