Cooperative Education & Careers

Division

Employability Programme 2 of 4 – 2022 Placement

 Your Cooperative Education Team

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Cooperative Education Manager
Cooperative Education and Careers Division
University of Limerick
Colm.Cunniffe@ul.ie
Tel: +353-61-202145
www.ul.ie/coop

www.ul.ie
You may wish to take your own notes!
Dr. Colm Cunniffe
Your Placem ent Officer
Your Cooperative Education Team
Applied Physics Mathematics and Physics Biomedical Engineering
Bioscience Pharmaceutical and Industrial Chemistry Design & Manufacture
JENNY FLYNN Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Product Design & Technology Electronic and Computer Engineering
jennifer.flynn@ul.ie Environmental Science Technology Management Engineering
Industrial Biochemistry Aeronautical Engineering Mechanical Engineering

JAMES NOLAN Civil Engineering Mobile Communications & Security Digital Media Design
james.nolan@ul.ie Construction Management and Engineering Computer Games Development Music Media & Performance Technology
Food Science & Health Computer Systems

LINDA FITZGERALD Cert in Equine Science

linda.fitzgerald@ul.ie Equine Science

NIAMH CROWE Sport & Exercise Sciences

niamh.crow e@ul.ie

NAOMI FLANAGAN Financial Mathematics

naomi.flanagan-w alsh@ul.ie Mathematical Sciences

Placement Officer is your main point of contact

Dr. Colm Cunniffe
Your learning from Employability Programme 1
• Cooperative Education Overview
• Framework – Ground rules, centrally managed, compulsory, accredited,
duration, first offer condition, communication via e-mail (etiquette,
exclusive use of your student e-mail account).
• Employability as a mindset
• Perspective – Educational / Student / Employer
• Learning on Cooperative Education
• Mobility
• Own Placements / Exemptions
• Inclusion
• Code of Practice
Dr. Colm Cunniffe
 Employability Programme 2
Take Away For Today
• Know 3 Documents to Submit - how & by when to submit
1. Learning Outcomes - Pre-Coop Reflective Assessment Form
2. Code of Practice
3. Online Coop CV

• Top Take Away; well crafted well structured content in a Coop CV that
evidences past achievements as indicators of future potential across
baseline key definitions of what employability looks like on a Coop CV.

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

 • Beginning a professional journey – placement
is a role employability is a mind-set.
• Build employability through placement
Cooperative Education • Build confidence through experience

Perspectives •
•
Build resilience through change
Build identity through engagement

Student Perspective

• Human capital – Formal skills /

education / knowledge
• Investment in talent • Identity Capital – Your Professional
• story / next chapters
Opportunity to identify talent at an
early stage
Employer Educational
• Psychological Capital – Resilience /
• Platform for graduate recruitment
Perspective Perspective responding to change & challenge
• Social Capital – Networks / World
view / role models

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

 Employability skills are defined as skills
required not only to gain employment, but
also to progress through a lifelong career.

Cooperative Education Coop will give you the opportunity to develop:

Your new Learning Communication skills

• Teamwork skills
Paradigm Employability as a • Problem solving
• Self-management skills
mindset • Planning and organising skills
• Technology skills
• Life-long learning skills
• Initiative and enterprise skills

Moving from • Human capital

Summative • Identity Capital
Developing your
Assessment to • Psychological Capital
Capital
Formative • Social Capital
Learning

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

 Cooperative Education framework

• The 60 credits attached to Cooperative Education are awarded on

the basis of successfully completing a placement with the company
that returns the first offer of placement to the Cooperative Education
Division.
• Attendance is compulsory at all interviews.
• There are strict limits to location restrictions.
• Code of Practice.

ALL OF THE ABOVE IS UNIVERSITY POLICY AS APPLIED TO ALL

STUDENTS THAT SEEK TO SECURE 60 CREDITS UNDER THE
COOPERATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAMME

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Cooperative Education
Three components to
complete this Code of Practice
semester

Learning
Online CV
Outcomes

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

CODE OF PRACTICE

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

 Code of Practice

COOPERATIVE EDUCATION – CODE OF PRACTICE

This document sets out a Code of Practice for the effective delivery of the Cooperative Education Placement Programme. It has been designed to inform students of the behaviours expected
from them across the placement process. This ensures that the placement process runs as smoothly as possible.

All students undertaking a Cooperative Education placement are required to:

1. Abide by the University of Limerick Code of Conduct.

2. Act with increased self-responsibility whilst undertaking Coop placement and to be mindful of their role as a representative of and an ambassador for the University of Limerick.
3. Attend all advertised employability programmes, briefing sessions and workshops relating to their placement.
4. Access and read all material / information brought to their attention regarding their Coop placement.
5. Correctly complete and submit all Cooperative Education documentation (CV, Pre Coop assessment form and a signed copy of this document) by the specified deadline.
6. Attend all scheduled Cooperative Education interviews and accept the first placement offer received – the only valid offer of placement is the first offer received from the employer via the
Cooperative Education and Careers Division.
7. Adhere to submission deadlines in respect of Own Placement paperwork if opting to organise their own placement.
8. Comply with all procedures and deadlines regarding Garda Vetting requirements for placements.
9. Obtain relevant social insurance and tax details prior to the commencement of placement.

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

 Code of Practice

10. Be aware of the protections under the national and international legislative framework with regards employment.
11. (a) To follow with due care the onboarding requirements of the placement organisation such as contract, medicals, vetting etc.
(b) Familiarise themselves and comply with working practices, rules and regulations set out by the placement organisation such as health and safety, confidentiality, privacy, any restrictions
on the use of internet, email and telephone and any other applicable company policies.
12. Purchase and produce evidence of insurance if undertaking Coop placement abroad. Insurance cover must be for the entire duration of the Coop placement.
13. Where required, organise an appropriate entry visa to the country where the placement organisation is located. Students must ensure that the type of visa obtained will entitle them to
work and to remain in the host country for the entire duration of the Coop placement.
14. Organise accommodation for the duration of Coop placement, where necessary.
15. Comply with any reasonable request and carry out the work programme directed by the placement organisation.
16. Complete the entire duration of the Cooperative Education placement as agreed by Employer and University.
17. Complete and submit the Cooperative Education Report on or before the due date.
18. Retain both the e-mail receipt obtained on submission and a copy of their Cooperative Education Report.

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

 Code of Practice

By signing this I declare that:

1. I am aware of the contact details of the Cooperative Education & Careers Division (CECD) staff assigned to my placement.
2. I know how to alert the appropriate CECD staff of any concerns relating to my placement.
3. I understand that the detail provided on my CV will be circulated to employers and subsequently may be circulated internally within the employers’ organisation to hiring managers as part of
the interview selection process.
4. I understand that my name and contact details will appear on circulated interview panels.
5. I understand that the evaluation processes attached to the Cooperative Education programme will involve input from CECD staff, UL faculty and employers. Anonymised material will be
used to statistically represent and support research based measurements of placement outcomes.
6. I agree that a copy of my Coop Report can be published as reference material to future students, and to support other Coop-related activities including but not limited to, for example,
quality and accreditation reviews. I understand that at the point of Coop Report submission I can request to have my report marked as confidential.

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Pre-Coop Reflective Assessment Form

A base line framework of core competencies – self

assessed on a scale of 1-4

• Basic Work Skills

• Communication Skills
• Problem Solving
• Inter-personal / Teamwork
• Cultural Awareness
• ICT
• Organisational Awareness

EP1 - Placement is an occurrence; Employability is a mind-set

Dr. Colm Cunniffe
CV

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

 Transferable Skills

• Communication Skills
• Teamwork
• Problem solving & Analytics
• Using Initiative
• Projects / Portfolio / Volunteering
• Additional Information

• Evidence of past behaviours is the most compelling indicator of

future performance

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

 Gather the Evidence
• Extra Curricular story of you
• LinkedIn
• Driving Licence
• Blog/Social Media/Editing
• Clubs & Societies
• Volunteering
• PowerPoint/EXCEL
• Key projects

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Gather the technical evidence – as appropriate to your
discipline
• Self reliant problem solver
• Labs – what experiments and techniques
• Projects – what technical skills were developed
• Extra curricular projects
• Discuss technical challenges with peers, get a broader perspective
• Your projects (ideally from your CV) - what do they demonstrate?
• Your favourite/most relevant classes
• Things that make you unique (hobbies, interests, etc.)

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

 Structure the Evidence pg. 7-11
Communication Skills
Teamwork
Problem solving & Analytics
Using Initiative
Projects / Portfolio /
Volunteering
Additional Information
• Evidencing skills is really important on a Coop CV.
• Research S.T.A.R. competency based responses.
P.9
• The technical evidence Context/objective/outcome
• No section should be blank or too short.
• All responses must be evidence based.
• Review the language of recruitment
• Refer to Hand-out for ‘Top Tips’ P. 17
• Embed LinkedIn/
Dr. Colm Cunniffe
Showcase the Evidence

• You should aim to have approximately six sentences in each

skill section. When outlining the example be very specific about
your contribution as an individual. Your example should be
structured by using the STAR model.
• Situation (What was the context)
• Task (What tasks or components were involved in the situation)
• Actions (What did you actually do, how did you do it, what was your
thought process)
• Result (what was the outcome in that situation)

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

The online Coop CV

What gives you the

competitive edge?

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Tangible Skills

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

 What gives YOU the competitive edge?
Communication Skills Refer to presentations delivered to class
groups/experience in customer service/Hons English or
evidence of good written skills/evidence of good listening
skills.

Teamwork How do you participate on team projects? What do you

bring to a team? What do Employers look for when
Assessing Teamwork Skills? Evidence based example –
not subjective opinion.
Clubs and Societies memberships, both currently and in
the past.
Mention any particular activities or assignments
undertaken by you in college/work experience.
Speak about projects you have undertaken as part of a
group.

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

 What gives YOU the competitive edge?
Problem solving & Analytics EXCEL
We all have to deal with problems on a daily basis.
Outline how you organise your time with regard to work
and study, and make informed, effective and timely
decisions.
Technical projects where you have demonstrated a good
approach to Problem Solving

Using Initiative What Do Employers Look For When Assessing Initiative:

How you approached research for particular essay/project,
How you tried to find summer jobs?
How you helped a local organisation fundraise?

Projects / Portfolio / Volunteering Portfolio is dealmaker – Dress the window / Evidence /

WOW
Add links to e-portfolios

Additional Information Any further information on soft skills, certifications you

may have i.e. Adventures hobbies ‘interesting story’

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Notes on CV portal
• Email addresses and contact numbers do not appear on the pdf CV sent to employers as all contact with employers
is centralised through the Coop Office.
• Miscellaneous section – this appears when you log in to the CV but does not appear on the print preview/printed
CV/pdf CV sent to employers.
• Work Experience – In print preview/printed CV only 3 sets of work experience appear. All sets of experience will
appear on the pdf CV sent to employers.
• Key Skills section – This section is accessed via the Skills link at the top and bottom right hand corner of the CV,
you cannot type directly into this section of the CV.
• Changes to the CV not saving – The Job Title section of Work Experience is restricted in length as it only intended
to be a title not a description of the role. If the Job Title is too long no changes you make to your CV will save.
Please complete all other section of the CV first and Save, then complete Work Experience.
• You can print the CV from My Student Reports and Student CV Report.

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Top 5 Feedback Statements

• In teamwork if you had a leadership role at any time please

mention it and what your responsibilities in that role were.
• Add in any work experience from this summer. If you are
short on work experience in general, remember that unpaid
work or volunteering counts so please include.

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Top 5 Feedback Statements

• Check your spelling, grammar, punctuation and capitalisation.

Please ensure you have capital letters after a full stop, at the
beginning of sentences, organisation/employer names, job titles,
place names, module titles. Please ensure all sentences end with
full stops. There is no spell check on the CV so it would be good
to also ask someone you know to look over it.
• In problem solving please give a specific example of a problem
you came across and how you went about resolving it.

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Top 5 Feedback Statements

• You should aim to have approximately six sentences in each

skill section. When outlining the example be very specific about
your contribution as an individual. Your example should be
structured by using the STAR model.
• Situation (What was the context)
• Task (What tasks or components were involved in the situation)
• Actions (What did you actually do, how did you do it, what was your
thought process)
• Result (what was the outcome in that situation)

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Employability
Improving my chances of getting CoOp?

Personal & Previous

Education Employment • CV review
feedback -
responsibilities
Skills Profile Skills Profile
Competencies Key Skills

"REAL“ Relevant, Edited well, Action orientated, Leads to interview invitations

Dr. Colm Cunniffe
UPCOMING SCHEDULE THIS
SEMESTER

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

 Event Name Date Time Location
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Mobile Communication and Network Security TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Pharmaceutical and Industrial Chemistry TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Food Science & Health TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Chemical and Biochemical Engineering TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Environmental Science TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Electronic & Computer Engineering TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Equine Science TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Bioscience TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Mathematical Sciences TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Financial Mathematics TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Sport and Exercise Science TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Product Design & Technology TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Technology Management TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Applied Physics and Mathematics & Physics TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Industrial Biochemistry TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering TBC TBC Online
Coop - SciEng - Workshop - Construction Management & Engineering Dr. Colm Cunniffe TBC TBC Online
NEXT STEPS

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

 key Task -
Self auditing on skills/gaps ..build evidence.. draft your story(CV)

Coop Booklet

• Complete the reflective Assessment P.15

• Gather the evidence for your Coop CV P.7-14
• Structuring the evidence based content in the open text box p 9-11
• Instructions on how to Access & complete the Cooperative
Education CV P15 - 19
• Check & Submit your paperwork P.18
• Read the fine print P. 19

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

To date… EP1 & EP2…. Shared understanding
that…
• Coop is worth 60 credits and is mandatory
• Monitor your student e-mails – respond & take action to requests
• Submit required paperwork on time
• Golden Rule : Attend all interviews & accept your first offer
• Engage with your Coop Team
• Plan & prepare to relocate for Coop
• Read, understand & sign the Code of Practice

Dr. Colm Cunniffe

 Your next steps are (please complete in the exact order listed below as each step will
automatically direct you to the next step):

1. Complete your Pre-Coop Assessment Form at:

a. http://www3.ul.ie/coop/coop/students/pre_coop_skills.php (register at the link if you have

WHAT DO not done so already)

b. Once you have fully worked your way through the form, click “Submit” and this will direct you

YOU NEED to step 2 – (this will open a survey in a new tab).

2. Read, Sign and Agree to the Code of Practice

TO DO? a. Once you have fully completed the Code of Practice, click on “Submit” and this will direct you
to step 3 – (this will take you to the student portal).
3. Complete your online CV on the student portal (http://www.si.ul.ie/urd/sits.urd/run/siw_lgn)
a. The attached booklet details the steps on how to complete the Coop CV via the portal
b. When you have completed your CV please ensure you click on “Save”

4. Submission deadline – Wednesday April 7th

Dr. Colm Cunniffe