What career move would you make? FAANG Contract or steady work

[LevelUP]

The running joke is that the dream is to be an ex-FAANG worker so that for the rest of your life, you can brag to everyone about how you used to work at FAANG and all the status and privileges that come with that. Lol

The freedom to work wherever you want is significant. If you move and don't like it, it would be easy to move back whenever you want.

Changing jobs is not an easy choice. It's hard to tell if you will move into a better or worse situation. 

Now all these problems will be solved if you make a million dollars being a social influencer. You never know.

[ss20ts]

Say you take the FAANG position. What happens in 6 months? You won't have a job so then you have to find one. Will you have completed your master's by then? Will you have the time to dedicate to your master's with the FAANG job? No one knows what the job market will be like in 6 months so this could be a huge risk. Would you have enough savings to live on for several months if it takes time to find a new job? Hybrid position vs remote is huge thing for most people to consider these days.

[mohelena02]

The running joke is that the dream is to be an ex-FAANG worker so that for the rest of your life, you can brag to everyone about how you used to work at FAANG and all the status and privileges that come with that. Lol

The freedom to work wherever you want is significant. If you move and don't like it, it would be easy to move back whenever you want.

Changing jobs is not an easy choice. It's hard to tell if you will move into a better or worse situation. 

Now all these problems will be solved if you make a million dollars being a social influencer. You never know.

I am 95% leaning towards not taking the contract, but the main reason for taking it would be to have it on my resume to make my life 'easier' for the future.

My current job is fully remote, and that freedom is of significant importance to me, it also has been difficult to find other 100% remote opportunities. Most fully remote jobs do require you to come into the office once a month, which is NOT fully remote but that is how it's advertised.

My life would be much easier if I became a social influencer, that is for sure! haha currently I have a struggling youtube channel.

[dfrecore]

I am 95% leaning towards not taking the contract, but the main reason for taking it would be to have it on my resume to make my life 'easier' for the future.

My current job is fully remote, and that freedom is of significant importance to me, it also has been difficult to find other 100% remote opportunities.

IMHO, getting your master's is way more important than the FAANG contract job.  Also, this will probably not be the only time you are EVER offered a FAANG contract; like if you don't jump on this now, you will never ever be afforded an opportunity to do it again.

I also think, with the economy getting ready to take a dive (IMHO, I've lived through a couple of these), you are MUCH better off staying where you are until you get that master's and then make your move to the new town.  The last place I want to be when companies start laying people off is being a contract employee - you are the first on the chopping block, contract or not.  No thanks.

[Alpha]

not having PTO for 6 months is not that big of a deal (unless it means working on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years)

> . Not sure giving up a permanent position for a short term contract even though it’s FAANG would look good on resume anyway.

totally disagree            
nobody cares if you left one position and took another for an increase in pay and responsibility          

OP says current position is "mind-numbing, with lots of red tape and no path for growth."
   
so leaving for more responsibility, a need to be challenged, a path for growth and wanting to be used for their fullest potential would be seen as a plus

I will never work at a FAANG job so I'm not able to speak to that part of the question.  But job changing in general is something I know about.  I have a strong tendency to push ahead.  Try the new thing.  Take the chance.  Of course, this has a lot to do with your life circumstances.  People with kids, for example, tend to be less adventurous in this regard.  Beyond a certain age people tend to be a more conservative in their approach and are less willing to take certain risks.  Under certain circumstances, calculated risks are a good thing.  This is the way, for example, that you meet new people within the business and these relationships (remember all those conversations about "networking" in college) are the real important relationships if your goal is to move up, bigger, better, faster, shinier, etc. then you don't get there by staying in a mind-numbing job.

[vetvso]

The running joke is that the dream is to be an ex-FAANG worker so that for the rest of your life, you can brag to everyone about how you used to work at FAANG and all the status and privileges that come with that. Lol

The freedom to work wherever you want is significant. If you move and don't like it, it would be easy to move back whenever you want.

Changing jobs is not an easy choice. It's hard to tell if you will move into a better or worse situation. 

Now all these problems will be solved if you make a million dollars being a social influencer. You never know.

I am 95% leaning towards not taking the contract, but the main reason for taking it would be to have it on my resume to make my life 'easier' for the future.

My current job is fully remote, and that freedom is of significant importance to me, it also has been difficult to find other 100% remote opportunities. Most fully remote jobs do require you to come into the office once a month, which is NOT fully remote but that is how it's advertised.

My life would be much easier if I became a social influencer, that is for sure! haha currently I have a struggling youtube channel.

I am a Sr Project manager for a top high-tech company. I have hired and fired people over my 25 years of working. I have moved around the semiconductor industry several times worldwide. 

1.  Now would I move to a project management position for a 6 mos contract? No never; because top jobs for experienced project managers are still available even in this current recession. 

2. If I currently could move anywhere; I would move to an area where I wanted to work, and then get a new job there. Also, I never stop looking for and exploring opportunities ever. 

3. Moving for money is only a good fit if it offers you the long-term needs you want. 

FAANG or no FAANG would not get you hired by me, and I would expect you to have the experience I needed for the position, and be able to be trained for the rest. Your project portfolio would matter and your time in the position would matter in regard to finishing and closing out the project. Now exceptions to any of these personal rules always apply when circumstances change. 

The bay area is full of people chasing these short-term contracts, and most of the time we never hired them. 

Most of our project managers make between 100K - 200KK+ in the USA. We have hired from the university, and from diverse backgrounds that have the skills we think can make a long-term project manager successful. I even know of an ex-admin assistant who slowly moved up in this kind of work using a PMI CERT, and graduating to higher projects over time. She only has a 2-year degree in an irrelevant field.

You need to sell yourself and be confident in your ability to do something new. FAANG maybe that choice or maybe you really want something else. Network, Educate, always keep moving forward, and make your personal dreams come true.

Good luck whatever you decide to do, and make sure that it will count longer term. I hope this helps, and the fact that you asked for information is a very good sign of your possible success. :-)

[dfrecore]

if your goal is to move up, bigger, better, faster, shinier, etc. then you don't get there by staying in a mind-numbing job.

I don't think anyone is saying stay at the mind-numbing job FOREVER - rather, get some other goals accomplished (she's in the middle of a master's program), move (she said she wanted to move, and the current job will allow that, while the FAANG contract job will not); and THEN start looking for a great new job in the new place where you want to be, with that new master's degree opening up some more doors.

Hating your job, long term, is not a good place to be, and I would never suggest that anyone do that for more than a few months, generally speaking.  But being in the middle of a degree, and wanting to move away, make this a bit of a mid-term thing that I think you can push through until you're ready for the next big thing.

[bjcheung77]

Basically, I would only jump ship when you have something comparable to fall onto...if not better in all areas such as benefits, perks such as WFH, etc. Use the time now at the current position to "complete" your Masters, once that has been done, start searching for possible positions that are an upward trend and not a lateral move. Good luck, have fun, continue on the studies before you venture off to a new position!

[jsd]

A LinkedIn search shows a plethora of non-contract, remote proj mgr positions currently hiring within FAANG.

I would absolutely jump ship for one of those, but certainly not for contract work, or non-remote work (in 2022??). either one of those is a showstopper.

[bjcheung77]

Ashworth and Penn Foster, etc may be options for a quick entry level cert or diploma, it would be better if their classes for these were ACE recommended for credit, unfortunately, they're not. If those could get transferred into their own Associates degree, they would have more students enrolling in their programs for 'stackable' credentials, they only have associates that stack to their bachelors...