Your Complete Guide to the COOP Careers Fellowship with Stephanie Cafaro (Recruiting @ COOP)

For first-gen college grads who are still searching for their first work experience, living in NYC, Bay Area, LA, Chicago, or Miami

Author

Morgan Young
December 08, 2025

Hey, hey insiders! Welcome to a special edition of my newsletter where you get “the inside track” on all things internships, college, early careers, and personal branding!

The COOP Careers Fellowship has kicked off recruitment season for their Spring 2026 cohort and I’ve got the inside scoop 🍨 on what it really takes to stand out, get selected, and thrive in the program. I sat down with Stephanie Cafaro, Managing Director of Recruiting at COOP, to talk candidly about who succeeds, how to prepare, and what Fellows go on to accomplish.

Ready? Set? Go! 🏁 

The Inside Scoop 🍨 on the COOP Careers Fellowship

Key Info about the Fellowship

In your own words, what makes the COOP Careers Fellowship special — what’s the “magic” people feel once they join?

What makes the COOP Careers Fellowship so special is the unique peer connections, the ability to build networks, and the direct access fellows have to employment opportunities across a wide variety of companies. There are many programs that support first-generation students, especially around college access and retention, but COOP stands out because its entire focus is on recent first-generation grads.

The fellowship experience is rooted in peer connection. Fellows form relationships with others who share similar backgrounds and job-search experiences. The job search is challenging, but it shouldn’t be lonely.

On the curriculum side, the digital skills COOP teaches are hyper-relevant to today’s job market. And truly, what you put into the experience is what you get out of it.

Then there’s the network: COOP now has almost 9,000+ alumni. Becoming an alum instantly connects you to a nationwide community. Sometimes that means a direct referral, sometimes a coffee chat, sometimes interview advice, but the network is strong, active, and growing in really exciting ways.

Can you walk us through how the program is structured and what fellows actually do during the 200 hours?

The COOP Careers Fellowship is a blended learning model. Fellows meet synchronously three nights per week — Monday through Wednesday, from 6:30–9:30 p.m. local time. That synchronous time includes a mix of technical skill-building; “Heart” workshops (communication, imposter syndrome, conflict resolution in the workplace); and “Hustle” workshops, which include job-search essentials like resumes, cover letters, and mock interviews.

Outside those sessions, fellows complete asynchronous work through COOP’s learning management system. This includes learning modules, resume refinement, tailoring job applications, and other assignments. Fellows are encouraged to dedicate an additional 3–4 hours per week to this work. Again: what you put in is what you get out.

Hands-on project experience:
Every fellow completes a capstone project designed to simulate real work they would do in an entry-level role. These capstones vary by track. For example, Data Analytics fellows complete a mock business analysis project provided by a real company. The goal is for every fellow to graduate with a project portfolio they can speak to in interviews.

Mock interviews:
COOP brings in employer partners and volunteers with real recruitment experience to run mock interviews and give direct feedback.

What are the different career tracks, and how can someone figure out which one is the best fit for them?

COOP offers a Track Match Quiz to help applicants figure out which path is the best fit.

The three tracks are:

  • Digital Marketing
    Skills include SEM, paid social, SEO, Google Ads, programmatic ad buying, data analysis, Excel.

  • Data Analytics
    Skills include SQL, Tableau, Excel, KPI reporting, business problem analysis, stakeholder communication.

  • Financial Services
    Skills include analyzing and visualizing financial data, forecasting business performance, Excel, Tableau, professional communication.

COOP welcomes all majors and backgrounds. The curriculum is designed to help recent grads break into tech, finance, marketing/advertising, agencies, and other entry-level roles. Most of the digital skills taught are transferable across many industries.

Examples of roles COOP alumni land:

  • Digital Marketing: Assistant Media Planner, Paid Social Coordinator, SEO Coordinator, Programmatic Associate

  • Data Analytics: Data Analyst, Operations Analyst, BI Analyst, Commerce Analytics Associate

  • Financial Services: Financial Analyst, Investment Associate, Client Services Associate

Companies where COOP alumni have landed roles:
Disney, TikTok, NBC Sports, Digitas, Salesforce, Pfizer, MLB, Tripadvisor, Barclays, SMBC, Morgan Stanley, KPMG, JPMorgan Chase, and more.

What does the alumni coach/“captain” relationship look like, and how does it support a fellow’s growth?

COOP provides alumni services for up to eight months after the fellowship ends. Fellows can continue connecting not only with their own cohort, but also with captains and dedicated COOP staff who support the job search.

Captains help deliver the curriculum, serve as mentors, and support fellows as job-search coaches. Each fellow is part of a “pod,” and each pod has a designated captain who works closely with them.

The job search can feel overwhelming. How does COOP help fellows navigate it with more structure and confidence?

Resume Mastery:
Perfecting the resume is a major part of the program. Many fellows have experience in the service industry and don’t yet know how to translate those skills into language that resonates with employers like Google or Salesforce. COOP coaches them on pitching their strengths clearly and confidently.

Job-Search Strategy:
COOP teaches a strategic approach to the job search. Their AI-powered career platform helps match fellows to opportunities from employer partners.

Capstone Project + Portfolio:
The capstone project often becomes the most compelling part of a fellow’s interview portfolio — because it demonstrates what they’re actually capable of.

✍️ A Note from Morgan on Projects:
As someone who built my entire early career on projects, I cannot emphasize this enough: projects change everything, especially when you feel like you don’t have experience yet.

I landed my very first internship with zero formal work experience purely because I had built a strong project portfolio. At the time, I was applying for Software Engineering Internships and I had 4 solid projects in my portfolio — 3 iOS native mobile applications and 1 interactive website.

When applying for full-time jobs, I leveraged my experience from the Accenture Innovation Challenge, where I worked on a real consulting case for the Smithsonian Institution; the UNR Makerthon (an engineering + pitch competition), where my team built an air quality-measuring smartwatch in 24 hours; the Sontag Entrepreneurship Competition (business pitch competition), where we built an platform with customizable LLMs for content creation; and multiple hackathon projects that showed initiative, creativity, and technical problem-solving.

None of those were jobs. None were paid. But they proved I was someone who built things, solved problems, and learned fast. And employers LOVE that.

That’s why COOP’s capstone structure is so powerful — it gives every fellow a real project they can talk about with confidence, even if they’ve never worked a corporate role before.

Employer Partner Events:
COOP also brings in employer partners for panels, Q&As, resume reviews, workshops, and mock interviews. Partners include Microsoft, Snapchat, TikTok, Cisco, Okta, Salesforce, Barclays, The Trade Desk, VaynerMedia, Mizuho, and many more.

Can you share a favorite success story, big or small, that captures what’s possible after completing the program?

There are so many! One NYC fellow that stands out to me discovered COOP at a university career fair. After being admitted to the fellowship, she built a deep connection with her cohort and found incredible support during the job search. She secured her first full-time, upwardly mobile role just three months after completing the program. She met an employer at a COOP networking event and, after a follow-up coffee chat, applied for a position on their team. Though she didn’t get the role, the employer partner was so impressed that they recommended her for another opportunity on a different team. Within ten months, she had been promoted.

She maintains relationships with her captains and cohort members, and continues showing up for herself.

For someone who’s curious but unsure if the program is “for them,” what’s one encouraging piece of advice you’d want them to hear?

A career is not always linear — and we all have to start somewhere. Regardless of where your goals take you over the next decade, building a network is one of the most important parts of any professional journey.

If you’re curious, take the Track Match Quiz and attend an info session. You never know what opportunity might open up just by taking the first step.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my early 20s, standing at the very beginning of my own career, it’s that careers are rarely linear. No one expects you to have everything figured out right now. Truly. What matters most is choosing a place to start. Pick a direction, take that first step, and trust that you can always pivot later. But you can’t pivot if you never begin, and COOP gives you a place to begin with clarity, structure, and community behind you.

A huge thank you to Stephanie Cafaro, COOP’s Managing Director of Recruitment, for taking the time to share such an open, thoughtful, and genuinely encouraging look inside the Fellowship. Her passion for this work and her belief in what first-gen grads are capable of shines through every word. She brings to life what the COOP experience feels like in a way no website ever could.

And a heartfelt thank you to the entire COOP community for the work you do every day to uplift first-gen graduates, open doors into competitive industries, and build a network that grows stronger with every new cohort.

If something in this interview sparked a little curiosity, a quiet voice saying “maybe this could be for me,” listen to it. Take the quiz. Join an info session. Give yourself permission to explore opportunities that could change your path.

Because this might be the moment everything starts to shift.

And who knows? The next COOP success story people celebrate could be yours. 💛

For early career professionals: Have you landed an internship or new-grad role at a Fortune 500, FAANG company, or a high-growth startup in tech, finance, consulting, or marketing? I’d love to interview you and feature your story to my audience of 81k+ on LinkedIn and 16k+ on Instagram. Please email me your LinkedIn profile and a brief TL;DR of your experience at [email protected]

For organizations: if your company, fellowship, or career program is interested in featuring your opportunities to a highly engaged community of students and early-career professionals, I’d love to partner with you! Reach out with program details or partnership inquiries at [email protected].