Originally from New Hampshire, USA, Mikayla Manderville is a third-year Bachelor of Commerce student, majoring in marketing. “I chose Dal because of its co-op program. I loved the idea that I would have the opportunity to try out different jobs that interested me. At the time that I applied to Dal, I had no idea what I wanted to do, so the co-op program is a great opportunity for students like me to figure that out.”

Mikayla is currently working as a Special Projects Manager at 365 Experience here in Halifax for her fall co-op. 365 Experience is a rental property management company that manages Airbnb rentals, as well as an electric scooter rental service for residential building tenants called AirScoot. “I stumbled into the path of Avery Birch, CEO at 365 Experience, during my first co-op job search and had talked to him briefly. I fell in love with the role from our conversation and decided I wanted to circle back around for my second co-op,” says Mikayla. “My CRS Jonathan Perry helped me learn how to utilize LinkedIn for job searching and networking. From there I connected with Avery on LinkedIn and was able to secure an interview which led to me getting the job!”

Mikayla shares that her responsibilities include a variety of day-to-day and larger project management tasks. “On a daily basis I am responsible for managing the strategy we use to price our Airbnb listings. I begin by analyzing the available market and make price adjustments where necessary to optimize occupancy. Additionally, I have created and managed our new Customer Relationship Management system, which was put in place to manage lead generation. I am responsible for the outreach that we send to those leads as well.”

So far this term, Mikayla says she is enjoying her talented team and the autonomy over her work. “There is no task that is out of reach for me to try, or a responsibility I do not have the opportunity to manage. Since day one I have had the opportunity to vocalize interest in projects that I want to take the lead on. Just a few weeks ago, my co-workers and I sat in on a meeting with a local brewery to discuss a potential partnership and we sealed the deal! This is just one example of the autonomy we have as co-op students to take ideas and act on them.”

While it feels great when tasks come naturally, equally as important are the aspects of a co-op that are challenging and result in both personal and professional growth. “My new role has also been pushing me out of my comfort zone. We recently had a hiring week at the company for the next co-op term. Avery likes to have the current co-op students take control of the hiring process until the final interview. This was a bit challenging for me because I had never interviewed someone before. I had to ask valuable questions to get to know the candidates in such a short amount of time. However, it ended up being one of my favorite job tasks so far this work term!”

Mikayla’s advice for you:

• Utilize the resources at your disposal, especially your MCS Career and Recruitment Specialist. Searching for your next co-op can be daunting but your CRS is there to help. If you vocalize your goals for co-op, they offer much support in the journey to reaching that goal. They are there to help you, so let them!

Instagram: @mmanderville

Pronouns: She/her