Hello everyone.

I'm still in school and currently co-oping with IBM and I have been for 7 months.

I would really like a job where I'm coding all the time. The title of my current job is "Software Engineer" and I have been coding some but not all the time.

Very little people even get to code at IBM, its like 90% of everyone is doing test or automation which I don't want to do.

Are all jobs like this? Where your not doing Software Devlopment?

At my job I really want to keep expanding my programming skills and knowledge and currently I'm not.

I learned 1 new langauge (ReXX) and did 1 Java Network program, and did alot of coding in ReXX now. I'm also doing alot of mainframe stuff with z/OS.

But still its not the devlopment I was hoping for.
I was hoping to be working with more high level things such as C++ or Java/JSF/JSP or .net stuff.

If I keep co-oping with IBM I'll be stuck in this department (Tivoli) which does more mainframe applications (meaning low level coding which I don't like)

But If I try to move to another department in IBM my manager said it would be really hard for me to get back at his department or get rehired at his department full time.

Also if I go to another company and internship he said it would look bad on my part showing I wasn't loving what I was doing at IBM which is true, i'm not exactly.


So what should I do? Just keep working at IBM and get hired there for a first job and then just devlope my skills on my own and look for another job while having a secure job at IBM?

or should I look for other company's to co-op with while i'm at school and loose the security that I will be hired when I graduate?