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the PETERMAN Pod The smartest interns I ever worked with came from

@ryanlpeterman

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Why it worked

The post leverages a common pain point for founders and hiring managers – finding and retaining top talent – by presenting a surprising insight about the University of Waterloo's interns and their unique co-op program.

Summary

This photo post discusses the exceptional quality of interns from the University of Waterloo, attributing it to their co-op program. The program's structure of alternating study and work semesters is highlighted as a key factor in developing strong, adaptable interns.

Structure

1Introduction of top-tier universities for interns
2Highlighting Waterloo interns as the best
3Questioning the reason for Waterloo interns' strength
4Explaining Waterloo's co-op program structure
5Describing the benefits of the co-op program
6Concluding with a wish for wider adoption of the program

On-screen text

the PETERMAN Pod The smartest interns I ever worked with came from MIT, Caltech, and Tsinghua University in China. But the best interns I ever worked with all came from Waterloo. What is it that makes these Waterloo interns so strong? The most important thing Waterloo got right is their co-op program. Waterloo said, "We're going to do a rotation where every semester you study, you work, you study, you work." You don't have a break in between. You're just constantly iterating through this loop. It removes the stigma of trying things. I wish more universities would copy it.

Original caption

The smartest interns that I ever worked with came from MIT, Caltech, and Tsinghua University in China. But the best interns I ever worked with all came from Waterloo. I’m curious, what is it that makes these Waterloo interns so strong? The most important thing that Waterloo got right is their co op program. Waterloo said, you know what, we’re going to just do a rotation where every semester you study, you work, you study, you work, you study, you work. You know what that means? You don’t have a break in between. You’re just constantly iterating through this loop. It removes the stigma of trying things. I had so many of my peers going through university where we all started with some preconceived notion of what we wanted to do. It’s like, oh, I really want to go to Wall street and work there. And they try one of the co op terms there, and they’re like, no, I don’t like the city, or I don’t like the industry. I didn’t like the people. It just didn’t click for whatever reason. And that’s really important to discover early. That is still the superpower of Waterloo. And I wish more universities would copy it because it’s such a lever for success for people that go through that program. For the full conversation, you can search Ilya Gregorik on my YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts (link in bio)