Fellowship FAQs
Pre-program
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First, ensure you’ve completed all onboarding steps in your onboarding email.
Next, the best way to prepare is to make sure your schedule is free during fellowship hours, and that you have 4-5 hours per week in your schedule dedicated to work outside of fellowship hours as well.
Depending on when you’re accepted into the fellowship, you may be invited to pre-cycle events to learn more about COOP before the fellowship starts. Rest assured that we are hard at work getting everything ready for your first day!
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The fellowship schedule is Monday through Wednesday evenings, 6:30pm-9:30pm.
The schedule is generally:
6:30 p.m. program announcements
6:45 p.m. break out into assigned cohorts
7 p.m. lesson or workshop
8 p.m. break
8:15 p.m. activity or group work
9:20 p.m. program summary and closing reminders
9:30 p.m. program concludes for the night
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During our program kickoff, you can expect to receive a warm welcome, learn about COOP’s history and future goals, and meet with your Program Manager and fellow community members.
Attending the first day is mandatory, as important information such as meeting times, Zoom links, and other logistics may be shared during this session.
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Having a professional email is a reflection of your brand as a professional and will be visible to employers when you submit applications.
In addition to this, using another organization’s domain as your primary email means that that organization has access to and can control access to all data in your inbox and account.
Lastly, we cannot add you to the tools and platforms we use unless you have a personal Gmail account.
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Cohort assignment depends on a number of important factors, including your region and track. Cohorts cannot be assigned until you have completed the required steps in your onboarding email.
Completion of the pre-program survey is especially important for us to be able to assign you to a cohort and provide you with any potential accommodations.
You will learn your cohort number during the first week of the program.
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You will review the general schedule during the first week of the fellowship.
Because the HQ team is hard at work scheduling partnership events and booking time with industry leaders to enhance your experience, we cannot always provide a firm agenda for the entire semester, and any agendas that are provided are subject to change without notice. However, all required live programming will always happen during the same schedule (Monday-Wednesday, 6:30pm-9:30pm local time), with some optional, but strongly recommended programming occasionally occurring outside this timeframe.
If you would like to review, each skill that we teach for each track can be found on our website under “For Applicants.”
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You will need access to a functioning laptop (running Windows or MacOS) with a camera, microphone, and reliable internet access for the COOP Fellowship.
If your track involves Tableau instruction (Data Analytics and Financial Services), your computer should also meet Tableau’s technical requirements.
There’s no need to install anything prior to the program start date.
If you have concerns about your technology, please contact recruiting@coopcareers.org prior to the start of the fellowship.
While each track is different, most tracks use the following platforms for teaching technical skills: Coursera, Brightspace, and Google Suite.
Reminder: You will need a personal Gmail account that is not work or school affiliated.
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COOP's Social Work Team provides case management support services, referrals/resource allocation, and psychoeducational, peer support groups services.
Our Social Work team also designs community building and well-being workshops (“Heart” workshops) that tackle the barriers and challenges that you may experience as you transition out of unemployment or underemployment.
For example, our Heart workshops provide practical strategies to address psychosocial stressors, navigate rejection and develop life and wellness skills for both the workplace and everyday life.
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Our Social Work team will share a link to the request for services form during the initial Heart workshop.
Completing this form is the first step in requesting social services support.
If any personal concerns arise that you believe may impact your ability to participate in or to succeed in the program, please alert a member of our Recruiting team ASAP.
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Absolutely!
We offer learning accommodations based on fellows’ individual needs and COOP’s available resources, which you have the opportunity to request in the pre-program survey.
If you request a specific learning accommodation on your survey, a member of our Program Success team will contact you to discuss the learning accommodation(s) you are requesting.
Any accommodations made are at the discretion of the Program Success team.
During program
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Once you have been assigned a cohort in a respective track, reassignments are not possible
When you begin the fellowship, we expect you to honor your commitment to your cohort, captains, and track.
If you are interested in learning about one of our other tracks, we encourage you to build relevant connections within the COOP network, and to take advantage of ongoing supplemental workshops and opportunities offered to fellows and the COOP alumni community.
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If you have a timing conflict at any point throughout the program, you should immediately contact your program manager.
We understand that life happens and will do our best to work with you. As a reminder, 90%+ attendance is required in order to complete the fellowship.
If you learn of a schedule conflict before the fellowship begins, reach out to recruiting@coopcareers.org.
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Yes!
We will organize optional, in-person networking, social, and professional development events with other cohorts. Generally, these are open to any fellows local to the region in which they are held.
At times, you may have joint cohort sessions as well.
In addition to these touch points, individual pods, cohorts, and tracks often take the initiative to organize social events.
Once you complete the fellowship, you will also be added to our alumni communities, which provides even more opportunities to network with other tracks and cohorts.
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Many fellows find full-time employment while still enrolled in the fellowship, and we consider this a success!
While we encourage you to embark on your career as soon as the opportunity presents itself, please keep in mind that we still expect you to keep your commitment to the fellowship and your community in order to graduate and join our lifelong alumni community and access alumni-only benefits.
If you receive a full-time offer, please reach out to your Program Manager, especially if there may be a potential conflict with your new schedule.
We have an accommodation process for fellows who receive full-time employment while in the program.
Any accommodations made are subject to the discretion of Program Managers.
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If you need support with COOP-related work/material, your rogram manager will work with your captains to set guidelines on how to contact them for assistance outside of program hours.
We also encourage our fellows to lean on their cohorts and the larger COOP community as resources.
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Once you’ve completed the COOP Fellowship, you cannot re-enroll in a different track.
However, as a COOP alum, you have lifelong access to a wide range of alumni services designed to support your continued growth.
These include our online communities to connect with peers, a job board with our employer partners, virtual and in-person events with employers, and free career readiness tools to practice interviews, explore careers, and connect with mentors.
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COOP is not a job placement program, nor do we guarantee that you will get a job as a result of completing the fellowship.
We are proud that our employer partners love to hire our fellows, but not all of them will have open roles during your fellowship cycle.
While our Employer Partnerships team may organize special events and opportunities to network with our employer partners, it’s your responsibility to take advantage of these opportunities and build the skills you need to be eligible and competitive for open roles. Our Employer Partnerships team also manages a COOP-exclusive job board with job postings we’ve sourced from our employer partner community.
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While some time is provided during fellowship hours to work on activities designed to solidify your understanding of a topic, most fellows will need to spend 4-5 hours per week outside of fellowship hours to ensure all assignments are completed in order to meet program completion requirements.
Notably, capstone projects often require additional time outside of scheduled hours to complete.
In addition to this, all certifications required for your track must be completed outside of program hours.
We recommend ensuring you reserve at least 4-5 hours per week outside of fellowship hours to work on certifications and other work.
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Alumni who don’t find full employment during the fellowship are encouraged to continue their job search with support from the COOP community.
For up to eight months after the fellowship, alumni have the opportunity to opt-in to ongoing programming that supports accountability, ongoing learning, and targeted networking opportunities for job seekers.
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When meeting virtually, Fellows observing Ramadan may arrive up to 15 minutes late to program (or 15 minutes after sundown if it occurs after 6:30 p.m.) and may coordinate an additional break during sessions for prayers as needed. They also may remain off-camera during program if they wish.
For in person events and programming, fellows observing Ramadan may arrive up to 25 minutes late to program (or 25 minutes after sundown if it occurs after 6:30 p.m.), and will have access to a refrigerator for food storage as well as gender separated spaces for prayers.We encourage over-communication, so if you feel you may need additional flexibility during Ramadan, or you need accommodations for another religious holiday, please connect with your captains and program team.
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At COOP, we recognize and respect that fellows have a range of opinions about the ethical use of AI. AI tools and skills are taught in alignment with current employer needs. Some assignments will require using AI, but fellows are encouraged to apply their own values when completing projects and applying for jobs.
Monthly onsite information
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New York City: All on-site programming will be held at Civic Hall in Manhattan’s Union Square, which is located at 124 E 14th St, New York, NY 10003.
San Francisco Bay Area: All on-site programming will be held at Swissnex, located at 222 Vallejo, San Francisco, 94109, CA.
Los Angeles: All on-site programming will be held in Downtown Los Angeles. Please keep an eye on your email for additional details closer to the fellowship start date.
Chicago: All on-site programming will be held at at TechNexxus Venture Collaborative, located at 20 N. Wacker Drive, 12th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606.
We encourage participants to arrive 15-20 minutes before the scheduled program start time. Please note that fellows will need to bring a valid, state-issued ID or driver’s license to be checked in.
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In-person programming helps fellows build relationships, culture, and community, enhancing the COOP experience and strengthening your network.
Additionally, we know that most employers are hiring for hybrid or in-person work; with in-person programming, fellows practice showing up in a professional, physical space.
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Your on-site programming schedule will be shared during the first few weeks of the fellowship.
Please note that COOP fellows are only allowed on-site at our physical locations on the days designated by their program managers, unless otherwise noted.
We welcome individual cohorts, pods, and tracks to take the initiative to meet outside of their in-person schedule to build even stronger connections with the COOP community.
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Please note that there is no virtual option for fellows that cannot attend their scheduled in-person class day.
If a fellow cannot attend class on a day they are scheduled to be in person with their cohort, that day will be counted as an absence.
The student should follow up with a captain or Program Manager regarding any work to be completed.
As a reminder, COOP requires a 90%+ attendance rate to be eligible for completion.
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Most in-person days will focus on workshops, resume reviews, and other group activities.
However, there may be some in-person days that focus on training-specific content tied to various platforms and technical skills.
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Overall, dress code is casual for the majority of in-person days, with business casual attire required for partnership/networking events.
Please remember that when you are at COOP, you are representing both COOP and your professional brand; don’t wear anything you wouldn’t wear to a job interview.
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Captains and program managers will ask that students use Prentus to communicate when transit issues arise and they may be late to class.
You will receive an invitation to Prentus and other tech platforms during the first few weeks of the fellowship.
If you encounter attendance challenges before you have access to COOP tools, you may email us at recruiting@coopcareers.org.
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