Work term challenge

You can apply for credit for COM 001 (your first work term course) through the work term challenge application process in Fall of your core year, if you are a third-year BCom student enrolled in COM 204 or if you previously completed COM 204 during your second year, but you did not register a Pre-Core work term.

In your application, you can use previous work experience from any time prior to entering the third-year core of the BCom program, as long as you were not on a leave of absence from academic studies during that time. The work experience must be completed by August 31.

If you're granted credit for COM 001 through the work term challenge application process, you'll be required to complete at least two additional regular co-op work terms in third and fourth year.

Criteria

You must meet the following criteria* to be considered for a work term challenge.

Your work experience must:

have been completed prior to entering the core of the BCom program (by August 31)
not have been completed while you were on a leave of absence from your academic studies
have helped you establish and achieve your career goals
have been supervised
have totalled a minimum of 420 hours
have been paid

You should be able to reflect on and discuss your work in relation to competencies that you've developed, and you must have developed some professional and/or personal competencies such as:

analysis
problem solving
decision-making
organizing/managing self and others
written/verbal communication
technical/computer
interpersonal relations
initiative and self-reliance
industry/job specific

*It is difficult for students who own their own business to meet the work term challenge application criteria. You must submit a business plan using the ENT challenge business plan guidelines to support your application.

Please contact us before the application deadline with concerns/questions.

How to apply

Start your application as early as possible in September. You must apply for work term challenge during the first (fall) academic term of the third year BCom program core. Feel free to submit your application items one at a time, as you complete them. All application items must be submitted no later than November 1 at 4:30 p.m.

Here's what to include:

Work term challenge application form: Complete this online form by November 1.
Summary of work experience form: Complete this online form by November 1. If you are combining more than one work experience, you must submit this form for each position.
Work term challenge employer evaluation form: This must be completed and submitted online by your employer no later than November 1.
Employment confirmation letter: Request a signed letter from your employer, written on company letterhead, which includes your job title, wage, and the total number of completed hours that you worked before entering the BCom core. Submit this letter by email to busichallenge@uvic.ca no later than November 1. If you are combining more than one work experience, you must submit an Employment Confirmation Letter for each position.
Work term challenge report: Complete and submit this fillable Word template to the Business Co-op Work Term Challenge Fall Application Site in Brightspace by November 1.

Applying with entrepreneurial experience

If you're applying for a work term challenge using entrepreneurial work experience, you'll need to submit a business plan that includes your:

1. Product or service
  State your company's mission.
  - What is your product or service?
  - How does it work?
  - What is your competitive advantage?
2. Business model
  How do you make money?
  - Contracts?
  - Subscriptions?
  - Hourly/fee for service?
3. Market
  - Who is your target customer?
  - How do you reach and advertise to them?
  - How big is your market? Use a market diagram.
4. Competition
  - Who are the major players?
  - How does their product compare to yours? Use a competition chart and a positioning diagram.
5. Operations
  - How will the product or service be provided? Use an operations blueprint.
  - What skills or resources are needed to be operational?
6. Finance
  Provide a monthly income statement, including:
  - Your revenue/sales forecast
  - Your expenses
  - Your start-up capital (what MUST you buy to start, excluding regular expenses)
7. Timeline and goals
  - What are your overall goals and key activities each month? Use a diagram.
  - What are your monthly goals?

Questions? Contact busichallenge@uvic.ca.

Evaluation process

After November 1, check your email regularly for communication and updates.

A notification will be sent to your email account (the account you indicated as your preferred email in your UVic Profile) after the work term challenge application deadline of November 1. It will confirm whether your application package is complete and meets the criteria, or if is incomplete and/or does not meet the criteria.

If your application is complete and meets the criteria, it will move to the assessment phase and your challenge report will be marked. Next, you will receive an email informing you whether your challenge report has been marked as "satisfactory," or if it requires revisions.

Complete work term challenge applications that meet the criteria will be sent with a recommendation to Undergraduate Records for assessment, verification and registration in COM 001, for the Spring (January–April) term.

Approved work term challenges for COM 001 will receive a satisfactory a grade of "COM" that is entered on your transcript in the spring term. Unsatisfactory work term challenges will receive a grade of "N/X" for COM 001, and three work terms will be scheduled in your academic program.

Questions?

See our work term challenge FAQ sheet.

Please also review the Business Co-op program general regulations in the Undergraduate Calendar.

If you have further questions contact us before the application deadline.