Foreigners in UK

[Didi]

Hi folks!

Iv'e got a question:-)

Is it difficul to find a job in England if you are a foreigner and have a degree of Bachelor.? What spheres are the most attractive (i am not talking about waiters or shop-assistant)

[AM]

Dear Didi, if you're foreigner in England and you know English well at the same time - you have a unique opportunity to work not so as native people there do! I mean you can be like a link between people from your country and similar from one side and Britons from the other. And if you find an internetional business theme or opportunity for this - you'll be indispensable there (of course if you manage with all information). :wink:

[Eagle]

Hi Didi

It's actually easier in theory to get a job as a foreigner here in the UK.

We have anti-discrimination laws which mean you are far more likely to get an interview - and the government is working hard to ensure that most employers should have a 'quota' of so-called ethnic minorities regardless of their skills.

I'm not joking.

[fastfences]

Hi didi,

It's easy to get work in England if you really are determined and want to work. Why not come and work in a factory, shop or as a waiter whilst you're researching and working toward your ultimate goal? cheers, Nigel

[Desmond Brambley]

It is easy to get a job, but, are you from outside the EU? If so you will need the official paperwork allowing you to work here otherwise you'll be stealing from the state by not paying tax, and therefore stealing from all of us.

However, with a bachelors degree, you should be able to get the paperwork relatively easily.

[fastfences]

Stealing from the state? This is a business Forum. Surely we must credit Didi with enough respect to believe that he/she would come to England respecting our rights and laws. This isn't a person, with respect, seeking asylum, it is a person who has already 'put in the yards' of education and has been rewarded with a degree.

Furthermore, it would be very difficult for a person to gain 'normal' employment without first having appropriate paperwork, Nat. Ins. No etc.

Cheers, Nigel

[Desmond Brambley]

I do credit Didi with that! Many asylum seekers have degrees. I have known several highly qualified people who have only been able to get labouring work in this country. Although they were classed as professionals in their homeland, when they had to flee becasue of the political upheaveal, the qualifications they had became useless outside of their country. So even if they have 'put in the yards', the degree might not count for much. The subject and the country might have a bearing on the relative success or not of gaining employment in the field that Didi has the most experience.

[Rigs]

I suppose it depends how fluent you are... I come from France myself and after spending 6 years in the UK I must say I've improved a fair bit. Apart from the language barrier - I think the UK very forgiving when it comes to nationality and ethnicity, probably more than in any other European country. As long as you can make yourself understood, the answer would be yes, it's easier :)

[MikeH]

Hi Didi,

Can you offer any information as to what your degree is and which country and establishment issued the degree? In addition are you based in the EU?

Mike.

[Outlandish]

In reply to the question about seeking employment in the UK as a foriegner, speaking from experience it is near impossible. With a masters or a bachelors degree most likely you will end up working a job that no UK national wants, i.e. cleaners,wait staff, shop tenders, ushers, bricklayer etc. that too if you are lucky. It is definitely not what earlier posts are portraying. Its not only me, i have several 'mates' who have the same opinion as of mine.

Best of luck anyway.

[Stephen Berry]

I employed a Scot once - does that count? :D

(throw verbal grenade, stand back and wait for UKBF explosion from above the border !)

[sirearl]

I employed a Scot once - does that count? :D

(throw verbal grenade, stand back and wait for UKBF explosion from above the border !)

Not sure but you were lucky to get someone who would work twice as hard as a sasanach and came from the race that made modern life possible with 70% of the worlds greatest invention coming from a country with just 5 million people .

we have 5th columnists south of the border to :p

Earl

[Joanne_UK]

Hi,

I am speaking from my own experience having moved from Canada to the UK on a spouse visa in 2000.
The first thing to understand is that if you are not from the EU , you will need some type of visa to be able to live here and work here for this you can have a look at the visa (government) website:
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1006977149953
You need to have your visa before coming ito the UK, you have to apply from your country.

If you find a visa that allows you to come here, you will have to search what type of work you are looking for.
If you have a degree but no experience, I would suggest that you get some work experience in your country before trying here, I find that in the UK work experience is more important than degrees.

If it is easy to find a job? Well it depends..it's probably very easy to find a low paid job but it is something else to find a professional job. Your first job in the UK will be hard to find because employers prefer if you have experience in the country.

To give you an example, I came here and I already had a degree in IT (Canada) and I worked for about 4 years for a bank in Canada as a software developer (Lotus notes/Domino) so I had a lot of experience in my specialised field. I do not agree with some of the posts here that say it is easier for an immigrant to find a job because of the anti-discrimination laws, it certainly was not in my case. It was not easy to find my first Lotus notes developer job in the UK , employers are simply not really interested in getting the references from another country (I can understand that).
I really cannot see from my experience that employers will employ ethnic minorities regardless of their skills, but I can't say that it does not happen, however if that does happen, I would say that it is in a minority of cases.

[Yamasha]

Sounds controversial. Most of the people i know say although it was complicated in the beginning then it sorts as you get experience in UK.

My question though will a reference from a UK resident (or two) with international experience count for the employers in UK?

I have been working in banking in Russia for the last 5 years and mainly with people from Citigroup, AmEx and few big Russian banks, contemplating the move to UK (family reasons) for several years and wouldn't want to become a 'desperate housewife'.

Thank you very much.

Masha

[maria102]

Nearly a three year old rehashed post....again...

[kitkat77]

Hello!, I also like Didi cant find easily job in UK.
I had worked for the past five years on cruise ships for british company as retail asisstant and jeweller.
Its very tuff also to get a paperwork ready to start a job.
I also speak perfect english, russian and bulgarian.
But i believe one day i will get my papers ready, and i will find a job:)

[MarianaK87]

Hi, I started reading this post because I'm having a similar situation.
I'm 24, and getting my law degree in 2 months, and I want to work overseas, and London is my first choice.
The problem is that not being European; I need a sponsor to get a work permit. Do you think it's posible to get a job being foreigner?
Where should I check?
Also, is the European recession affecting the UK as well, is it particularly hard to get jobs?

Thanks in advance