Getting a Job in the UK

A friend recently asked about getting a job and moving to the UK, and I thought I’d write it down. This is more like a reflection and I would maybe update it in the future when I gain more exposure and experience.

First of all, there will be the argument why go to the UK to work? People who are against it will say that UK has high inflation, high tax, high cost of living and the list goes on. Whether they are right or not, is not the point of this post. I suggest reading about it then deciding yourself.

Now to getting a job in the UK. Just to be clear, job here means career as a professional and since I am an engineer, my points are biased towards my profession. The way I see it, these are the ways to get a job:

1. Direct apply – you look on companies that you are interested, such as Multi National Companies (MNC) and apply through their portal. It would be advantageous too if you have worked in the same (sister) company in another/your home country.
2. Direct apply, through connections – this is similar to above but I think is better since your connection can give an informal recommendation, especially so if he/she is in a senior position. You will most likely need to go through the normal application process, but at least you are not just some ‘stranger’ in the list.
3. Further education – I went through this way. It helps since you doing the post-graduate shows that you have local knowledge, a grasp of the industry and also of course the English language. There’s also the possibility to pay for a two year graduate visa, which allows you to find work without needing to be sponsored.
4. Recruiter – you contact a recruiter and ask for opportunities. The recruiter will then do a short interview, get your CV and then will look around for jobs that might suit you. They get a commission when you get hired, so they are incentivized to find a job that suits you. Be as upfront as possible, so that they can get you that ‘perfect’ job. DO NOT pay them at all, and if they ask for money, that’s a scam.

Option 1 and 2 are less likely to work I think, compared to option 3. I’ve seen option 4 being successful but you need to find a good recruiter.

Visa

Foreigners need company to sponsor visa. This means that they will pay you salary that is enough to cover your living and also above the legally required payment, depending on profession. Read more here: Skilled Worker visa.
You need to pay for the visa, unless that is part of your job offer. If you’re lucky, they’ll pay for the visa (and immigration health surcharge (IHS) – which is expensive). If you’re even luckier, some will pay for family members too. However most of the time, you have to pay for yourselves, and this costs around GBP1,000 per person, per year. So if you have three dependents (one wife and two children) and the visa is for three years, the visa (plus IHS) is around GBP12,000.
Dependent spouse can work without needing to be ‘sponsored’, so most likely your spouse can work and might even get a job offer easier than you.

Another way is to get a student visa. It costs around the same (roughly) but is valid only for two years (for now). The benefit is that you can work in any job during that two years and does not need to meet the same salary as skilled worker visa. However if after two years you haven’t got a skilled worker visa, you have to go back. Also this student visa needs you to do a student course (at least a 9-months course like a master’s program).

CV or Resume

UK’s CV is a bit different. No pictures and no personal data.
Also I like to think there are two types of CV.

1. FULL CV – the long one that tells from the early days of your working till yesterday. List down all achievements and whatever you can think of. This is the one that I think you should share to a recruiter or save as a template.
2. CONCISE CV – this is the one that you send to a specific job opening like in option 1. Trim anything that is not related to the job, even if you think that achievement had defined your life. Try to compare the job description side by side to your CV and make sure you ‘answer’ all the bullet points.

That’s all that I can think of for now. Try your best, make dua and insyaAllah your rezeki will come.

Thank you for reading.