Product Development: Getting the Most Out of Tomorrow’s Engineers

What is the most valuable engineering resource Farm has at its disposal? From a cost/benefit perspective, it’s hard to argue against the co-op student. The benefits are straightforward: a company identifies talent while utilizing low-cost labor and a student gains first-person knowledge of an industry and its practices. Farm currently utilizes two simultaneous co-ops in six-month employment cycles, and being a former co-op student myself (now an engineer at Farm), I feel compelled to share my thoughts on how both companies and co-ops can benefit most from the cooperative educational experience. While my previous co-op experiences were generally positive, I have also observed a number of negative experiences in the past. Here are some recommendations based upon traits that commonly create positive co-ops, from both an employer and student’s perspective.

For Co-op Employers

Have Work on Day One

Co-ops generally arrive to work on their first day with their motivation and ability at inversely proportional levels. They want to help, but they don’t know how. Having a task from the get-go is extremely important as it creates an immediate sense of value and worth. This is a challenge for many product development firms because co-op-appropriate work doesn’t always exist. In this situation, create work. If a co-op lacks CAD skills, create a design problem that requires grasping complex surfacing or master models. Try not to rely on stock tutorials and lessons as most students have already completed these. A unique and well-defined task can go a long way toward creating lasting co-op motivation.

Understand a Co-op’s Goals Before and After Hire

While interviewing a co-op, most companies will inquire about what a student wants to get out of the experience. Some will answer honestly, some will tell the interviewer what they want to hear, and some simply don’t know. Regardless, it is important to continue this dialogue after the student is hired and throughout the experience. Interests and aspirations change rapidly for co-ops, and showing that you value their goals is essential.

Throw Them into the Fire

With a good co-op student, a product development firm can take the burden off of its full-time employees and rely on the co-op to complete billable tasks. This inherently requires a certain level of trust; trusting the co-op to complete deliverable tasks at a high level. Because of this, many firms wait to give co-ops responsibility until they have definitively proven themselves over time. Instead, try throwing them into the fire. Treat co-ops like full-time employees while simultaneously checking their work exhaustively. This method might eat into company overhead in the short term, but it’s worth knowing a co-op’s true capabilities as soon as possible.

Create Positive Press

The primary goal for a co-op employer is to get quality work from an otherwise inexperienced employee. While this is a completely valid goal, co-op employers often overlook the goal of creating positive press for their companies. When co-op students return to class, they reflect on their experience. They make presentations, write reports, take surveys, and above all share their reflections. Because of this, a positive co-op experience for one student can completely influence the opinion of hundreds of others. Why not make a positive impression on the engineers and designers of tomorrow?

For Co-ops

Understand Your Company

You need to do your homework! A co-op student who researches the ins and outs of a company will get in the game much faster once employed. Prior to employment, co-ops should strive to gain a full understanding of a company’s core competency, clientele, competitors, business practices, past projects, and future goals. It might not be easy to find, but the information is out there, especially if the company is classy enough to have a blog. Possessing this knowledge allows co-ops to understand where they can fit in and allows them to suggest how they might be most valuable to a company. It isn’t enough to follow instructions. Good co-ops should assume they are being underestimated, and use company knowledge to ensure that they are utilized as effectively as possible.

Know How to Learn

Learning at a product development firm is stressful. For co-ops, balancing personal educational goals with the hectic demands of contract product development can seem borderline unachievable. Fortunately, product development firms are among the most efficient educational outlets out there, provided you know what you’re getting into. Here’s what to expect:

Unbillable Learning

When billable work doesn’t exist, co-ops are often used for company initiatives or are left to their own devices to complete lessons and tutorials. This is the best time to find work that benefits both co-op and company. For engineers, learning a relevant programming language, becoming familiar with GD&T, developing machine shop skills, and becoming acquainted with new manufacturing techniques are all examples of valuable ways to spend unbillable time. Try to focus on subjects that will be applicable to upcoming projects.

Billable Learning

Every time I’m forced to learn something new for a project, Bill O’Reilly’s voice pops into my head yelling “We’ll do it live!” This is where the most efficient learning happens. You’re forced to master and execute a skill in a very short timeframe, and getting it wrong isn’t an option. You pull information from coworkers, past projects, and outside contractors simultaneously. It isn’t ideal from a low-stress point of view, but from an efficiency perspective, there’s nothing better. As a co-op, being ready and eager for this type of education is indispensable.

Show Off Your Skills

A major source of co-op frustration arises when students aren’t given challenging work. The cause is understandable from both perspectives; co-ops want their work to teach them new skills, but employers don’t want to give important tasks to inexperienced workers. Co-op skill also varies widely from student to student, so employers are often conservative with the work they delegate. To solve this problem, co-ops should try to advertise their capabilities as much as possible. A company-wide “About Me” presentation or public portfolio that outlines previous projects and experience can be extremely beneficial for both co-ops and employers. Additionally, “About Me” presentations should be used to express relevant educational goals and interests. It seems obvious, but many co-ops will complete entire internships without ever expressing their skills and goals.

Closing Remarks

A good co-op experience has the potential to produce both a valuable education for a student and a budget surplus for an employer, a win-win scenario. Unfortunately, co-ops are often underutilized in the contract product development world. Deadline-driven projects necessitate instant results, and project managers just don’t have the resources to bring co-ops up to speed. Instead, co-ops sit idle and the reciprocal relationship is broken. It’s a shame, because when the co-op experience is successful, the long term advantages can be immense. Budgets are balanced, talent is identified, and knowledge is gained. A quality co-op experience is something to strive for by both students and employers, reflected by the fact that almost all of Farms entry-level engineering hires are previous co-ops. It’s evidence that a well-executed co-op program benefits everyone.

Interested in being a Farm Co-op? Visit Farm's Career Page!