What should I do if I regret taking a Co-Op and it's not the career path I want?

[throwaway]

I was worried that I will not find a job this summer, so I took the first offer I got. (freshmans and sophomores, please don't make the same mistake, evaluate all other possible actions)

But the more time I spend doing my job, I realize just how far away from what I intend to do this job actually is. Of course, I will finish this session that I am working during the summer, but I am thinking of what is best for my future and realized that this is not the career path that I want to take.

Any opinions and or suggestions are welcomed, especially older engineers who do a bit of recruiting and hiring.

*Co-Ops are voluntary at my school

 

[Monocles]

I did the same thing after my sophomore year. I did a summer of co-op, and at the end of it I realized that I wasn't learning anything relevant to my degree or intended career path and decided to end the co-op agreement. My employer understood and everything worked out fine.

 

[AlephZero]

But the more time I spend doing my job, I realize just how far away from what I intend to do this job actually is. Of course, I will finish this session that I am working during the summer, but I am thinking of what is best for my future and realized that this is not the career path that I want to take.

That sounds fine to me. You have learned something valuable about what you don't want to do, without getting stuck with any long-term consequences. Now spend the rest of your time learning whatever there is to learn from being where you are.

You don't have any idea what your "career path" will actually be. All you know is what you hope it will be. So treat this as "learning stuff that might come in useful one day", and get the most out of it that you can. Maybe in 20 or 30 years time it will turn out to be the most useful stuff that you ever learned. The only certain way to find out if that is true or not is stick around for 20 or 30 years and see what happens.

Remember the Richard Feynman quote: "Any subject can be absolutely fascinating. if only you study it in enough detail".

 

[throwaway]

That sounds fine to me. You have learned something valuable about what you don't want to do, without getting stuck with any long-term consequences. Now spend the rest of your time learning whatever there is to learn from being where you are.

You don't have any idea what your "career path" will actually be. All you know is what you hope it will be. So treat this as "learning stuff that might come in useful one day", and get the most out of it that you can. Maybe in 20 or 30 years time it will turn out to be the most useful stuff that you ever learned. The only certain way to find out if that is true or not is stick around for 20 or 30 years and see what happens.

Remember the Richard Feynman quote: "Any subject can be absolutely fascinating. if only you study it in enough detail".

Thanks guys, I will think about this more. But right now, I plan to finish this session and do as well as I possibly can, and after my midterm review, I will talk to my manager and hope he understand where i am coming from. I really don't want to burn any bridges or disrespect anyone.

any other suggestions are welcome. Id like to see it from an employer's point of view if anyone here hires undergrad engineer coops.