Are you having trouble finding good staff for the upcoming high season? Many employers have turned to co-operative education placements to ensure they have quality seasonal employees. Co-op placements involve a post-secondary student spending a period of time (up to eight months) in a paid position in a hospitality organization.
The lodging sector is one of the biggest employers of students from tourism-related programs, and educational institutions around the province usually schedule their cooperative placements so that students are available at peak times.
Larry Iles, chairperson of the Co-operative and Career Education department at the University College of the Cariboo, and provincial co-ordinator for co-op placements, says that 2003 saw 3,304 placements from hospitality, tourism and recreation programs around the province.
Iles and University of Victoria employer relations coordinator Nikki Bridger agree on the numerous advantages of hiring a co-op student. Apart from being available during peak periods, these placements provide the flexibility to have regular staff, or the student, work on short-term projects. They are also a very cost-effective method of hiring full-time staff. The placement gives employers a first-hand look at an individual's performance with no guarantees of continuing employment.
The quality of employee also tends to be high, since these are career-minded individuals getting some practical experience in their chosen profession. And that's important, when you consider that skilled hospitality managers will be in great demand in the future. In fact, a recent labour study associated with the 2010 Winter Games indicated that there would be 36 per cent more openings than people to fill them in these important management roles.
One employer who is taking full advantage of co-op placements is Peter Dutton, general manager at the Coast Harbourside Hotel in Victoria. Dutton recruits students from both the University of Victoria and Camosun College, and he benefits from motivated staff who can stay through to the end of the season. These placements also provide flexibility by allowing regular staff to take vacation during the summer. Past co-op placements now make up the core of Dutton's operation, with five working on the front desk.
Providing a positive co-op experience for the students is an important consideration. According to Paul Britton, a fourth-year student at the University of Victoria's Hospitality Management Program, "The co-op experience helps you decide if you want to stay in the industry or not." UVic places 45 to 50 students per year (some from the general business program). Britton spent eight months at the Delta Vancouver Airport, and he is firmly committed to a career in hospitality. He credits Delta's willingness to cross-train across different departments as instrumental to his successful placement.
Not all co-op placements are successful. One international study showed that the percentage of students who wanted to pursue a career in the industry dropped significantly as students gained more experience in the industry. Bridger emphasizes the importance of partnerships between educators and industry to ensure that the program is successful for both parties. Dutton agrees: "We are the end user of the education product." And getting it right may be one solution to finding all those managers you are going to need.
Visit our Training Directory. There you will find a number of Programs where work placements, including co-op, form a component of the program.
