Can I leave a contract student position for a full time position

Question

I am a student graduating with a bachelor's degree this spring.

Ideally, my goal is to find a full time position after I graduate. But I am aware that it might be very difficult to find a job in my field of study. If I can't find anything, I will be doing a new college training program in the fall that comes with a work placement.

Because I am signed up for the training program, this allows me to work a student job for the summer and I would love to work for the organisation that hired me as a student last year.

However, my priority is still to find a full time position and I am worried about my working relationship with my employers if I get any offers for full time positions during my student contract. And as they are one of my best references, I would also have to let them know before any potential interviews

I was just wondering if anyone could give an employer's perspective on students leaving a short contract (4 months) for a full time job?

Answer 1

As long as your contract allows for it, I as an employer would not have an issue with it. It may in fact entice me to make a full time employment offer to you. ( If your a solid contributor ) I make this statement based on my experience in my industry and trade ( Medical / Software Engineer ).

No rational person can blame an employee for wanting/seeking full time long term employment.

As I mentioned, be sure to read you contract to be sure you don't expose yourself legally. You may be required to give a long notice, etc.

Answer 2

We can't possibly know what "their perspective" will be, because it depends a lot on the employer, but here's a pretty common one:

You're inconveniencing them.

At the end of the day, do what works best for your long term career. If you're hoping for a full time job with these people, then don't leave them hanging.

If the chances of employment with them are low, or there's other jobs offering much better pay/benefits, then do what works best for you. Try to secure a reference from your current job (from a manager who likes your work, perhaps), and jump ship (5 years from now that first reference won't matter anymore anyway).

In the end only you can truly weigh the pros and cons.

Answer 3

Talk to the coordinator of the student placement program and find out what their policy is before you accept any employment from them. They may have strictures and guidelines on when and how you can accept long-term employment. This also applies to temporary placement organizations ("temp agencies"), so it's best to know how to approach it early. Some temp agencies don't allow for a job that you were placed with to hire you at all, even after the period of contract ends.

Discussing this with the coordinators and finding where they stand on it first should be priority. Go from there.