There's much to love when you're a co-op student working for the right company. Whatever your passion, rest assured you'll find great opportunities at Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC).

When starting a co-op, you should feel confident that the company you choose will help support your career goals. You should feel at home, and that you’ll be given the support you need to learn, grow and excel at your job.

Dream big, choose big

Completing a co-op with a household name such as Canadian Tire is a great way to kick-off your career journey. Take it from Inna Palamarchuk, who moved from Ukraine to Canada two years ago to study and start a career here. She says Canadian Tire is like a “home away from home.” 

“It’s the culture. It’s how friendly everyone is. It’s the atmosphere,” Palamarchuk said. “Canadian Tire is perfect for young people because it encourages us to find our true selves.”

Her fit was in merchandising and marketing. The company helped her find a meaningful co-op in the foreign merchandise department, one of its top sales branches, where she works today reviewing new merchandise from vendors to be sold at our stores.

But how did it start for her? Last year while completing her business administration diploma at Sheridan College, she scored her first co-op with CTC. After wrapping that up, and a semester working part-time at a Canadian Tire store, she was invited back to do a second co-op. It was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.

Family first

Palamarchuk says she’s learned much about marketing and merchandising during her two co-ops, thanks to the company’s corporate culture. If ever she needed direction, guidance would be found just around the corner.

“You can reach out to your manager, or even the vice-president of the department. If you need help with something, you can invite them for a coffee, and they will be happy to accept the invitation. Everybody is committed to investing in the development of young talent.”

“A big plus about doing a co-op with Canadian Tire,” Palamarchuk says, “is that co-op students have a voice. They’re always encouraged to bring new ideas to managers, who can help implement them within the company infrastructure. I’ve witnessed students’ ideas been brought to life. It’s great to see.”

The right fit

Andrew Sautter is a business analyst and web developer in CTC’s Next Generation Talent Program and is a graduate of CTC’s co-op program. He says the bonus about completing a co-op with a company the size of CTC is that, "Whatever you want to do, there is a position open for you.”

Sautter is an IT guy through and through, having graduated from Seneca’s computer programming and analysis program. He speaks highly of the company’s interest to place its co-op students in the “right job,” and stressed that there are many available, whether it's "web development or marketing or anything at all.”

“When you get started, they're supportive. They’ll help you figure out what area of the business you want to get into, and they’ll help you move in that direction.”

Providing real work experience is also important at CTC. Sautter said, “I didn’t feel as though I was being treated like a co-op. It felt as though I was here as a full-time employee because I was given real work.”

Opportunities

CTC hires over 70 co-ops three times a year with start dates in January, May and September. Be sure to keep an eye out for an exciting opportunity that would help to kick start your career.