Finding a Job

Hello,

I am having a rough time in finding a job. I have been here for nearly 5 months and have only had two interviews. I have been applying through the job agency sites and directly to companies via email. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Cheers

the agencies that you have registered with....have they sat down with you personally and gone through your previous work experience, your education, the market, etc.?? Are you signed up with recruitment agencies specific to your line of work???

I contacted an agency about a month ago - specific to my industry. I sent my resume in and got an email back stating that if you were successful, someone would be in contact with me within 5 business days. Well, I sent my resume in late at night....first thing in the morning (in Canada) I had an email from a recruiter. Since then, we've exchanged many emails and even talked over the phone about the market conditions, agencies (since I'm in advertising) and their stance on visas, my work experience, etc.

Some companies won't take on anyone (and I think this is for my line of work plus in general) who is on a visa because they know there is a time limit on it. It's expensive to train people and to invest - they want to invest in someone who will potentially be there indefintely (they know that won't happen but they can wish!). With that said, there are companies that will take on those on visas and potentially use whatever time remaining as a 'trial' and maybe invest in sponsoring you for a work permit....but that will also depend a lot on what time you have left on your visa. It also depends on the company policies.

I think one of the key things is to have a direct contact within a recruitment agency.

What line of work are you in?

Loads of questions...
What line of work are you in?
What is your Visa status?

If you are just are 'regular' Canadian and 'regular' employee, you're going to need a Tier-2 Visa which makes it a proper faff for any company considering your application. They will need to advertise the job for 28 days via JobCentre Plus, they will need to incur the costs and time to register as a sponsor company, then they need to apply for the sponsorship dealy for you and then you need to apply and pay a few hundred quid for the process. No company would likely do this on their own, so they then have to add a registered consultants fee on top of that.

If you are a Uni degree holder, who speaks English and has 800+ pounds in the bank, then objectively speaking you would qualify. But you need to find a company that wants to go through that hassle. Funnily enough when I left my last UK employer at the end of '09, we were talking about this and that and they said they simply wouldn't bother hiring someone outside the EU now. Especially in the SE, where there are lots of qualified applicants.

Have you actually talked to any agencies?
Are you going to industry specific agencies or just whichever one advertises on jobserve?

To make a broad generalisation, standard recruiting agencies are only marginally better than the sales guys you see at carphone warehouse or knocking on your door trying to sell aluminum siding. Typically they are just a bunch of kids who are purely numbers driven. If they get a sniff that you might be a hardsell to a client and therefore in their ability to get their 15-20% forget it.

If you can find an industry specific one and talk to them - as lynz suggests - you will be much better off.

Quick follow up... I did not mean to come across as excessively negative, but really it is not easy to get a job as a foreigner. I have been fortunate to do it twice, but when I look at the UK market today, it looks a lot tougher than it used to.
The UK's visa program has always been a mess and now it still retains the messiness, but with reduced ease of access.

Applying with larger companies that may already be listed as sponsor companies could be ab angle to take. With a bit more background about your situation maybe we can be more helpful!
Best of luck to you!

sheesh - you are loaded with wonderful info and didn't come off negative at all. I read about all the problems that people face headed to the UK for jobs but knowing a ton of people coming out of University and not able to get jobs here makes me wonder....are the 2 countries really that different in that respect? (ok, we all know they are but hopefully you catch my drift).

when I was talking with the recruiter that I am currently working with (I'm still in Canada until the end of August. I wasn't going to try and get a visa if there was absolutely no hope of getting a job), I was told that a lot of companies in my industry actually use up a lot of their sponsorships near the beginning of the year if they can and thus, is easier for any potential job applicant to take care of their own visa. I see tons of jobs in my sector posted every single day and knowing that a lot of companies don't post jobs....makes me wonder a little bit as to just how many opportunities there are.

Based on the fact that the poster has been there for 5 months, I'm guessing they are on a Tier 5 YMS visa?

The other way is trying to go intra-company transfer which is not by any means easy either. A lot of companies have a lot of policies in place which actually makes it quite difficult. I was told straight up that sometimes, no matter how much a company wants to help an employee successfully (e.g. an employee that has proven themselves but only worked there for a few years or their job isn't of "supervisory" or "management", etc.) do an intra-company transfer, the lawyers shoot it down.

Ah right the YMS... those days are a ways past now, I hadn't thought of that
When I first moved to the UK - at 30 yrs old - I only had 1 yrs experience in software, but still found a job while living in Ireland and subsequently got a normal work permit. I don't remember what was available for yoofs back in '02.

As you say going now, during an economic recovery/continued downturn, won't be easy. In fairness being outside or willing to go outside London, Brum, Manchester/Liverpool, might make it 'easier' to find a job. Certainly dealing with London, some folks seem allergic to go outside the M25. When I was hiring staff in '09 - with our office 30 miles from central London - I was disappointed in the quality of applicants, I expected a rash of superstars, but our recruiter said being where we were made in harder to find really good people, compared to London.

There are lots of great towns within 25-45 mins by train of central London (for when you want to get in on weekends or to catch a gig during the week) which have business parks, with lots of companies in them, nearby. The competition for jobs there might be less and therefore easier to find something. If you have a YMS then you can simply answer yes to the 'right to work' screening questions and hopefully find something

If you haven't already, I'd say to use indeed.co.uk to see whats available for your skillset near certain areas. It also doesn't hurt to just do some random surfing of multinationals you know are near where you want to live to see what they have on offer. Theoretically you've got the tough part - the visa - out of the way!

Oh, I am assuming a YMS means you don't need any subsequent proof of work eligibility for that 24 month period?

ohh you would have probably had the YMS when it was the Working Holiday visa and other stipulations. As of the last couple of years, the YMS visa is issued for an automatic 2 years and you can work the entire time.

You are quite right about spending time outside London as well. A guy I worked with (originally from the UK - actually from the Richmond area just outside London - worked in Canada for 10 years and just went back to the UK about a week and a half ago) told me to definitely get out of London to see other parts of England. I already planned to, but now it makes me want to even more! I only worked with the guy for the last 2-and-almost-a-half years as I've only been out of school for that long but hearing what he had to say about my move made me excited about it as well.

I love how we've ended up kind of having our own conversation. Hopefully the original poster will come back and let us know a bit more info as to his/her situation!

Hey guys thanks for all the responses.

I am on an Ancestry Visa, so I don't think that is the problem.

My background is in Aviation. I have a diploma from BCIT and have worked for a couple of airlines for nearly 3 years before coming to the UK. I also have nearly 10 years of experience in working for a car park company in BC. I have applied directly to airlines and car park companies only to get rejected.

It seems that to work for airlines or an airport I need to be in London. I currently live in Manchester. I cant even find a job chucking bags. The other problem I am having is I cant find any vacancies out there. I have tried all the companies I know via their websites with no luck. There also does not seem to be any agencies that deal with Aviation jobs.

I gave up on being picky so I have been applying for any and every job with no success. I have signed up with a number of agencies online and they say they will get back to me and they don't. There is a couple that I have applied directly to the recruiter and they have responded but not bringing me in for an interview. Its always I am not qualified. I am wondering if I should just walk into a place and say help me!!.

LYNZ - no it was a 'proper' worker type person permit Back then you showed up at passport control with your work permit letter and they just put a simple stamp in your passport. Them were the days.

Confused - I don't know what to add really. I know nothing about ground staff/airport jobs. I'd always assumed they are all pretty much union gigs - based on the strikes they go on
If you just need 'a job' I'd go to your local job centre and talk to someone there. They should be able to point you in the direction of something.

haha sheesh - amazing how times have changed!

Confused - I don't know anything about that industry either. Maybe ask some of the recruiters what makes you underqualified for such positions that you are seeking? I don't know necessarily what it will accomplish other than a little more clarity. I did type "aviation jobs uk" into google and came up with a couple of job sites but that's about it. Looks like it's a difficult industry to get in to.