As a 4th year Drexel student I am preparing for my final co-op at Drexel. This will be my third co-op and I’ve been hoping to have a diverse experience than my co-op positions in the past, which was one reason that led me to go into B Round for this co-op cycle. Something else that led me to this decision to go into B Round was financial reasons. I have to say that it has not been the easiest interviewing for co-ops abroad, and here are some things that have made it challenging and what to expect!
For one, finding time to fit in the interviews was hard. For the past couple of weeks, I have had phone interviews or Skype interviews with many cheerful and excited individuals, but my days are very busy here so it has been a challenge to schedule them. During the week I have classes, commuting to class, my community work, and on most Fridays we try to travel for the weekend. This has also caused a lot of my breaks during the day to be filled with preparing for interviews and interviewing with different organizations and companies.
I think the next challenge has been finding where to do the interviews. I’ve done interviews at the International Center for Developmental Studies (ICDS) office, in Starbucks, in the hallway of my university, and in my room at my homestead. I think the best place that I have done them was at my house because the wifi is reliable, and it is quiet. At the ICDS office there are often students, but luckily ICDS faculty helped me find a quiet space for the last interview I had there. Where I had my interviews really depended on where I was during the day I had an interview/ interviews. The busiest day had to be when I had a cultural activity with ICDS, and directly after I went to the Starbucks nearby in order to complete the interview. Just like when being on campus and interviewing for co-op, you need to really know your schedule and hone in on your time management skills.
Thankfully, everyone that I have had an interview with has been so understanding and able to work with me to interview virtually. I really appreciate how people were able to Skype or complete the interviews over the phone because at first I was worried that some places may decide not to interview with me since I could not meet them in person. Another positive aspect that came out of these interviews is that I really think after going through 2 rounds during my third time applying for co-ops I feel a lot more confident with my interview skills. I really think this will help me in the future when applying for positions after graduation.
So, yes it has been a little challenging interviewing for co-ops while in Costa Rica, but it can be done! I am looking forward to seeing the outcome of my interviews from this round to see what my next co-op experience will end up being!
