Experiential/Career Planning
Work Term Report Format
Experiential Learning is the process of making meaning from direct experience.
Aristotle once said, "For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing
them.”
Purpose:
The purpose of this report is to help you to clarify your goals for future work terms and career
plans based on your experience with your current co-op placement. This report is not to be a
journal outlining your workterm activities but rather an objective report about what you can
take away from your work term experience.
You have the choice to write the Experiential Report for only one of your three work terms.
The work term you choose to write it for is at your own discretion, in consultation with and
with the approval of your supervisor. Your other two work term reports must be done using
the project based version.
Proposal Format:
Your work term report proposal should include sections 4 through 8 from the following work
term report format outline. In your proposal, identify your current goals and expectations for
each of the report headings. You must also identify who you will be interviewing for section 8
of the report. In addition, include possible sources for research which will be used in writing
the report. Your proposal must be signed by your work term supervisor prior to submitting it to
the co-op office.
Report Format:
This report should be approximately 8-10 pages in length. This does not include the title page,
table of contents, executive summary or appendices. The report should be double spaced on
letter size paper with size 12 font. Your work term report must be signed by your work term
supervisor prior to submitting it to the co-op office.
1. Title Page
2. Table of Contents
3. Executive Summary
The Exective Summary is a clear and consise one to two page overview of the work term
report. The purpose of the Executive Summary is to summarize the key points of the
work term report for the Evaluator, saving them time and preparing them for the
content of your report.
4. Background Information/Organization Overview
This section is intended for the benefit of the reader so that they have some background
information about you and the organization where you completed your work term.
This section should include the following:
- Information about your current situation (Major, year of study, where you
have completed previous work terms, etc)
- Your career goals, reasons for accepting your current position
- Size, nature, and governance structure of the organization
- Products & services provided and makets served
- Where in the organization your area/department fits, its role, and
responsibilities
- Your own role & responsibilities within the department and in the
organization
5. Development as a Student
In this section, explain how your co-operative education experience influenced how you
perceive yourself as a BBA student. How did this experience impact your future choices
regarding your studies? How did this experience affect your work habits, confidence,
goals, etc?
6. Development as a Professional
How did this co-op experience influence your development as a business professional?
What did you learn about workplace etiquette, issues, culture, language, work ethic,
management styles, organizational policies/procedures? In this section, describe what
you have learned about yourself as a professional while working in a business role.
7. Linking BBA & Work Term
In this section, you will focus on how your prior learning helped prepare you for your
work term. Describe how you were able to use skills learned in the classroom during
your work term. What classes were most useful in helping you prepare? Did any of the
co-op professional development seminars benefit you in your current role ? What
specific skills did you use in the workplace? How will this work experience benefit you
with your future studies? Did you take part in any training while on work term that will
help you with your academic studies?
8. Looking Forward to the Future
How did your work term experience influence your career goals? In this section, you
will describe how this work experience impacted your career plans. Did it confirm what
you were originally planning or has it changed your mind? Why?
For this section, you must also interview at least one mentor from within your
organization to learn about their career path. Identify someone who is currently
working in a senior level position where you strive to be. This person should be one of
the more senior employees within your organization. In your discussions, determine
how they arrived at their current position. Key topics should include:
- How long they have been working
- Job changes during their career
-
Promotions attained and key factors contributing to them
How their nature of work responsibilities have evolved over time
Significant factors they see as important in determining success
Attach a printed copy of your interview(s) as an appendix to your report.
Compare the information provided by your mentor to your own planned career path.
Analyze how your perceptions relate to the realworld experience of your mentor. How
does your mentor’s experience impact your own career planning? Describe any
unexpected issues in career development discovered as a result of the interview. Will
this influence any changes to your own career plans? Discuss the extent of these
changes. If you do now see any need to change your plans, discuss and clarify.
9. Conclusion
Report Evaluation
Your work term report will be evaluated by our Work Term Report Evaluator. Work
term reports will receive either a “pass”(cr) or “fail” (ncr) grade. It is recommended
that all students make an appointment with the Writing Center on campus to review
their report before submitting it to the co-op office.
The report will be failed or retured for revisions if:
- The report is simply descriptive or lacks analysis, reasoning, and research
- It is poorly organized
- It is not well written
- It has grammar, spelling or punctuation errors
Any report which is deemed unsatisfactory will be returned to the student for revisions.
You have one opportunity to re-write the report based on feedback from the Work
Term Report Evaluator. Revised reports are due at the end of the second month
following completion of your work term. If the revised report is still considered
unsatisfactory or if it is not submitted on time, you will be given a failing grade for the
work term and will be inelgible to continue in the co-op program.