Larson’s Declassified Co-Op Survival Guide
Written by: Larson de Waal, Associate Copywriter Co-op (he/him)
In a co-op full of opportunities, fast-paced work, and stressful situations, Larson de Waal (that’s me!) tries to do the impossible and create a guide that can help you survive your first co-op. (For those of you who missed a certain early 2000’s Nickelodeon show that this guide is based on, it’ll definitely still be helpful, I promise!)
Going into my copywriting internship at Razorfish Health, I felt like a kid named Ned on his first day of middle school. I had no idea what to expect. I had never worked as a copywriter before, let alone at a pharmaceutical advertising company. Not knowing whether I would be fetching coffees or contributing to ads that people all over the country would see was a big source of stress. The worst part was that in the lead-up to my co-op, nobody else I knew had a similar experience I could benchmark.
That’s why I decided to put my top 4 tips and tricks into a survival guide—to give you a fighting chance. Read on if you want to learn how to thrive in your first co-op.
DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF
The best thing I learned during my six months at RFH had to be “don’t sweat the small stuff.” Time after time, I spent hours stressing over presenting to clients or completing tough tasks. In reality, the stressing took up more of my time and was much worse than the actual task at hand. So many hours could have been saved if I had just learned this a bit sooner.
JUST SAY YES
A helpful tip I came across was to just say yes. I did this recently regarding an office party; none of the friends I made at RFH were going to attend, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go and possibly not have any fun without them. Well, spoiler alert: I ended up going and having an awesome time. I even made some new friends and a few great connections that will affect my post-college career for the better.
BE FEARLESS WITH YOUR QUESTIONS
I’ve learned that you cannot be afraid to ask questions. Nobody likes to admit it, but most younger people I know hate to ask questions, even if they are completely lost. I even remember a time in high school when other kids were ridiculed for extending class time by asking questions. But on co-op, not a single person at RFH was annoyed at me for asking anything. That “lesson” high school instilled into me had to be unlearned, as it did not translate into the professional world.
STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES
The final tip in this co-op survival guide would be to never forget you are here for the experience, not just to do work and make money. When you start a position at a big company for the first time (like I did at RFH), the work can sometimes overtake you and be kind of draining. Obviously work won’t always be a fun time, but you should still try to learn all you can, as well as make new memories and hone new skills.
Well, you’ve made it to the end of Larson’s Declassified Co-op Survival Guide. I certainly wish I was able to read something similar to this before I started at RFH. But hopefully some of you learned a few helpful pointers that will make any co-op a bit less nerve-wracking, and a lot more fun.
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