Co Op Question

Agent_99

I'm trying to sort out finances for the remaining years of my degree since the government stiffed us with the Grant, and wanted to know about co op

Is it full time employment i.e 40 Hrs?
if Co Op is paid? and at what rate?
Do you work term time or from Jan to September?

Many Thanks for any help?

highlydebased

Agent_99 wrote: »

I'm trying to sort out finances for the remaining years of my degree since the government stiffed us with the Grant, and wanted to know about co op

Is it full time employment i.e 40 Hrs?
if Co Op is paid? and at what rate?
Do you work term time or from Jan to September?

Many Thanks for any help?

First 2 questions depend on the placement. Less and less paid placements now. Someone told me (I cant vouch for the accurateness of this statement) that you dont have to accept an unpaid placement from the co-op office on the grounds you cant afford to move away to work for nothing (if that's the case)

It seems to generally be Jan-June/July

1huge1

Just to double check, are you staying in Ireland for your coop or are you going abroad (if so are you staying within the EU or outside the EU).

The reason I ask is to do with your grant for co-op.

Agent_99

1huge1 wrote: »

Just to double check, are you staying in Ireland for your coop or are you going abroad (if so are you staying within the EU or outside the EU).

The reason I ask is to do with your grant for co-op.

I am a mature student and will need to stay in or around Limerick for Co op due to kids and because of the grant changes I am down €2k each year for the next 3 years.

I'm am starting 2nd year this semester and OH is currently unemployed so finances are tight already, so I need to make a plan to see us through the last thing I need is to have to drop out because of lack of money.

If the OH is working at that time I would also need to sort childcare which is very expensive at least with college hours I can arrange my day to suit the school run.

Tks

TwilightFan88

Mature students can opt out of co-op in my course, might be the same for you?

NeirBot

TwilightFan88 wrote: »

Mature students can opt out of co-op in my course, might be the same for you?

Pretty sure you can only opt out of co-op if you have enough previous relevant work experience for the course you are studying, not just because you are a mature student.
If you did have such experience then the co-op office would be able to tell you that.

My advice would be to give the co-op office a ring or call in for a chat, they should be able to tell you (informally that is) what the likelyhood is of getting co-op, whether it is likely to be paid etc, from info on last years class, your qca etc.

CJKeane

You can apply for an exemption (like I did) and have no obligation to go on co-op or write any reports. As long as you have previous experience in the field that you're studying and can prove it (I had to get letters from previous employers explaining what I did there and the length of time etc.). All this depends on what your course is though. Talk to your department head about this possibility as they'll know what specifically you'll need in order to qualify for an exemption.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me!

djnr8

Your entitled to an exemption if you have dependent children

duggan170693

do you know if you can do your co-op in America ?

djnr8

duggan170693 wrote: »

do you know if you can do your co-op in America ?

I think you can do it anywhere once its cleared by the Co-op office?