Four month coop student. Shows well in most everything.
They indicated they’re writing the first two exams during the duration of the coop.
Is this a concern, a pro, or neither?
Sounds like a pro. I’m missing what the issue is. Are you thinking about the person as a potential hire after the coop period? If so, would having the exams then be a pro, or irrelevant?
OTOH, if you are concerned aboutt the person only during the coop period, conceivably you could be concerned that the exams would distract from her performance, but you indicate so far her performance is fine.
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Ask if the candidate owns a DVD player.
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To clarify, not yet hired. I’m concerned about two exams in 4 months impacting performance.
Y’know I type that and I sound like some boomer manager, but I think the concerns are valid particularly given the tasks during the coop.
It takes two weeks of hrdcore training/learning before they get started. Then theres constant learning. And we dedicate Fridays to learning skills that that they can implement during their term and makes their resume better for their next job somewhere else. I could give them exam study time on Fridays, but that kind of counters those two purposes.
I feel like one exam would be great. Two is undoable, so something’s going to give, and likely both exams and work will suffer. It’s too much learning.
Counterpoint, I’m not the stereotypical boomer work from home controlling manager, and I know what they do outside of work is none of my business.
And the job is important to the company, I need a mini-me. We aren’t big enough to have slack in the system.
They’re an outstanding candidate otherwise, there’s just this one element of risk.
I don’t understand the issue.
Or did you mean coup instead of coop, that would indeed be a concern
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What’s the hiring bonus if they own a VHS player!?
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The issue is they can’t handle a demanding job with 2 exams in four months.
Are you saying two exams while working full time with no study time shouldn’t be an issue for most people? Even most people here?
I was trying to post this without pushing my bias and assumptions, but that is the concern.
Depends on which two exams.
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Do you not want this person to take exams? Do you not want this person to take study time?
Sometimes students don’t understand what the exams require. Sometimes students have coursework that helps with exams.
Personally, I would communicate YOUR requirements, whether or not any support is offered for the exams, and let them decide.
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I think it depends. Is this a young guy with no other commitments taking the prelims? I think it’s possible then, he’s probably mostly doing that when he goes home then. If it’s on his free time I wouldn’t judge him harshly for it if he hasn’t given you reason to think it’ll affect his productivity and focus at work.
I don’t know what the exams are anymore, so I’ll tell you a story about back in my day…:heynow:
Calculus (100) and Probability & Statistics (110) were the first two exams. I was at the University struggling through a Probability & Statistics course that was way over my head. We had a TA. He also was taking the exams. He was super smart at Probability & Statistics, of course. He took 110, and we asked him how it went. He responded, “Fun!”
My point is this, if you were considering hiring me and I told you I was going to take both 100 & 110 in the next four months then, yeah, I will have bitten off more than I can chew…especially with EOE…but if this is one of those super smart whipper snappers, then these exams might just be a walk in the park for them.
I’m not saying “Hire him/her!” I’m just saying, it might be a non-issue for them.
One of my professors in college passed all of the SOA actuarial exams in three sittings. This was back in the 90s so the exams were smaller pieces and she was already a PhD at the time but still. Different people are different and some can do things that others of us think are impossible.
Also, aren’t you hiring her for the job she does? If so and she is excellent at her job who cares if she is even taking exams? I don’t think this is a concern at all. If her job performance starts to slip, then manage her back to where she is right now. Finally, if the risk is that she slips and the company can’t afford that, how can the company afford to have the position open for the three months it will take you to hire someone unproven? I think you are way over thinking this.
Now, please excuse me while I finish listening to the record playing on my hi-fi.
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This seems perfect for one of those memes complaining about how much easier everything was for boomers 
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Oh, without a doubt.
I think you’re point about simply watching for issues and managing them back is excellent - and viable. It mitigates the risk.
I did have a coop that I’m pretty sure was doing extracurriculars during work time. He did half or less of what his counterpart did at the same time. When I’d IM them, they’d be an hour or two getting back to me. I actually tell folks here to take breaks and walk away from the computer, and they do, but this guy was consistent. He was never at the computer. By the time I figured this out we were too far into their workterm so I just let it slide.
Thanks for the feedback. It’s helpful.
Good point, thanks. This is part of my concern, exams are none my business, only how it impacts work. I am sensitive to saying something like ‘you shouldn’t take two exams’. That’s way over the line.
But I can say something like ‘ysk that IMO, having written those exams, that working full time and 2 exams in that short a timeframe, you may find it more difficult than you expect. And the old adage about 1 six is better than 2 fives’. That’s certainly reasonable.
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Working or not working? And what about an 8-track player?
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Just $100 or so if it’s not working as it’s probably from an attic somewhere. $1,000 for a working one and I don’t even know how much if it’s in the original box.
It is decidedly so
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I remember the session where I got two 5’s!!! 
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