I believe that working at Cooper Construction as a co-op/intern is the best possible opportunity for a student to learn the ropes of the construction industry in the fact that, as a co-op, you get to experience every aspect of how construction actually works. It is common in class for students to discuss how their co-op time went and it has come to my attention that many of the other students did not enjoy their experience or learn anything at all. This is not the case at Cooper Construction. You are not just another number in the company sitting in an office crunching numbers. At Cooper I was given the opportunity to help out with estimating, preparing bids, talk to subs. This was not a standard internship in which I got a casual glance at how a construction company operates; this was an in-depth, hands on learning experience. I believe my time there was well spent and I highly recommend Cooper Construction to everyone who wants to gain a better understanding and knowledge in the field of construction. - John McCary   Auburn University   Summer 2007   Co-oping at Jim Cooper Construction Company was not only a great learning experience but also a great life experience. Most Construction companies start Co-ops working out in the field doing manual labor tasks that do not require much thought. But at Cooper Construction they started me out in the office working under a Project Manager. I was able to learn the in's and out's of the whole job process. I was educated so much my first semester as a Co-op that I returned and spent two additional semesters as a Co-op. Every time I returned I helped out on bids, attended weekly job meetings and dealt with sub-contractors on a day by day basis. The work environment was excellent and the employees treated me as one of their own. Being a Co-op at cooper construction was a great opportunity to have and I know it will benefit me in my future. - Taylor Janney   Auburn University   2006-2007   I started out as a co-op at Cooper Construction during the summer of 2006. I immediately was "thrown in the fire" as far as doing things that I thought helped the company. A lot of interns or co-ops at different companies historically do jobs that seem trivial and unimportant. In my opinion, this sometimes could drive the intern or co-op to not work hard or perform in a timely fashion. At Cooper Construction, interns and co-ops are given tasks that are no different than those of project managers, to a certain extent. As I was working, I felt the things I was doing benefited me and the project at hand. By doing important tasks, I learned quickly what to do and what not do. I was forced to learn this. The only way to really learn something is to actually do it, even if it isn't exactly the right way to do it. I was given the opportunity to do things on my own and learn the correct way to do them. Sometimes I had to learn these things the hard way, but that is the best way to learn because it insures I won't make the same mistakes again. I have had some other jobs in the construction industry as an intern, and no other internship prepared me for being a full time employee like Cooper Construction. - Ryan Harbuck   Auburn University   2006