Week 2 Complete!
My second week working full time has finished so I should probably reflect. Some of the things I noticed:
Working as a full-time employee is a completely different experience from working as a co-op.
First of all, the full-timers don’t ignore you anymore. People actually stop to try to get to know you and learn more about you. As a co-op, you’re generally ignored and people will talk to you out of courtesy. Which sucks but at the same time, is understandable. Why would full timers waste their time talking to a bunch of people who are there for such a short time?
Secondly, you get toys. Lots of em. When I arrived at my desk, I had 4 big Dell boxes waiting to be cut open. It was my dual 22″ monitors and my desktop computer. Opening more toys, I got a keyboard and mouse. A week later, my GPM Lidiane dropped off 3 more boxes at my desk. This was my new laptop, the IBM Thinkpad X301. The X301’s are super slim, super sleek, light-weight and ultra low power consumption – I know because of how little heat it produces.
Third, the work and commitments are different. Obviously. But it is nicer as a full-time. There isn’t that same pressure to put forth as big of an impression as when you’re in co-op. In co-op, you rationalize for 4 months and give it the best you have. As a full-timer, my mindset’s much different. The goal is not to produce what they ask me to for the next 4 months. My mindset is to evaluate what projects they ask me to do, evaluate the big picture and help find ways to improve it.
The differences are abundant, and I’m really enjoying being a full-timer. It’s nice to start to build relationships with the team and network.