Reply to: anyone here work at the BBC?

[jmo21]

An agent contacted me about a contract with the BBC maybe 2 and a half years ago, to be based in Glasgow, and it sounded fantastic.

It was for a desktop app for recording football stats to be used at matches.

I remember thinking that was some "in the field" testing I'd be very pleased to help out with!

Nothing ever came of it (for me anyway).

[The_Equalizer]

didn't get the interview anyway so dont need to know anything about the department now

Got another one lined up for tomorrow morning and hopefully a 2nd in the afternoon so fingers crossed I'll be able to blag at least one of them

Just wondering is this for front end web stuff? I really need to get my backside in gear and start looking again and was wondering how you feel the market is? It looks okay from jobserve.

[stacks]

didn't get the interview anyway so dont need to know anything about the department now

Got another one lined up for tomorrow morning and hopefully a 2nd in the afternoon so fingers crossed I'll be able to blag at least one of them

[MarillionFan]

I did a super short stint at the BBC and had my contract cut short(after one week) because I didn't tow the line concerning the rather ridiculous formal way they had of meeting.

ie. You couldn't pop upstairs to talk to a 'customer' it had to be done through formal meeting processes.

The outsourcing company working on the project was 2 years behind deadline and the suggestions to take it by the scruff of the neck went down like a lead balloon. I was terminated for taking an unscheduled day off(not true it was on email which they locked down so I couldnt prove it), talking to colleagues about non-work related subjects(heavens above!) and using the telephone for a personal call(!)

All in all, a shabby place to work IMO.

[HeadOfTesting]

More HR preferred supplier BS.

Well done on your latest role - any resistance from agencies/clients when you were applying regarding your time out?

Thanks. No resistance:

1) Significant CV gaps are more common at my level of seniority.
2) Some of it was genuinely down to taking time out for medical treatment.
3) I operate a zero-tolerance policy towards agents questioning CV breaks when the market is as chronic as 09/10 and I find agents drop the subject once you let it be known that you won't be conceding anything in relation to the gap.

Of course the key to all this is having a war chest that allows you to adopt such an attitude.

[Clippy]

Don't know what the current situation is but when I was there (2yrs ago) and as recently as Sep 09 all contract recruitment was done though Reed who had the whole thing totally sewn up. If you ascertain that the same regime is in place do not waste even 1 calorie of energy trying to get around them. To give you a feel of how strong their grip is, I was recruited just prior to Reed winning the BBC contract and when it came to renewal the agent that placed me was prevented from talking to my hiring manager about renewing me; even though it was a relationship that pre-dated the Reed regime. My agent was also told not to speak to me but they ignored that bit. Obviously Reed were unhappy when I pointed out that they had not been authorised to represent me.

When I was there Reed had a list of secondary agents (from memory it was of the order of about 15) but each one was only allowed to submit 1 (or maybe it was 2) candidates. However unlike a lot of these setups Reed submit candidates in competition with their own secondary agents. Inevitably Reed give themselves a head start on the requirements and admitted to me off the record that they can submit as many candidates as need be. In summary you can register with one of those secondary agents (I was through Allegis - now called Aerotek) but your best chance is with Reed.

All that said, Reed didn't seem to be involved when I had a brief flirtation with the idea of joining Project Canvas (now called YouView).

You have to go through something called Fair Selection - which means you get exactly the same questions as other people and you can expect a high level of HR type questions. There are always supposed to be two people interviewing and contractors aren't allowed to interview contractors unless it's iPlayer who seemingly can do what they like.

I got back in to work last June - thank you for asking - having been out for 18mths solid but I should be rolling off in the next couple of weeks or so. Ironically this is my most senior and lucrative role to date working in the realm of credit derivatives even though I had no previous finance experience - a classic example of how up and down my career has been but I guess the roller coaster keeps things interesting.

More HR preferred supplier BS.

Well done on your latest role - any resistance from agencies/clients when you were applying regarding your time out?

[The_Equalizer]

I got my 'client side developer' role (i.e. front end web developer) via what must be a secondary agency - McGregor Boyall. The Beeb have a certain technology blend which makes them easy to spot on Jobserve. Here's the role I was interested in:

Web Developer/PHP/XHTML/CSS/JavaScript

They have their own js library known as Glow which is rather similar to jQuery, although I haven't ever seen it mentioned in the job specs.

Contracts also seem to pop up in Cardiff and I guess when Media City is fully open I guess there will be stuff there.

From memory I think the original iPlayer was written by one guy who now has legendary status. Might be wrong though!

[HeadOfTesting]

How do the Beeb recruit for contract positions?

Direct or Agency?

BTW, you back in the game or still out?

Don't know what the current situation is but when I was there (2yrs ago) and as recently as Sep 09 all contract recruitment was done though Reed who had the whole thing totally sewn up. If you ascertain that the same regime is in place do not waste even 1 calorie of energy trying to get around them. To give you a feel of how strong their grip is, I was recruited just prior to Reed winning the BBC contract and when it came to renewal the agent that placed me was prevented from talking to my hiring manager about renewing me; even though it was a relationship that pre-dated the Reed regime. My agent was also told not to speak to me but they ignored that bit. Obviously Reed were unhappy when I pointed out that they had not been authorised to represent me.

When I was there Reed had a list of secondary agents (from memory it was of the order of about 15) but each one was only allowed to submit 1 (or maybe it was 2) candidates. However unlike a lot of these setups Reed submit candidates in competition with their own secondary agents. Inevitably Reed give themselves a head start on the requirements and admitted to me off the record that they can submit as many candidates as need be. In summary you can register with one of those secondary agents (I was through Allegis - now called Aerotek) but your best chance is with Reed.

All that said, Reed didn't seem to be involved when I had a brief flirtation with the idea of joining Project Canvas (now called YouView).

You have to go through something called Fair Selection - which means you get exactly the same questions as other people and you can expect a high level of HR type questions. There are always supposed to be two people interviewing and contractors aren't allowed to interview contractors unless it's iPlayer who seemingly can do what they like.

I got back in to work last June - thank you for asking - having been out for 18mths solid but I should be rolling off in the next couple of weeks or so. Ironically this is my most senior and lucrative role to date working in the realm of credit derivatives even though I had no previous finance experience - a classic example of how up and down my career has been but I guess the roller coaster keeps things interesting.

[Clippy]

yes

How do the Beeb recruit for contract positions?

Direct or Agency?

BTW, you back in the game or still out?

[HeadOfTesting]

Are they the people that make the iPlayer?

yes

[CheeseSlice]

in the Future Media and Technology department?

Are they the people that make the iPlayer?

[The_Equalizer]

I've done a recent stint with FM&T. I really enjoyed my time there and would be keen to get another contract with them. There were a number of things going on up until Christmas and there's a contract that appear on the 6th with regards to javascript work. I've not yet applied which probably means I've missed the boat, but will give it a go and keep my eye out for anything else. I guess I shouldn't sound too positive (), but very nice people, interesting work and fair rates.

[frontenddeveloper]

i do...

[HeadOfTesting]

used to - what's the query?

[RichardCranium]

Not overly inundated with answers, are you?

Did you have specific question(s)? Try asking them. People may know the answers despite not currently working there.

Was it information regarding people that are there? I assume you are on LinkedIn - look the people up on there.

(Personally, I probably can't help. I stopped being a permie at the Beeb in the 1990s when they decided they did not need any IT people any more.)