Advanced Global Business Expertise With Co-Op

Educating Tomorrow's Global Professionals

Program Introduction

Who am I as a manager and how do I achieve meaningful results? How do I communicate with others in my organization? Do I know how to read the inevitable contracts I enter into? Do I understand my accountant’s numbers? How do our products connect with our customers? What do the daily business headlines tell me? If these and other questions spark your interest and passion, the Advanced Global Business Expertise with Co-op program is the way you want to explore.

Advanced Global Business Expertise with Co-op begins with 24 weeks of in-class studies, followed by a 24-week co-op. Co-op gives students the opportunity to apply the knowledge they have gained during their classes to actual on-the-job experience. Students are paid for their work experience.

What Learning Goals Will I Achieve?

Working through cultural differences while teaming up with classmates from around the world
Participating in class discussions that connect textbook with real business issues
Preparing and delivering presentations with flair and confidence
Enhancing job skills through practical exercises and projects
Understanding factors and forces that impact managerial performance
Learning how management works in actual organizational contexts

Courses

Course 1: Human Resources Strategies

The focus is on exploring the character traits and skills organizations expect from professional managers.
Students engage in a lot of self-reflection to figure out how they would do as managers. Throughout the
course, we keep in mind that organizational performance is the manager’s ultimate objective. To that
end, we constantly refer to cases in the news and scan the environment to see how that impacts a
manager’s tasks.

Course 2: Public Relations Strategies

The focus is on helping sharpen and fine-tune students’ communication skills, in listening, reading,
writing, and speaking. A significant portion of this course is self-driven, centered on exercises and
challenges students will need to face in an organizational context. We also pay substantial attention to
job search skills and documents, ending the course with a panel interview. This course is a natural
complement to the Human Resources Strategies course.

Course 3: Legal Strategies

The focus is on acquainting students with key aspects of business law in a common law environment.
We spend the first two weeks of the course looking at contracts, how they are formed, when they are
and are not enforceable, and what is involved in performance and breach of contract. We also zoom in
on the basic legal questions around corporations, sole proprietorships, and partnerships, before taking
in a bird’s eye view of international trade law.

Course 4: Cost Control Strategies

The focus is on making potential managers aware of how their approach to and performance in
management impacts the bottom line. To that end all managers need to be aware of how costs are
classified and how accountants look at costs. Knowing how the numbers work and are intimately
intertwined with their day-to- day performance helps managers reflect on and up their game in an
organizational context.

Course 5: Global Marketing Strategies

The focus is on tying in skills learned in the other courses with managers’ absolute need to always keep
in mind the needs of the customers they are supposed to serve. Students not only look at the theory of
marketing, but become more clearly attuned to the nuts and bolts of how marketing focus affects the
entire organization. The course is a natural complement to the Human Resources and Public Relations
Strategies courses.

Course 6: Business Economics

The focus is on helping students decode the daily business headlines in terms of economics, encouraging
them to reflect on the choices individual societies and governments make. Not only do we look at how
economists from around the world grapple with these issues, we also delve into economic questions
that affect all of us in daily life. In as far as managers operate in an environment that shapes their
organization, students begin to understand how a grasp of economics is essential to their managerial
performance.

AGBE With Co-op At A Glance

Type: Diploma or Certificate Program

Campus: Vancouver

Admission Requirements:

International Students must pass the Vancouver International College – Career Campus Entrance Interview AND provide one of the following:

→ A recognized international English language equivalency test score, OR

→ a pass on our entrance exam; OR

→ show proof of one: TOEFL iBT 71, TOEIC 750, IELTS 6

Program Length: 48 Weeks

Weeks 1 to 24 (24 weeks)	In-class Studies	Mondays to Thursdays	9:00 to 12:00 (class) 12:00 to 1:00 (lunch) 1:00 to 3:30 (class)
		Fridays	9:00 to 12:00 (class) 12:00 to 1:00 (lunch) 1:00 to 2:30 (class)
Weeks 25 to 48 (24 weeks)	Co-op Term	Schedule dependent on host company.
Total of 48 weeks.

Graduation Requirement: 70% average upon successful completion of all in-class courses and successful
completion of the co-op term.

Co-op Hours

Co-op Hours

The co-op term begins once the student has completed their in-class studies. Students with good attendance and a grade average of 70% or more will continue to co-op. Students can work a minimum of 400 hours to a maximum of 636 hours within the 24-week period.

Here are some possible formulas to complete a maximum of 636 hours.
If you work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week:	= 40 hours per week.	636 + 40 hours per week	= 15.9 weeks	= student works approximately 4 months.
If you work 7 hours a day, 5 days a week:	= 35 hours per week.	636 + 35 hours per week	= 18.17 weeks	= student works approximately 4.5 months.
Here are some possible formulas to complete a maximum of 400 hours.
If you work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week:	= 40 hours per week.	400 + 40 hours per week	= 10 weeks	= student works approximately 2.5 months.
If you work 7 hours a day, 5 days a week:	= 35 hours per week.	400 + 35 hours per week	= 11.43 weeks	= student works approximately 3 months.

*Students enrolled in the AGBE with Co-op program are permitted to work up to 20 hours per week during the in-class portion of their studies.

Co-op Coordinator

The Co-op Coordinator’s role is to guide AGBE with Co-op students through each step of the co-op process, network between the student and the placement company, and deal with students’ questions and concerns before, during, and after their co-op term.

Students will meet with the Co-op Coordinator several times over the course of the program:

When	Why
First week	For an orientation to learn about the co-op term’s policies and details.
Twelve weeks into the program	To discuss job placement.
Two weeks before the co-op term begins	To discuss any issues students may have.
During the co-op term	To oversee the students’ work experience and provide on-going support..
Once the students have completed their co-op requirements	To facilitate the students’ graduation.

Job Placement

Before the co-op term begins, the job placement company will guide students through a 3-step pre-placement process:

Initial Consultation
Resume Writing
Interview Practice and Feedback

When the students are ready to begin their co-op term, the job placement company will arrange up to 3 interviews for a paid co-op position.

Once a student passes an interview, the job placement company will:

Arrange the contract and various documents
Supervise the student’s work experience
Communicate with the host regarding any concerns.

The Co-op Coordinator, together with the job placement company, will do their utmost to help you to secure a suitable work placement.

The college will guarantee students up to three interviews in appropriate facilities, but your success will depend on the availability of the host, current market demands, your particular skills and experience, and your performance on your interviews.

Co-op Jobs

All co-op jobs are to be related to the AGBE with Co-op program’s content and in compliance with government regulations.

Students may be placed in areas such as:

Marketing
Accounting
Human Resources
Client Account Services
Business Analysis
Database Administration

Duties may include:

Inventory
Quality control
Training
Scheduling
Invoicing
Shipping and tracking
Payroll
Bookkeeping
Logistics

Future Career Opportunities

Office Management

International Trade

Small Business Development

Finance

HR Development

Global Consultant

Documents

Documents required at the start of the AGBE program:

Study permit (must be valid from the first day to the last day of the entire program duration)
Work permit (must be valid from the first day to the program end date)
Medical insurance (must cover the entire program duration, from first to last day)
Social Insurance Number (SIN): http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/sc/sin/index.shtml
Resume