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Though companies see the above mentioned as essential, they do not reckon all students have them. This
seems actually to be the opposite. They think students have deep lacks as far as these skills are concerned and they
strongly regret it. They also consider that students are not ready to face the assignment within the company.
“The curriculum should prepare students to work in co-op”
“Students are quickly stressed when assigned new tasks”
Companies think this could be solved in two manners: Selecting students at the entrance of the
programme to only keep the ones with the desired profile, and organising during the university period short-course
training to develop human skills. For instance, workshops could be arranged for students to develop their
communication skills or their ability to work efficiently in the work place.
In a sense, companies deplore the lack of links between what the curriculum teaches and what is required
when at the job place. However, we can wonder whether the university is the place or not to acquire this kind of
human skills. Is not it asking too much from this institution? Should not universities concentrate upon delivering a
relevant curriculum, of course linked with the assignments to be performed when in the company? Universities
should focus upon basic knowledge as it is their primary mission especially as far as co-op education is concerned.
2.2 Buttressing basic knowledge
When involved in a co-op programme, students expect to be in a win-win situation whereby university
and companies work together to teach students the knowledge and the skills needed. In that respect, it is logical to
think of the university as the place where basic knowledge is taught.
Companies quoted different knowledge they see as “basic”, meaning every student should have it:
Languages (English, Japanese); IT; and Reporting, Presentation abilities. To select students endowed with those
skills, some companies, especially the big ones (mainly multinationals but not only) interview the students in
English. This is seen by most students as a great challenge, and they do not feel ready for it.
IT skills mentioned by companies refer to the computer skills asked by companies for students involved
in QA or HR streams. Companies regret that many students are not computer literate, one company even saying:
“
The company had to teach students how to use Word and Excel
”.
Companies would like the university to organise site visits for students to understand the environment
they are going to be involved in. They also think that a preparation to the assignment within the company should
be carried out as early as possible during the training. They indeed think students lack basic knowledge but also a
certain grasp of what job requirements and expectations are.
The different interviews we undertook showed that many students lack knowledge seen as “basic” by
companies. Adding up to that, the lack of what was defined earlier as “human skills”, it seems to have a wide gap
between company’s expectations and students’ abilities. However, next to all of this, the range of specific
knowledge displayed by students should also be assessed.
2.3 Inculcating specific knowledge
