

Ask HN: What should I do about my full-time offer? - izzythemachine

First, a little background: I&#x27;m 21 years old, majoring in CS. I interned at Microsoft last summer and everything was great. I loved the work I was doing, they loved me and I was offered a full-time position after I graduated (I was supposed to graduate in May). In the job offer that I accepted, they had me set a start date and I picked August 10th.<p>Here&#x27;s where things get messy. Over the last two semesters, I have been struggling both with depression as well as with motivation in my classes. Because of everything, I failed some classes and would need the fall semester to finish my Bachelor&#x27;s Degree. I have been seeking help from a medical professional at my university and I&#x27;m taking summer classes, but as I&#x27;m picking up the pieces I feel incredibly overwhelmed.<p>So, my question is what should I do? Would Microsoft push my start date back to allow me to graduate? Should I just not tell them and hope they don&#x27;t notice? (finish my degree in a couple years) Am I totally screwed? I know that I have a lot of questions, but I guess I&#x27;m hoping that my career isn&#x27;t shot from a few bad decisions&#x2F;mistakes over the past year.<p>I really value the opinions of the community here at HN, so any advice or words of wisdom would be much appreciated.
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trcollinson
The thoughts expressed so far are great! First off, please take care of
yourself. As a community we want you to get feeling better physically,
mentally, and emotionally. I am serious about that. We've all been through
physical and emotional issues or at the very least know someone who has. I'm
glad to hear you're seeing a medical professional! That is really important.

Second, as has been suggested, try to work with MS. I want to point out the,
maybe obvious, consequence that things with them might not work out. Believe
it or not, this might happen for a number of reasons, your education is
certainly not the only reason that they might pull back the offer. However, if
it doesn't work out do not believe for a moment that your career, life, or
anything else is over. It's going to turn out just fine. If this job doesn't
work, many others will. You have a bright future ahead.

Finally, I just want you to know I have hired many people in my career who had
trouble in their last year or semester of college. I could speculate on why
this is, but I am not sure it would be useful or accurate, just anecdotal.
However, it does seem that the more interships people complete the less well
they do in the latter parts of school. Take that bit of information for what
it is worth.

Do finish up your degree. You'll be glad you did. Feel free to ask for help in
any way.

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aidos
I think the first thing to keep in mind is that the guys at MS wanted you to
join them in the first place. They obviously see the potential in you. Keep in
mind that, even though things might seem overwhelming from where you sit there
are people out there that actively want to work with you when you're
available. That's a great place to be.

In terms of what to do next, your health (mental and physical) is the most
important thing. If there's a path you can take that will give you the best
outcome there, that's what I'd optimise for. I imagine that trying to keep not
completing your studies a secret will be stressful.

You career is definitely not shot. I went through some stuff in my last year
of uni and ended up with pretty crappy grades. It's never once been a problem.
In my experience, once you start working it's not even a consideration.

Ultimately the decision is yours but if it were me, I'd be looking to
destress. Talking to the MS guys about your situation may well be the way to
do that. You could explain and they'd be happy to push the start back. You
could stop worrying about that aspect and carry on with your studies. If they
weren't happy about it, then there's a strong case for saying that it's not
the best environment to work in anyway.

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izzythemachine
All good advice. Thank you! I'll take that all into consideration. Good point
about the work environment. There is still a slim chance I can graduate this
summer, but if not, I think I'll take your advice and try to work something
out with MS. Once again, thanks!

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brucehart
Your career is definitely not shot. I've known people who completely bailed on
their first job out of college within a few weeks and bounced back on their
feet almost immediately. I would contact the hiring manager (and maybe copy
HR) and ask if you can defer your start date. Explain that you had some
medical issues that prevented you from finishing your degree as expected. You
don't have to provide a detailed explanation and they will likely not ask for
one.

Say that you still want to work for them, but you are making up your remaining
classes over the summer/fall and that you would be available to start at full
capacity on X date. If you can start within a few months of your original
date, they probably will be fine with that. If you can't start until next
January or next spring, then they might tell you that it would depend on their
needs at the time. Either way, I wouldn't leave school and then try to
secretly get your degree on the side. Those kinds of decisions usually come
back to bite people at some point in the future.

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pinky1417
I'm assuming here that you're (1) Going to have to continue classes after your
August 10th start date and that (2) You're unable to do you classes and work
at the same time (i.e. your school and company aren't in the same city and/or
you can't do either one part-time).

To start, you should talk to your future employer and be clear that you're
going to need more time to finish your bachelor's degree. Together, you can
probably work out a solution. Perhaps it is pushing back your start date. Or
perhaps it's some other option that lets you both work for Microsoft and
finish your degree.

You should definitely tell them. It's implicit in your offer that you're going
to get your bachelor's, so you don't want to anger an employer a few months
down the line when they inevitably realize you didn't earn your degree. I've
known folks in far worse predicaments who have both (1) told their employer
about their problems and (2) still had a job.

~~~
izzythemachine
Thank you for the response! Would you recommend talking with HR or should I go
straight to my Manager/Hiring Manager?

~~~
pinky1417
I'd recommend going to your manager/hiring manager. Go to HR/recruiting if
they tell you to or if they can't help you. Starting with your manager is
preferable because (1) your manager is likely your advocate and (2) HR
probably doesn't know you that well, especially given how large Microsoft is.
Your manager _wants_ to bring you onboard, so be sure to think of some
strategies for working + attending school before you chat!

