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Co-op Student Program


About SOCO:

Hi.  We’re SOCO.  A community-centered workspace.  At SOCO, we know that where you work matters—but so does the vibe. It’s not just about finding a desk; it’s about being in a space that feels alive, where connections happen naturally, and where you can get your best work done on your terms; when and where you want.  

SOCO isn’t a traditional office, and it’s definitely not just a coffee shop with WiFi (though we do love a good latte). It’s the best of both—a place designed to help you focus, get inspired, and connect when you feel like it. Here’s what makes our spaces stand out:

  • A Diverse Community – Creatives, tech pros, entrepreneurs, and remote workers—everyone here brings something unique to the table. (And no one will judge you for working in sweatpants.)
  • Casual, Meaningful Interactions – Whether it’s a quick chat in the kitchen or a “wait, you do what? Let’s talk” moment, connections here happen naturally.
  • Space to Work, Room to Breathe – Quiet corners for deep work, open areas to engage—because sometimes you want to talk and sometimes you just need to get stuff done.
  • Events That Bring People Together – From casual meetups to engaging discussions, we create opportunities to connect without the weird name tags and forced networking small talk.

About The Job:

We’re committed to providing real work opportunities for students and helping to build up the next generation and have been working with students at the University of South Carolina for 6 years now.  Our co-op student program is an amazing opportunity for students to contribute, add value to what we do and gain invaluable work experience that can help you hit the ground running when you graduate.  

Co-op students at SOCO are a vital part of our community and workspace offerings and provide a range of support for us as we strive to be a world class place for people to connect, work and thrive.  

Co-op Student Workers typically participate with us in three distinct ways:

  1. Workspace Management & Hospitality
  2. Sales Support & Customer Success
  3. Events & Marketing

In addition to the responsibilities below, our student team members are expected to help us recruit the next cohort of student workers through your connections, relationships and participation on your respective campus. 

Workspace Management & Hospitality
SOCO manages and operates shared workspaces in and around the Columbia, SC area.  Student workers on this track help us to manage our workspace so that members, customers and guests have an incredible experience.  Typically, being a part of our workspace management team involves helping us open, close and staff our workspaces during the business week.  Sometimes that means making the coffee or taking out the trash.  Other times that’s helping us with procurement, stocking shelves or unloading the dishwasher.  You’ll also have the opportunity to greet guests, work with members and support programming and events that we host.  

Fit: This is a great role for anyone interested in hospitality, food service or real estate.

 

Sales Support & Customer Success

SOCO is a mission-driven business and we’re in the business of helping working professionals get access to inspiring workspaces, supportive community and resources that help them on whatever professional journey they are on.  Student workers in this program work with our business development and member services team to find prospects, convert them into paying customers and make sure they get an incredible value and stay with us forever.  Typically, being a part of our sales support team means you’ll be providing sales and customer service support for our business development team and can involve everything from prospecting, to hospitality, to providing tours, staffing events, assisting with new member onboarding, helping members address and resolve issues and a range of support tasks along the lifecycle of a customer relationship.  

Fit: This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in business development, sales, customer service/success, hospitality, entrepreneurship or business in general.  

 

Events & Marketing

One of the best parts about our community and workspaces is how vibrant, dynamic and exciting they can be.  Two of the ways that we generate business AND support our community is through storytelling and events.  SOCO produces, hosts and supports a range of events, programs and activities both for our member community but also for the community at large.  In addition, we have active content marketing activities we use to raise our profile, build brand recognition and help educate prospective customers about what we do and how we can add value to their journey.  Typically, you’ll be working with our marketing and events team to concept, produce and distribute content, messaging and events that will help drive traffic to SOCO and help enrich the member experience.  

Fit: This is a great position for students interested in pursuing careers in digital marketing, content marketing, marketing & sales, events management and related fields.  

 

A Day In The Life:


Opening:

Here’s a typical day in the life of a SOCO co-op student.  You’re responsible for opening and closing our locations, so you get up, take a shower and run by SOCO 80808 and then SOCO BullStreet to go through our opening procedures.  You make the coffee because nothing says “we’re glad you’re here” like a fresh pot of locally roasted coffee.  You’ll check the music to make sure SOCO’s favorite reggae station is playing through the SONOS.  You unload the dishwasher and drop in dishes from the late night crew.  You check to make sure our meeting rooms are tidy and in good order, saying hello to a couple of our early bird members on your way around the space.  While you’re moving through the checklist, you’ll take a detour to make sure the bathrooms are clean and there’s no trash or waste lying around the workspace so we “present well” when folks walk in the door. Trash cans to the street on Mondays?  Check.  Lights on?  Check.  Space ready for folks to crush the work?  Check.    

 

Staffing: 

If you’re staffing that day, you’ll join (on time) our weekly standup meeting that covers what tour bookings, external meeting room bookings, events and activities we have going on that week and you’ll check to see when you’re on the schedule for the rest of the week.  You also noticed that we’re getting low on supplies and you’ll drop a note to the ops manager who will make sure we get orders for important stuff placed.  While you’re onsite, a member/guest has a question about how to book meeting rooms.  You’ll raise your hand and shout “never fear!  I have the member handbook!”  You’ll walk them through how to reserve rooms online through the mobile app and help them book what they need.  Another member pulls you aside and says “hey, my mobile pass doesn’t seem to be working any more.”  Good thing they stopped you because you know that means we need to log a request with the ops manager to have their mobile pass re-issued or look into their account.  Now.  Time to pop into that afternoon class.

 

Close Out: 

You had a good day of opening our locations, providing some support to members and you even made it to all your classes on time.  It’s 5:30pm which means it’s time to stop by the workspaces and close things out.  You pull out your handy checklist and go through all the little things (dishes, doors, lights, trash, etc) that help make sure our spaces are ready for another day.  Your teammate is coming in the next day to open, so you want to make sure they have an easy job of it.  With the spaces properly closed out and a wave goodbye to the late workers, you’re off to enjoy the rest of your evening.  

 

Compensation, Commitment and Benefits: 

Compensation

Co-op Students do real work and provide real value.  As such, in addition to the epic work experience you’ll get, the position pays $14/hour.  

 

Benefits 

Listen.  Let’s be real clear.  We work our tails off, are mission-driven and are passionate about what we do and expect no less from the people that work with us; that includes our student workers.  But, we also know that gaining valuable work experience is worth its weight in gold for whatever is next in your journey.  

  • Employee 401k program (after 1 year)
  • Flexibility
  • Creative, fun and entrepreneurial culture
  • Mentoring opportunities
  • Exposure to wide range of topics, skills and potential career paths
  • Strong opportunity to build your relationships, network and “circle”

Testimonials

“Truly the best team to work with! It has so many perks like being able to network with members who work in a bunch of careers while also gaining valuable insights into what it takes to run a space as such!!” – Jordan Behling, Co-op Student, 2023 – 2025

Time Commitment

Through our commitment to help develop your skills and support our student community, we typically expect students to make at least a (1) year commitment to being a part of our team.  If you do a great job, there’s potential to extend your term, but we actively recruit new cohort members every year (and you get to help us).  

 

Hours of Operation

The time commitment can be flexible and we typically work around the student schedule.  Co-op students can expect to be up early to open and can come in late to close.  But, SOCO normally operates from 8:30 am – 5:30 pm with some after hours events obligations for students with flexibility.

Qualifications:

Want to go deeper into what it takes to succeed and thrive at SOCO?  Take a look at our core values and characteristics of success here (and read below).


Characteristics of Success

We’ve been doing this a long time and we know what it takes to succeed and thrive on our team.  Is it required that you’re a 10 out of 10 for all of these?  Of course not. But, the stronger these characteristics align with your way of being, the better fit we’ll likely be.  You’ll find success and a good fit with our culture if you are: 

  • Attentive, Proactive and Detail – Oriented 
  • Organized, Efficient, Adaptable and Flexible 
  • A Leader and Take Ownership
  • People and Relationship Focused
  • Hospitality and Service-Oriented
  • Authentic and Confident


Non – negotiables

It’s hard working with other people and everyone has different values. But, we have a few non-negotiable values or characteristics that are really (like really) important to us.  Our team members are expected to be:  

  • Communicative 
  • Resourceful
  • Committed 
  • Reliable
  • Trustworthy (High Integrity)

To Apply:

At SOCO, we believe diversity creates strength and opportunity.  We encourage individuals from all backgrounds and experiences to apply.  To apply for this position, please submit your application here.