

Ask HN: I want to leave my empty co-op job. How do I do it? - caesarion

TL;DR - I'm miserable working at my job and I want to leave and take my summer into my own hands, but my school will give me a failed work term. Does it matter? Are they allowed to do that? What can I do?<p>(Also, after reading what I've written I realized I come off as sounding a bit whiny and possibly aggressive. Entitled too :). Anyway, that's absolutely not how I feel nor what I wanted to convey. So just keep that in mind, 'cause I really just want what's best)<p>I just finished my first year of mechanical engineering at the University of Waterloo, and right now I'm on my first four month work term. The co-op program at Waterloo is a little different than most - simply put, you alternate four months of school with four months of work until you're done the degree (six total work terms, eight total academic terms).<p>Anyway, the problem I'm having right now has to do with the job I'm at. I came back home to Calgary to work, and I got a job at a large defence contractor. Nothing immediately wrong with that, I felt pretty lucky to get a high paying job back home where I wanted to be. However, after being here about a month and a half, I've realized it's making me miserable. It's the first "big boy job" that I've had, and so far it just feels empty. I get to work at 8:30 and I stay 'til 5:00 basically just counting down the hours until I get to leave. When I get home I'm incredibly exhausted for what seems to be no reason at all. I mean, I sit at a desk all day, you wouldn't think that's tiring. But it is. This soul-sucking routine that they call work is more exhausting than if I had been shovelling dirt for nine hours.<p>It sucked but I tolerated it for a while, because that's what's expected of me. Recently though, I've been realizing that it's time for me to make a change. I kind of woke up and noticed that nobody has the power to make me do something I hate, and that if I want to leave that's a decision I own. I shouldn't make a passive non-decision that sort of says "oh well, it's just my first work term, I'll just tough it out," because that's habit forming and it's the easy road. I've formed general ideas about what I want to do in life, and none of them involve just putting in hours at a place that doesn't have meaningful work for me to do. If I don't start embracing those ideas and nourish them NOW, I feel like I'm going to get stuck like everyone else - spending 20 years thinking "oh I'll get my feet on the ground and THEN be independent."
So, I've basically already decided that I want to leave (or at the least make serious, serious changes). I will probably end up spending the summer studying a book my dad gave me (Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs). I'm also going to start a building project like a picnic table and gazebo.<p>But my real plea is for advice on how to deal with the other people involved, mainly those from my school. I'm told that if I leave without reasons derived from "extenuating circumstances" I will get a failed work term, which goes on my transcript. They make it sound as though that's a huge bloody deal that will really hurt my "career," but my gut instinct thinks I shouldn't care. If I want to stray off the beaten path that consists of going through school, getting a job, working 50 years then taking my gold watch and a pat on the head, then frankly it's not going to matter a whole lot what's on my transcript.<p>That being said, I still feel like a failed work term negatively affects my reputation in an unfair way. After all, I would leave because I'm interested in learning as much as I can and working as hard as I can, and my company can't offer me that - isn't that a good thing? I was third in my class out of 105 people at (what's widely regarded as) the best engieering school in Canada, and I always work hard. I don't feel like I should be punished because I don't want to go to sleep and settle for the status quo like most of the people I know.<p>So what do I do? Are they allowed to do that? Can I do anything besides talking to them, legally or otherwise? I promise I will do explain myself to all parties involved and I'll ask their advice as well. I will do everything reasonably, and I'm not interested in being a dick. I just don't feel comfortable with them having that much control over what I do, and it's something I need to change. So what on earth do I do? If I leave the co-op program and go somewhere else, do they still have control over what goes on my transcript?<p>NOTE: I've already spoken to my co-op contacts from Waterloo, and they were exceedingly unhelpful and didn't want to discuss the possibility of me leaving at all.<p>Thanks for reading this, I'm just trying to get as many perspectives as I can before I do anything. I'm not interested in making an impulsive decision. Just the right one.
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hobonumber1
Being a 4th year student at UW on a coop term in California, I can somewhat
relate to your situation, although - knock on wood - all my coop terms have
gone great.

Now, you'll probably disagree with me but I recommend you stay at your
position. The truth is - you're not thinking too rationally. There are other
steps you can take to improve your situation than to just quit. First try
talking to your manager at work - I assume you took this position by choice
and therefore you want to get some things out of the job. Ask if they can
offer you those things.

If that fails, talk to your co-op advisor in Calgary, that's why they are
there. Don't be a rebel just for the sake of being a rebel, it won't help you.

If neither of those situations work, then you go to work and work on whatever
you want to at work. Code your own things, and get paid by the company for
doing so.

4 months isnt a long time, and even if you have a crappy term, it will still
teach you a lot about things you should not do next time.

I hope this opens your eyes to coop - seems like you made the mistake a lotta
students make of picking the place with the highest salary and the one closest
to home. Instead, pick the job that you enjoy the most and get the most out
of.

~~~
caesarion
I'm not interested in rebelling just for the sake of it. I also didn't clearly
mention this, but I'm going to sit down with the guys at work and make sure
they know what's going on. I want to discuss it with them and ask their
advice, and maybe we can sort out something that works for everyone. I'm
making sure I stay aware, I'm making sure that I don't overlook anything. This
is not a random impulse, it's based on a development I've taken some time to
think about.

But none of that changes the fact that I'm beginning to realize that I'm not
really happy with this kind of environment. I don't feel comfortable
explaining every detail of what I think, and I don't feel comfortable trying
to justify myself. I gave a bit of background information in order to provide
a bit of insight into the situation, but at this point I'm essentially asking
superficial questions:

Suppose I've already decided to leave - how much are they allowed to control?
What can I do to prevent them from 'punishing' me unfairly?

I don't want to sound entitled or impulsive - that's not what's going on. But
I want to cover all the bases, and that includes educating myself about how
much power the school really has, and what my options are.

EDIT: I didn't choose the job blindly either - I would have been perfectly
happy working for nothing if it was meaningful work in Calgary. Coming home
was my first priority for a number of reasons. Pay was never a factor.

~~~
hobonumber1
Although I have never failed a work term myself (and so cannot speak from
direct experience), some of my friends have. It definitely has a major impact
when searching for co-op positions. Since this is your first work term, I
think it would be especially hard. You don't have the high-level courses to
back up your credentials (although you are probably very bright), so future
employers would look at your past co-op job performances. In most of my coop
interviews, the emphasis is placed on prior job performance than on marks.

Down the road, if you decide to apply to some top-tier companies, remember
that you may be tied for 1st place with another student and the failed work
term will put him/her over you. I can't stress the importance of not having a
failed work term. The truth is that co-op employers have heard students
bullshit a lot, so even if you speak the truth, they will assume that you
could not handle the rigors of your first work placement.

If I were in your position, I would try my best for 2 weeks to resolve the
situation at work by talking to the appropriate people. If that doesn't work,
I would take things into my own hands and work on what interests me at work. A
caveat: If your employer gives you stuff to work on that you don't like, but
that was clearly on the job description, you should do it.

~~~
caesarion
The stigma that surrounds getting a failed work term doesn't bother me too
much, because A) I've always found jobs on my own anyway, and B) I'd like to
experiment with entrepreneurship, or at least something closer to it.

That being said, I think I agree with trying hard to make things work for the
next couple of weeks. Even though it might be intimidating or uncomfortable to
stick with it for a bit longer, I think that's the most responsible move to
make. And on a less important note (but one that still matters), if I don't do
that, I'm going to second guess my reasons for leaving - "Maybe I did it just
to run away"

Besides, when making a tough choice I've often found that if there's no
clearly defined path to take, the best thing is to just be patient until it
becomes obvious what to do.

Anyway, it's nice to get to mull things over with someone who knows what I'm
talking about (school-wise and in general). Thanks for the advice, I'm
pleasantly surprised with how things are clearing up.

~~~
hobonumber1
Best of luck man!

