Would I be mad to do this?

[AHarvey]

go for the one that is most appealing, which I believe is the BBC one because you are considering it against a full time position on more money and more chance to progess.

Follow your heart

 

[dowie]

you've not really given much information

you've said one job is better paid and 'senior' and the other job is not even perm, at the top of the pay band, uncertain prospects...

with all else being equal how is even a question?

 

[Burnsy2023]

R&D for the BBC is an incredibly fulfilling role, and is what sets them apart from other broadcasters. I say go for it.

This is what I was thinking. Sounds exciting and 35 hours a week would make a difference for me. Give you more time to live your life.

Even if you only do it a year then you're really strengthing your CV. I find that in IT your CV gives you job security, not your position. Anyone can be made redundant but if you've got a good CV you're always employable.

 

[rIcK]

you've not really given much information

you've said one job is better paid and 'senior' and the other job is not even perm, at the top of the pay band, uncertain prospects...

with all else being equal how is even a question?

Both are Senior roles and both are large companies I have taken the BBC role now and turned down the other one. Cheers for the advice as usual

Each has its pros and cons specifically with the BBC:

*I love working around Media City
*The distance from my house
*Location to friends for work
*35 hours actually is a huge positive thing for me, without an expectation to work beyond this.
*Pure R&D role without the daily distraction of operations nonsense because a server has gone down which I will absolutely not need to worry about.
*Time constraints for projects are also much more relaxed allowing me to do them properly as opposed to rushing them out the door which most of my previous companies suffer from

I have worked near the BBC near Media City for the past 12 months, every time I looked at the building and the area around I regretted not taking the position last time.

 

[Cosimo]

Good choice made and all the best with it.

 

[Felon]

I've done a lot of work with the BBC and know a number of people over in their IP/Networks department,

It's actually a very good place to work, not just in terms of the sorts of things they're doing - but in IP and Telecoms, it's generally seen as highly positive to have worked for a big media company such as the BBC/Sky/etc - so certainly a good move as far as career progression is concerned, there's a big future in it

If you're good at what you do - you could eventually land a good position at somewhere like Netflix or Amazon - and any of those roles is likely to blow anything else out the water, in terms of the job itself and the salary, (they pay enormous amounts)

 

[Ayahuasca]

I've done a lot of work with the BBC and know a number of people over in their IP/Networks department,

It's actually a very good place to work, not just in terms of the sorts of things they're doing - but in IP and Telecoms, it's generally seen as highly positive to have worked for a big media company such as the BBC/Sky/etc - so certainly a good move as far as career progression is concerned, there's a big future in it

If you're good at what you do - you could eventually land a good position at somewhere like Netflix or Amazon - and any of those roles is likely to blow anything else out the water, in terms of the job itself and the salary, (they pay enormous amounts)

Out of curiosity how would one get into these roles starting from scratch?

 

[Felon]

Out of curiosity how would one get into these roles starting from scratch?

In all honesty you have to live and breathe it - there's no easy or obvious way, but I'd say it all starts with building a good CV, and at least having a good 5+ years working in a "decent" role as a network engineer - this would involve getting to and beyond CCNA/CCNP level pretty quickly, and getting involved with good implementation and maybe design work, preferably in an ISP environment.

In my experience, if you want to land a really good role at somewhere like Netflix, Amazon, Google etc - things get a little more unconventional, those companies don't tend to hire using traditional methods such as advertisements and agencies - a lot of it comes from blogging and people who attend things such as UKNOF/LINX/NANOG meetings, if you write a good blog - and attend meets like that, you will rub shoulders with people who hire, from the big tech companies, and if you stick at it - it'll happen.

These companies want people who live and breathe the technology - they also pay well, if someone like Netflix or Google want you - they'll pay for everything, relocation, the whole lot - several of my friends were bloggers and presenters at LINX/NANOG - google just picked them up and moved them to Ireland, one of them was developing standards for the IETF - big tech companies love stuff like that - even if they don't have a specific role, chances are they'll hire you anyway.

My experience is only really relevant to the IP Networks world, I can't speak for any other sector, but that would be my general take on things

 

[Nevakonaza]

Id go for the permanent job.

 

[Conanius]

Maybe I'm the mug/naive one... but 'senior position' and quoting the contracted hours?

Do you mean senior manager ? If so I'd ignore the contractual hours piece, it will almost certainly be irrelevant.