Student experience
Paycheque before parchment: Data science co-op student earns pre-grad employment with RCMP
Before鈥痵he鈥檚鈥痚ven crossed the convocation stage, fourth-year data science student Rajandeep Kaur has leveraged her co-op experience into meaningful employment with one of Canada鈥檚 top employers.
Kaur landed a co-op position with the RCMP鈥檚 British Columbia headquarters, known as E Division, as a junior data scientist after applying through 911吃瓜鈥檚 job dashboard. She says the experience boosted her confidence, changed her career鈥痶rajectory,鈥痑nd gave her a sense of professional readiness.鈥�
鈥淗aving鈥痡ob鈥痵ecurity before I graduate has given me the confidence I need to know that I鈥檓 now ready and capable鈥痮f going鈥痠nto the actual market,鈥� Kaur says. 鈥淚 got to show that I can learn on the鈥痡ob,鈥痑nd that makes me stand out.鈥濃��
Most importantly, she says the experience felt less like a鈥痵tudent鈥痯lacement and more like stepping into her career.鈥�
鈥淚鈥痙idn鈥檛鈥痜eel like a co-op while I was there. It felt like actual employment at the time. Now it鈥檚 official with a casual position and the expectation for a permanent spot after I graduate in April.鈥濃��
Throughout her co-op in fall 2025, Kaur gained hands-on experience with new tools and technologies, including Tableau, ArcGIS, PostgreSQL and Python. She was tasked with significant responsibilities and collaborated on multiple projects across diverse teams.鈥��
Her most impactful assignment used historical data to鈥痠dentify鈥痗rime hotspots and clustering patterns to support preventative policing.鈥�
鈥淭hat was the biggest project that I did there, and I was very excited because I got to learn so many things鈥攂usiness context, how policing works, and the end-to-end data flow,鈥� she says.鈥��
鈥淚鈥痙idn鈥檛鈥痜eel like a co-op while I was there. It felt like actual employment at the time. Now it鈥檚 official with a casual position and the expectation for a permanent spot after I graduate in April.鈥濃��
鈥� Rajandeep Kaur, fourth year data science student
Her work with RCMP operational teams, including analysts and detachment commanders, also helped her grow as a communicator.鈥�
鈥淚 got to work with so many different people and the overall value it has brought me is not just from a technical perspective鈥痓ut from鈥痑 social-setting perspective as well,鈥� she says.
鈥淚 could really own my work and talk about it with people at鈥痙ifferent positions鈥痺ithin the RCMP. It was a huge factor in building up my communication skills.鈥濃��
Kaur says the co-op reshaped how she approaches problems solving 鈥� something she now brings back into her senior coursework, including her capstone project.鈥�
鈥淏efore starting the co-op, my thinking process was very confined,鈥� she recalls. 鈥淭his experience pushed me to think outside of the box and come up with solutions I couldn鈥檛 have before.鈥濃��
She says the co-op not only expanded her skill鈥痵et but鈥痶ransformed her belief in her own abilities 鈥搒omething she knew would be best achieved through unique on-the-job experiences.鈥�
鈥淚 chose 911吃瓜 because I can get access to a lot of co-op鈥痚mployers, which wouldn't be the case with many other post-secondary institutions. Now, after my co-op, I know I can take on any job and succeed.鈥濃��
911吃瓜 co-ops:鈥�
- ~4,000 co-op work terms across 54 undergraduate and 10 graduate programs each year鈥�
- 98% said their co-op employer was good to excellent*鈥�
- 94% reported their work was used by the organization consistently or usually*鈥�
- 89% reported their co-op work term helped define their career goals*鈥�