It's Never Easy Saying Goodbye

Digital Echidna has significantly benefited this summer from the incredible talents of our three co-op students who dove headfirst into work: Martin Bachinger, Robert Park, and Elizabeth Williams. Their contributions ranged from performing theming basics, to creating content types, views, and webforms, to being on project teams and resolving complex issues on live client sites.

But, as summer comes to its inevitable close and school starts up again, we must say goodbye to them and transition the projects or tasks they are working on to other staff members.

For several years now I have been responsible for Digital Echidna’s co-op recruitment and placement program. We work with several colleges and universities to hire co-op students. It is important to me that we have a program for co-ops that enhances the student’s educational experience. Co-op work terms are paid, and last four or eight months and begin in January, May or September.  

I want each person who works here to take with them new skills and a lasting network with each other and Echidna. Why? Because co-ops are a great pipeline to our future success. We often hire co-op students for a second work term, and many full-time employees are former co-op students. Taking the time to get to know them and giving them a great experience means they’re more likely to return for a second term or upon graduation with an offer of employment. And even if their career paths take them elsewhere, we know that the experience they get here will help grow the open-source community throughout North America. As the old adage states, a rising tide raises all ships, so having people out there familiar with -- and advocating for -- open-source technology benefits us all.

We’ve talked about team building for years and bringing in new people to our team allows us to learn, grow, and challenge our beliefs and assumptions. We get exposed to new thoughts, new ideas, and new ways of doing things.

If you are interested in applying for a co-op or internship position, please check with your Co-op and Career Centres to find out if we are recruiting on your campus. If so, be sure to apply through their career services portal. If we missed you on campus, you can apply for new graduate entry-level careers by submitting your resume. 

We wish all of our wonderful students the best of luck back at school!

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