Co-op abroad

Eire-Dearg

Just wondering about going on co-op out of the country, do you have to speak the country's language? I was looking at Luxembourg and they have a bit of everything so maybe it's not a necessity to be fluent in French or German?

Also, do you go alone or does it depend on how many are offered a spot?

1huge1

I know people who worked in Luxembourg, assuming your talking about RBC Dexia? anyway, luxembourg is almost all French speaking but all you will need is to be able to speak English.

I worked in Munich for my co-op and needed German but thats because I study it, but I don't see why the company would hire you in the first place if they needed you to speak another language when you can't.

Eire-Dearg

Ha, true point! Not talking about anyone in particular, just looking into co-op and Luxembourg would be a place I'd like to work.

But how I would survive without mammy's cooking is another thing :pac:

bookofstones

I 'co-op'ed in Luxembourg (RBC Dexia in fact) a couple years ago. Had a great time there, traveled around Europe on Ryanair flights and really lived it up. English is enough.. French or German is definitely helpful but not a requirement at all. I studied Spanish in school and had no French or German.

There was about 25 from UL, think 12 of us were in RBC Dexia but it was the worst place for money-best for taking holidays though. I think 3 companies only had 1 spot but the rest had at least two.

I'd def go abroad if I was you. Looks great on the CV when you come home and might give you a start in a more promising economy when you finish.

I can give you a lot of advice about this, feel free to PM me.

RachPie

I went to Vienna alone on Erasmus, and although I can speak German, there were people there I knew who couldn't speak a word of it before going out and they got on great!
Look for basic language courses and go out a month or a few weeks early to do them, it'll help loads. And don't worry about going alone, you'll be so busy and meet so many new people you won't even notice the time passing.

TEMPLAR KNIGHT

I presume a lot of people here were or are doing business? luxembourg is where ive heard a lot of us go. im in second year at the moment and trying to sort out my co-op did anyone organise this on their own or was it through the co-op office?

bookofstones

Yeah it was mostly business (I did it myself), some law and acc and a few financial maths people.. All done through the co-op office unfortunately.. They have some well established relationships there so it's easier for them to place there than elsewhere.. They tell you explicitly to either let them organize it or to do it yourself..In my opinion there's no harm in going with the co-op office for Luxembourg and chancing your arm at jobs in London or wherever. I know there was groups of decent sizes that went to Boston and Toulouse in France with Airbus-think they all did Business and French.. Some people got placed in London which was where I originally wanted to go but not many which is surprising to some extent considering the distance and number of Irish. There was people dotted around in random locations including Australia but that was organized by themselves.

LimerickLad92

How does co-op work if you do Japanese i.e I study business and japanese? does the co-op office help there?

bookofstones

They probably wouldn't have much contacts out there but then again maybe they would.. ask them yourself I guess.. I think Dr. Finbarr Murphy worked for a while out in Japan doing Trading or Investment Banking and might be able to at least give you some advice.

LimerickLad92

bookofstones wrote: »

They probably wouldn't have much contacts out there but then again maybe they would.. ask them yourself I guess.. I think Dr. Finbarr Murphy worked for a while out in Japan doing Trading or Investment Banking and might be able to at least give you some advice.

thanks alot mate, im a 1st year so im just curious at this stage

FredBaby!

Has anyone here done co-op in Mexico (or anywhere in South America for that matter)? I'm hella interested but missed the talk on it unfortunately.

Morricone

FredBaby! wrote: »

Has anyone here done co-op in Mexico (or anywhere in South America for that matter)? I'm hella interested but missed the talk on it unfortunately.

I was in Argentina. Best 6 months of my life. An absolutely unbelievable experience. And I left with no English. I know a few who went to Mexico as well and theyn had an unbelieveable time.

To be honest if you want to travel I would definitely use the opportunity to work abroad. I visited Paraguay and a bit of Brazil while seeing most of Argentina, all whil working.

Brilliant, brilliant opportunity.

PandS there will be other talks, call into Jerry Cronin at the co op office, for a chat about it he'll tell you what you missed.

FredBaby!

Morricone wrote: »

I was in Argentina. Best 6 months of my life. An absolutely unbelievable experience. And I left with no English. I know a few who went to Mexico as well and theyn had an unbelieveable time.

To be honest if you want to travel I would definitely use the opportunity to work abroad. I visited Paraguay and a bit of Brazil while seeing most of Argentina, all whil working.

Brilliant, brilliant opportunity.

PandS there will be other talks, call into Jerry Cronin at the co op office, for a chat about it he'll tell you what you missed.

Thank you kindly Do you mind me asking what kind of work you were doing over there?

Morricone

FredBaby! wrote: »

Thank you kindly Do you mind me asking what kind of work you were doing over there?

Teaching English. If you're a Humanities student, and you want to do co op abroad then you'll be teaching English is some way more than likely.

Some people got placed in private schools, like me, others were in institutes.

Oh and private school over there is a whole different kettle of fish compared to here. Over there if you want your kid to get some sort of an education then they go a private school, simple as that. I was in what I would classify as a lower middle class school, but there are private schools that range from working class all the way up to elistist.

dave199

Has anybody here went on co-op to Boston?just curious to see what jobs are on offer there

Aragneer

Anybody have any experience on co-op in the canary islands? Seriously thinking about it at the moment...

Eire-Dearg

How do you let them know you're preference is to go abroad, is it a question in the CV thing? I'm still on the fence, on one hand i'd love to go but i'm afraid i might regret agreeing to it in a few months and want to stay in Ireland.

What's the deal with accommodation, do you have to sort it all yourself?

I'm 2nd yr business as well. I couldn't make the international co-op meeting the other night though, but I heard for Lux. the hours are long and the money isn't great.

wnolan1992

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

How do you let them know you're preference is to go abroad, is it a question in the CV thing? I'm still on the fence, on one hand i'd love to go but i'm afraid i might regret agreeing to it in a few months and want to stay in Ireland.

What's the deal with accommodation, do you have to sort it all yourself?

I'm 2nd yr business as well. I couldn't make the international co-op meeting the other night though, but I heard for Lux. the hours are long and the money isn't great.

Going by the talk on Thursday, you sort accommodation yourself. And after you submit your online CV there's an option to sign up for international, after which you'd have to do a second International CV. AFAIK, if you opt for International, you can opt out and get placement in Ireland as well, but that's just what I've heard.

Niall09

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

How do you let them know you're preference is to go abroad, is it a question in the CV thing? I'm still on the fence, on one hand i'd love to go but i'm afraid i might regret agreeing to it in a few months and want to stay in Ireland.

What's the deal with accommodation, do you have to sort it all yourself?

I'm 2nd yr business as well. I couldn't make the international co-op meeting the other night though, but I heard for Lux. the hours are long and the money isn't great.

Hi Eire-Dearg,

I'm going away to The Netherlands this summer for placement.

You should get an email from the Coop office telling you deadlines for your intent to go abroad for your placement. You will be asked to fill in an online form if you want to go abroad. You choose where you want to go, but this can be changed later.

You must have a qca of over 2.7 if you aren't doing an Arts course. You will be then called in for a screening interview (usually about 10 mins long asking why you want to go, basically just to see if you are ok about going and stuff). They will then send your CV, the online one (Wnolan: You only have to do one CV, it's the same for all coop), to companies in the country you choose.

In regards to accomodation, I think it depends on the company. My accomodation and flights are all sorted by the company I'll be working for, it was the same case with my friend who went to Luxembourg in January.

If you have any queries, just email the coop office. They have been really helpful to me so far.

Eire-Dearg

Nice one Niall. But 2.7 QCA, might be edging it a bit tight on that one :pac: My QCA is poor enough to say the least.

kflynn

I would most definitely go abroad but just a few things to consider. You can go abroad on J1 or erasmus too so if its just the travelling you're interested look into that. I always thought I would get at least an interview no problem, I have better experience than most but it is incredibly, incredibly hard and co-op is your best bet for a graduate job. So also consider a company&place that you want to work for after college.

Good luck with whatever you decide!:D

clarab123

hi im interested in doing coop abroad but the main things that are worrying me is living arrangements..do most people live with other ul students that go there or how does it work?

Aragneer

If you get placed abroad usually your work placement will offer accommodation. Most places you may actually go with nobody from UL and will be placed with either other colleagues or on your own.

I worked in Tenerife and was placed with three strangers, all girls in the same room but we had a blast. It depenvs where you're going.

Where are you interested in applying for?

clarab123

well i dont actually get to pick which country to apply to i think i just apply to international coop..did they people you live with speak english?

LimerickLad92

I'd like to clear this up for people if possible.

You do get the choice, you get a whole variety of options and companies and you can or cannot do interviews for them based on both your academic history and your desire.

I have friends currently in Japan, Switzerland, France, Germany and Australia.

Im on coop myself, and although I wanted to go abroad a family issue forced me to work in Ireland instead.

For Students with language(s) you're QCA is irrelevant (no matter what the co-op office say) and you will get preferential treatment to go to a country that speaks that language.

For a Business student without a language, you're QCA has to be 2.7 or above.

wispa9

clarab123 wrote: »

hi im interested in doing coop abroad but the main things that are worrying me is living arrangements..do most people live with other ul students that go there or how does it work?

In my experience, you'll more than likely have to arrange your accommodation yourself! I'm in France atm. I had four or five interviews/pre-interviews, and only one of the companies was offering to arrange my accommodation. I ended up having to sort it myself, but it wasn't too stressful, especially if you're somewhere with a university.