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I have been an intern at a reputable start up since January. I was in the QA section of this company since I joined. My internship was to last for six months, that is, till end of June. I also have an offer from this same company for full time employment in the same position where I work now.

In these five to six months, I realized that QA isn't meant for me. I find the it extremely boring and I am not satisfied for a number of reasons,

  • Programming has always been my passion and strength, I want a job that will let me do this(Before joining I was told I would be programming here.)
  • In these months of my internship I have hardly been challenged and required to think.
  • It is a very monotonous job.

So, in April I went ahead and put these in front of my manager. I also told him that if I do not get what I am interested in, I might consider leaving the company(I believe in being honest. It helps both sides plan better.). He was a very understanding person and told me that I could interview with the Development team there.

In a week, I had two interviews. After another week I was told that I now have three options and we discussed in detail each of them,

  • Stay in the current position and they will make sure that I get to do programming.
  • Move to the QA-Automation team(I am told I will be doing lots of programming here)
  • Move to the Development team

He told me that he doesn't want me to consider moving out of the company. After this, I told him that I wouldn't move out of the company and would surely take one of these options.

I was given another week to decide. I decided to move to the Development team. I told this to my manager. He again tried to tell me the advantages and disadvantages of my choice and told me to take another week to make the decision. He did seem to favor QA-Automation over development.

A couple of days earlier I ran into the Development manager who interviewed me for the development role. He said that they have given out all the offers this time and that I can not move to development because their head count is too high this time.

I definitely do not want to stay in my current position.

I do not want to move to Automation either because I have developed an aversion towards QA and don't ever in my life want to work in a QA team. Also, many of my colleagues started off in QA-Automation but ended up here. I do not want this to happen with me.

I do not want to be in a QA team.

Would it be right if I chose to leave now ? How do I tell my manager that I do not want to take up QA-Automation even if it offers programming right now because I am scared I will be stuck up here for rest of my career ?

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    What's the actual question here? A job offer or internship doesn't constitute indentured servitude. You are free to decline an offer if it's not what you want so I'm not sure what the problem is here.
    – Lilienthal ♦
    May 22, 2016 at 17:39
  • Judging by the OP's user name English may not be his first language, but "the option to move to development" may never have meant the same thing as "a firm job offer in development". The OP's manager may have been working through a diagnostic process to find possible ways retain the OP in the company, but it's not likely that the manager of one department (QA) can make an actual job offer on behalf of a different department (development).
    – alephzero
    May 22, 2016 at 17:48
  • @alephzero I think they did mean "a firm job offer in development". This decision was not take only by the QA manager. It was taken by both the Development and the QA manager together. In fact, the development manager also interviewed me.
    – Ghazanfar
    May 23, 2016 at 5:26
  • @JoeStrazzere By "right" I mean, since I had told him that I won't leave and will stay at the same company earlier when I was presented with the three option is it ethical on my part to quit now ?
    – Ghazanfar
    May 23, 2016 at 5:32
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    @MohammadGhazanfar It appears you changed your mind, but it doesn't seem like you've signed a contract yet. It might be best if you just be honest and say that you've reconsidered the offer and don't want to take the QA role offer over the Development role. They can contact you again if they have an opening later in Development for you.
    – Brandin
    May 23, 2016 at 13:03

3 Answers 3

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You can always choose to leave at any time, although seeing as your 6 months of internship are almost up, it would be best to stay until the time originally agreed (although you are not obligated to do so).

It seems you got good value out of your internship. The purpose is for you to learn something about your field and how it works in the real world, and the company gets some low level slave labor and pre-screening of a possible junior employee. You've learned you don't like QA, and they got the slave labor and a look at you. You don't own them anything, and they don't owe you anything beyond of course paying you for whatever time you spent working there.

During any internship, you should be seriously looking at all your employment options. That of course includes the company you are interning at, but should never be limited just to that. You've been negligent in looking at other options, so you need to get on that right away and seriously. You really should have your next job lined up a month before your internship ends. This is whether that next job is at the company you're currently at or not.

Get your resume out there! Now! You've already waited too long.

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For a start - Is having no job a good idea? Even if it is working in automation. You never know it might work out well.

So if I was you I would plump for the automation role. Give it six months. If it does not work look for anther job in another company.

PS: Careers do not last forever - they can be changed.

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Would it be right if I chose to leave now ?

Yes, changing your mind about automation is perfectly fine. I assume this means you will leave at the original date you were planning to leave in June.

How do I tell my manager that I do not want to take up QA-Automation even if it offers programming right now because I am scared I will be stuck up here for rest of my career?

Your reasoning is sound. Tell him the truth. Conversations like that are not easy.

If they knew about your intention early on and they still hired people to go into the development team instead of you, then don't think that's going to change later on. That being said, I have no idea if that's the case or not. You didn't give those details.

But even if that's not the case, you're correct in thinking that accepting the automation job could get you stuck in that type of job for the next couple of years.

Definitely, do not go on the promises of your immediate manager alone, but if he wants to bring in the manager of the development team on this discussion, and perhaps if both those managers were willing to give you development work for 30% of the time until the end of June -- that might be a good compromise.

And if you're not sure on how to ask for that kind of thing, I'd recommend you read When I say No, I Feel Guilty by Manuel J. Smith. Don't let the title of that book mislead you, it's about a lot more than saying no. Also, since you don't have much time to read it before you talk to your boss, I recommend you work through the book backwards and read the examples and the techniques first before you read the theories. Both the fog and the broken record techniques are all you need. And once you understand both those ideas, you'll be ready to ask for what you want more effectively.

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