throwawayfred

I'm based in New Zealand.

I would consider going full-time with the CS degree, but it's very theoretical and I'm not sure if it's worth the effort (vs. self study).

The constraints are accurate. I had more information in my original reply, but I hit the character limit.

I have a little over 12 months living expenses saved (and a wife that earns a decent income who's willing to support my possible career detour as long as I pull my shit together in the next 3 years so we can pop out some kids). That's a key factor as well -- I want to have kids in the next couple of years and I wouldn't be able to be unemployed to study with small humans running around.

The new position will be 8.5 hours per day (no more no less).

My current employer isn't in the position to cut my hours (well.. they weren't in a position to discuss any changes to my hours/schedule before I had an offer).

> Choice 1 - without a contract a handshake means nothing, and as you've said they'll let you apply for the jobs, but that still doesn't guarantee you'll be given them (especially if you become very useful in L2/L3 support).

Yeah, that's literally the situation I'm in with my current role. I asked about moving across to the development team (even as an intern for a month unpaid) and was told "your role is too difficult to fill".

I expect that is a serious possibility. As a plus, I did come into the business with a clear mandate so it won't be much of a surprise if I leave for a dev role after a year.

> Will the Choice 1 job make you work less hours? If so that frees up more time to work on dev projects on the side, and you could use that to your advantage.

The hours are fixed (9-5), which is better than my current position.