Going for Lower Position

done4now

I currently work for one of the big four American banks in an near shore location for London. I came in as a graduate two years ago and got promoted there in January but I also moved from a Development role to a Support role.

When I was in the development role I'd say I only did less then 10% of it was actually doing development all the rest was all the crappy jobs no one else wanted to do. Then my team got disbanded and I ended up in a support role which I hate and I want to move back to development and relocate to where most of my friends are.

There are two roles going with a good reputable company that I am interested in one is a developer with 4-6 years experience and the other is a graduate role. While the job spec look pretty much the same as I have two years experience I would be tempted to go for the more senior role but the fact I havent actually done too much development in those two years and to boot I am now in a support role.

I talked it over with some of my mates in work and the general consensus is that going for the more junior position would be better but then I was talking to my sister who works in HR and she was telling me to go for the more senior position.

Advice?

cronos

Go for both.

Mr. Loverman

Which of the two roles would give you a happier life?

done4now

TBH if I could get something between the two it would great.

The graduate role nothing would be expected of me but it does mean that I might feel some of the work is not really want I want to do. So the role may be too easy. Also the wage will be lower then what I would want.

The more senior role, would have a nice wage but I might feel out of my dept as I would be expected to know a lot more then I actually do.

Seems all good for the graduate role only thing would be a sticking point would be the wage.

PersonalJesus

Im going to take a wild guess and say that this banks name rhymes with "kitty".

I was in the exact same situation as yourself with said bank a number of years ago. I was promoted after a year, but due to the lack of development and the level of firefighting (and ridiculous working hours) I went to a reputable company, and took a grad position specifically with the intent of learning within a software house. The way in which development is treated in some financial institutions is putting sticking plasters on ailing systems rather than quality development.

Going for a more senior role, certainly in my current workplace, there will be an expectation that you can architect, develop and manage (to an extent) more junior developers straight off the bat. Unless you are confident that you can do that and demonstrate those qualities through experience at interview, then id go for the grad position with the focus on gaining skills. If they are reputable, and you're good enough, you will be advanced once in the job.

bbam

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

Which of the two roles would give you a happier life?

This +1

done4now

PersonalJesus wrote: »

Im going to take a wild guess and say that this banks name rhymes with "kitty".

I was in the exact same situation as yourself with said bank a number of years ago. I was promoted after a year, but due to the lack of development and the level of firefighting (and ridiculous working hours) I went to a reputable company, and took a grad position specifically with the intent of learning within a software house. The way in which development is treated in some financial institutions is putting sticking plasters on ailing systems rather than quality development.

Going for a more senior role, certainly in my current workplace, there will be an expectation that you can architect, develop and manage (to an extent) more junior developers straight off the bat. Unless you are confident that you can do that and demonstrate those qualities through experience at interview, then id go for the grad position with the focus on gaining skills. If they are reputable, and you're good enough, you will be advanced once in the job.

You are on the money with you guess and liked to see someone else has mentioned the ridiculous working hours.

While the position I am looking at is still connected to the financial world I am hoping it is a better place to work due to its smaller size but will have to find out what type of environment in the interview process.

PersonalJesus

Is it in the insurance end of things?