Civil Engineer vs Telecoms Engineer

I'm asking as I ended up passing both assessments in the same week, which were done remotely and basically the same.
I applied for telecoms 31 months ago. Jobs in my area are apparently rare.
I applied for civils just 4 months ago.
Told jobs will certainly be coming up for both in my area start of 2021, which is why I finally got the call.


I'm looking at the differences between them, other than the job tasks themselves, and there's a few which I will try list below.

I have previous experience related to both. I think I've already made my mind up but wondering if anyone has any knowledge about the two jobs that might persuade me, or anyone else reading this in future as to which job is their preferred choice.

If I am wrong about anything, or you have anything to add, comment and I will edit my post.




Both are mainly working outside, 37.5 hours per week, on any day potentially. Both have the same company perks regarding shares, pensions, free broadband etc.


Initial pay:
Telecoms: £21,846
Civils: £27,561


Pay after 1 year:
Telecoms: £28,000 (including bonus which is not guaranteed).
This has also recently went up as when I last looked at it, it was closer to the civils' number and it showed a full breakdown of the bonus and allowances.
Civils: £27,561 (including bonus which as of right now is guaranteed as they have yet to implement a bonus scheme into civils)

By now I expect you can probably be a Team Leader on £30,730, and have already earned £5,715 more than telecoms last year.


Progression opportunities:
Telecoms: According to every engineer on Indeed reviews, none.
Civils: Seems like Team Leader is achievable quite quickly. Unsure about supervisor roles, probably have to suck up to management like every other job.
Can anyone elaborate if it's as bad as they make out of just a bunch of disgruntled engineers?


Saturday overtime:
Telecoms: Compulsory Saturdays. Certain number per year, and as required when busy.
Civils: Not compulsory. Said they always have enough volunteers, so think a certain number is still "expected" it's just not in the contract.
Both are paid time-and-a-half overtime, which is good money.


Van:
Telecoms: Take van home, BUT I have found several posts complaining about losing 2 hours travel time, unpaid, for the privilege.
A current employee on the forum worked this out to cost over £5,000 more in unpaid time than what you would paying to use your own car after fuel and common expenses. This alone is pretty much a deal-breaker for me. Is this really how it is?
Civils: Van kept at yard. I think this is much better far as I can tell, especially since I won't be far from the depot.


Bonus perks:
Telecoms: Anything?
Civils: C1+E license on the job. Costs £1000 paid back over 2 years. Not a bad thing to have.
Potential 4 day week, with longer shifts. This would suit me massively if I can get it.


Facial hair:
Telecoms: Don't think there's a rule.
Civils: Must be clean shaven for PPE mask. Doesn't bother me but might be an issue for some


I've been working jobs that are 50 hours a week and still pay much less than Openreach, so regardless I think both look like good jobs.

Edited by Sneaky_Beaky (Thu 21-Jan-21 15:27:53)

I wouldn't bank on those pay rates for Telecoms as it looks like BT are looking to seriously worsen FTTP installers pay and conditions.

https://www.cwu.org/news/new-openreach-role-a-race-t...

Just my five pen’eth ....

I’d reckon you’d be bored ****less doing the civils role pretty damn quick. Dig a hole, fill it in, make good. Again and again and again.

Far more variety in the engineering role. Plenty of O/T if you want it. You don’t go home dirty more often than not.

Promotion, patch lead, senior engineer, coach, level 1 manager and beyond.

Facial hair ...... ?????? Never been an issue.

Can you elaborate on what the van and travel time situation is please?

Its up to 2hrs a day , they say you will not do that much but its in your contract,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Ask why .

And if you park in a yard / exch you still have to give the time.

Currently there is a two tier workforce when it comes to travel time and other terms.

BT are now introducing a third even more inferior contract for new starts and travel time and the amount people have to work for free is unlikely to be an improvement on the 2nd tier contract.

Edited by partial (Wed 27-Jan-21 11:20:05)

My advice is go for the job that challenges you the most (for me I would say the Telecoms Engineer would do that), in my opinion cushy jobs get boring very quickly.