Co-op Advisor

Term: 1 year

The Coop Advisor is the primary support person for students during their coop experience at Waterloo. Coop Advisors support students from their first academic term through to graduation preparing them for coop success and providing support throughout all recruitment and work terms. The Coop Advisor is an integral coop support working collaboratively with Account Managers Account Coordinators their own team and in connection with Facultyaligned colleagues within CEE to ensure success of all Cooperative Education stakeholders.

There are 5 one year contracts availible

Support students during their recruitment term to build job search techniques and to secure relevant and valuable work experiences

• Develop strong supportive advising relationships with students that will aid them in their job search experience
• Cultivate trust with students through Faculty and program expertise and onetoone engagement centering attention on the values and needs of the student seeking service and creating an environment that encourages the development of selfefficacy resilience and career confidence
• Guide and support students in navigating the coop employment process
• Apply understanding of relevant employment sectors to help students navigate labour market and other sources of information to build their understanding of the world of work as it aligns to their studies and career aspirations
• Tailor approach based on the individuals needs through active listening consultation and relevant content knowledge
• Support students to gain employment through resume review managing online presence work search tactics interviews negotiating salary and other job search skills
• Provide support to students leveraging Account Manager and employer relationships where needed
• Connect with oncampus partners and Facultyaligned colleagues within CEE to further support students (e.g. Academic Advisors Career Advisors Coop Student Experience Managers Centre for WIL staff Faculty Relations Managers OnCampus Counselling)

Support students during their work term to resolve issues and ensure a successful employment experience

• Support students through difficult employment issues such as: harassment discrimination and termination in a compassionate and thoughtful manner
• When additional support is needed refer students to the Student Mental Health Advisor Workplace Harassment Advisor or Counselling Services
• Contact and meet with students virtually during work terms as needed to ensure optimal student experience
• Support the student/supervisor relationship as needed i.e. issue resolution performance concerns etc
• Solicit individual student feedback on work term measures including overall experience compensation quality of support and coop processes
• Facilitate the transition of students from work term to academic term while supporting reflection on students career trajectory competencies and skills developed during the work term and the connection between studies and the world of work
• Collaborate with other staff including Account Managers and Business Developers to assist with work term situations maintain or enhance the employer relationship and pursue potential employment opportunities

Strengthen and leverage oncampus relationship for the enhancement of our student support system

• Support other Coop Advisors in developing and sharing best practices and training guides
• Work alongside other Coop Advisors and Career Advisors on a casebycase basis to enable effective career supports for students
• Build relationships with campus colleagues through involvement of initiatives committees projects and working groups
• Deepen Faculty and program expertise as well as knowledge of skills students develop through intentional engagement and training
• Collaborate with Coop Student Experience Managers to help to resolve student concerns and issues in a fair and consistent approach
• Work with our WIL partners to understand the importance of Professional Development (PD)
• courses and the connection between PD and work terms

Promote Student Advising Best Practices and Continuous Improvement participate in professional development opportunities

• Ensure adherence of creditable work term jobs to program/faculty specific requirements (e.g. admission levels work relevance criteria job type/sequence requirements) and review co op job opportunities for students that arrange their own jobs
• Support implementation of Universitywide or Coop student development initiatives
• Promote continuous improvement of services to students employers and colleagues by providing feedback to or participating in Coop Advisor Best Practices Group Coop Advisor WaterlooWorks Coach role and other opportunities
• Develop training and tools for fellow Coop Advisors; share expertise support crosstraining
• Promote awareness and understanding of Cooperative Education within students own Faculty context

• Undergraduate University degree required
• Courses training certification/degree or equivalent experience in Mental Health Career Development and/or Counselling would be a strong asset
• Minimum of 3 years of student consulting guidance and support is required
• Experience in counselling/advising environments with an emphasis on active listening dialogue facilitation focused on reflection learning and creating trust
• Professional or academic experience related to assigned faculty is an asset
• Experience working in an employment and educational environment is an asset
• Knowledge of Cooperative education preferred
• Experience developing and maintaining relationships with students internal and external stakeholders is required
• Active listening strong verbal and written communication skills and critical problemsolving is essential
• The ability to develop strong and supportive relationships with students from all identities and experiences and have demonstrated experience working with diverse groups
• Nonjudgmental empathetic and creative approach to working through challenges is a must
• Ability to learn material and complex processes and work within these structures is required
• An understanding of confidentiality of personal information and an ability to respect this and work to properly moderate communications accordingly is required
• Understanding of professional scope and able to make appropriate referrals to community institutional and studentrun services considering potential barriers that individuals might face in accessing them
• Commitment to deepening advising skills through individual reflective practice and professional development as applicable
• Ability to build relationships and collaborate with colleagues both inside and outside the department
• Ability to manage own schedule and balance competing priorities in a fastpaced work environment is required
• Ability to understand and interpret key business metrics and how to use them to prioritize work
• Appreciation of the purpose and value of quality workintegrated learning/cooperative education in preparing students for work/life is preferred
• Ability to maintain working knowledge of relevant technology including MS Office Suite Microsoft Teams SharePoint and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools

The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research learning teaching and community building and is coordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations.

The University values the diverse and intersectional identities of its students faculty and staff. The University regards equity and diversity as an integral part of academic excellence and is committed to accessibility for all employees. The University of Waterloo seeks applicants who embrace our values of equity antiracism and inclusion. As such we encourage applications from candidates who have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized including applicants who identify as First Nations Mtis and/or Inuk (Inuit) Black racialized a person with a disability women and/or 2SLGBTQ.

Positions are open to qualified candidates who are legally entitled to work in Canada.

The University of Waterloo is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities. If you have any application interview or workplace accommodation requests please contact Human Resources atorext. 45935.