by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
Alumnus Jayson Capps wanted a career in marketing, but he was majoring in fine arts.
He signed up for UNM's Cooperative Education Program and worked as a marketing intern for Career Services for six semesters. After he graduated, the office hired him as a professional intern.
"I was able to work under someone who could really give me some guidance," he said. "I learned things I never would have been exposed to with my fine arts major. Plus, I got a job after I graduated."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
The program allows students to work at an internship for one semester and keep their status as full-time students.
"This is a great opportunity for students to get experience in their field," said Jenna Crabb, director of Career Services. "We have students working out of state and not taking any classes, but they're learning so much."
Students have to return to school and enroll full time after their internship.
Students can also work part time and take classes for consecutive semesters.
The internship appears on transcripts but is worth zero credits.
"Because it's on your academic transcript, it shows that you applied what you're learning in class," Crabb said. "It carries more weight than it just being on your rÇsumÇ."
Fifty students are in the program this semester, working at places including Citigroup, the Library of Congress and Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Of those, 34 are international students, and 34 are graduate students.
The program is popular with international students because they can't work on a student visa unless it is related to their studies, Crabb said.
The average hourly wage is $17.97. The lowest is $6 an hour, and the highest is $60.
"We have students making some pretty good money," Crabb said.
Students can find their own internship, or Career Services can find an internship in their field.
"We really have a great collaboration with employers," Crabb said. "A lot of people want UNM students."
At the end of the semester, the student and employer fill out a form to evaluate the internship.
"It's great, because the employee and the employer both get to learn," Crabb said. "The student learns what they could improve, and the employer learns how to make the internship more helpful."
Capps said the feedback was one of his favorite parts of the internship.
"It's really nice," he said. "It's good to see in writing how well you did."
Crabb said more students should participate in the program.
"Any student that's working in their field should be in the co-op program," she said. "It's free, and it just takes a little bit of paperwork."
How to sign up
Eligibility
Undergraduate - 24 completed credits, 2.5 GPA
Transfer student - 12 completed credits, 2.5 GPA
Graduate - Nine completed credits, 3.0 GPA
Students must register with Career Services and have an online profile with a current rÇsumÇ.
Signing up
1. Make an appointment with Career Services to get approval for the internship.
2. Fill out the co-op agreement form, available at Career.unm.edu. Collect the necessary signatures and an unofficial transcript.
3. Get the call number and register on LoboWeb. Students can register for the program until the last day to add classes.
Source: Career.unm.edu
