Cooperative Education

Final Clearance: Details

BEFORE THE MEETING

1. Visit the MyNEU Website at http://myneu.neu.edu. If you have not done so, obtain a MyNEU account. NOTE: Your "My NEU" ID request can take several hours to be processed. Don't wait until just before your clearance meeting to do this! (If you have problems, visit Info Commons for help.)
2. Once you have your ID, log into MyNEU. Click on the Self Service tab. In the bottom right corner, click on MyNEU COOL.
3. Fill out the Personal Information tab in the MY PROFILE section.
4. Use the resume upload feature in the MY PORTFOLIO section to upload the most current version of your resume. Click on "For Review" to upload it as a .doc file.
5. In the top of the JOB SEARCH section, select "Undergraduate Co-op" and the quarter and year for which you wish to be cleared. For "Section," select "6 month", and for "PT/FT", select "Both". (If you are a graduate student, do this for "Graduate Student Coop".)
6. Log out of COOL and return to the MyNEU site. Go to the Self Service section and look for Faculty Calendar. Schedule a fifteen-minute appointment for Final Clearance with your faculty coordinator.
7. Check to make sure you've completed all other co-op preparation pieces (First Formal Interview, Seeking New Assignments meeting). If you have not done your First Formal Interview, you MUST do that before Final Clearance. If you have not attended Seeking New Assignments, you may go ahead and do the Final Clearance meeting, but you will not be cleared to use the database until after you've attended Seeking New.
8. If you've done the First Formal Interview but did not bring everything to that meeting (e.g., if you forgot to bring proof of your citizenship at that time), you must bring it to Final Clearance.

ITEMS TO BRING TO THE MEETING

• Bring the following with you to the meeting:
  • A paper version of the resume you just uploaded to COOL
  • Your old resume, which was critiqued during the First Formal Interview*
  • A recent transcript (the unofficial one obtained through http://myneu.neu.edu is fine)
  • Job Status Form (if you have been on co-op before, and if you have not already turned this in)
  • Any materials you did not have verified at your First Formal Interview (i.e., citizenship documentation, orientation sticker sheet, etc.). See the First Formal Interview page for details.*
  • If you are planning to job search on your own, bring a sample cover letter (addressed to an employer you actually plan to send your resume to).*

  * Students who have previously been on co-op do not need to bring this.

  AT THE MEETING

  • In order to be "cleared" for co-op, you must meet co-op minimum standards (2.0 QPA, an approved co-op appropriate resume, citizenship verified, a passing grade in CS U222/223, etc.). If anything is missing, you will not be cleared.
  • The resume is often the "sticking point" for many students in the Final Clearance meeting. For best results, bring your resume to your faculty coordinator to have it critiqued during walk-in/open hours before Final Clearance. This will ensure that the clearance meeting will go smoothly and quickly.
  • DO NOT use the "Resume Wizard" feature of COOL to build your resume. The resume style created by this feature is inappropriate for job searching in the high tech field.

  AFTER THE MEETING

  • Your coordinator will inform you of when you will have access to the database. At the "Seeking New Assignments" meeting, you will learn how to sign up for jobs.
  • If you have uploaded your resume as a .doc file, be sure to re-upload it WITHOUT "For Review" checked. This will upload your resume as a .pdf document.
  • CHECK THE PDF DOCUMENT. Make sure it looks the way you want it to look. This is what employers will see!
  • Be sure the correct resume is marked as the default resume.