CEWIL Resource Hub: Field Placement at Conestoga College

While completing their placement, students take an online course that focuses on workplace culture, communication, teamwork, and conflict resolution. Units on labour market trends and employment in the manufacturing industry help students consider the importance of future-ready skills and life-long learning. The course also reinforces information on health and safety practices and standards. Students receive employer-specific training onsite.  

No content found

No content found

No content found

Key success factors  

  • The employer partner is able to accommodate an entire cohort of students. The employer wanted to participate because they saw an opportunity for their talent pipeline.  
  • Students enhance their employment readiness by developing professional skills and working for a large employer.   
  • The program received Career Ready funding, which supported the development of the online course and hiring a placement officer for the pilot year.  
  • Having the opportunity to place this many students streamlined the overall placement process.  

Unique characteristics

  • An entire cohort of students is placed with a single employer, which allows for a fairly consistent experience for all students in the program. Working with a single employer to improve the placement experience for future cohorts was extremely beneficial. 
  • The outcomes for the placement came from employer feedback and better equip program graduates with the skills to handle diverse workplace environments (e.g. intergenerational groups), engage in teamwork, and receive workplace feedback.  
  • The focus of the experience was to build workplace survival skills to enhance student employment readiness and long-term success. This differs from the typical focus of an apprenticeship experience.
  • The online course used gamification to increase student motivation. 

Challenges

  • Students were responsible for their own transportation from college in Kitchener to facilities in Guelph, which created a logistical challenge for some.  
  • Some plants were unclear about the role of the student and what tasks the students could complete. The field placement coordinator had to respond midway through the experience to clarify the message.  
  • Although all students work for one employer, the experiences still varied between plants depending on plant operations and the supervisor. The corporate office made the decision for the plants to take a student, so some plants misunderstood the role of the student, were less engaged, or didn't serve as the ideal learning environment for this type of experience.
  • Some students who were already working part-time as a millwright weren’t interested in the placement opportunity, but were required to complete it anyway. There will be more flexibility for students to select their own placement site in the next offering, but this creates more administrative work.  

Resources

Key characteristics

  • Type: Field placement
  • Year program was established: 2019
  • Number of students per year: 40 in pilot year, 60 in second year 
  • Number of employers/partners per year: 1 employer with 23 facilities in the region 
  • Programs/academic disciplines participating: Industrial Mechanic (Millwright) and Electro-mechanical maintenance programs 
  • Duration of experience: One day a week for 7 weeks (49 total hours)  
  • Submitted by: Linda Crawford