Dear bit-tech.net, I have been a member here for some time, though obviously not a very active writer in the forums I have enjoyed e.g. build logs throughout the years. But anyway, I'll get right to the point. The time has come for me, my awesome wife and our 3-year old son to move to the UK and with that in mind I am obviously looking for a job. Design, in all senses of the word, is primarily my passion but I don't want to limit myself and as such I am pretty much looking for anything, "Hey, got to keep an open mind!". I am very unfamiliar with the employment market in the UK, and as far as I have noticed there seems to be some differences between UK and Finland. For one thing, you don't have the Jante Law, a sociological phenomena that permeates our culture very much. Anyway. What I am looking for is any and all help and/or information that would ease my quest to get a job in the UK. I not looking for a hand-out, though obviously if one were to present itself it would not be beneath me to accept that much help. I will gladly answer any questions anyone might have. I already have an updated CV and generalized cover letter since I have already started looking for employment within the range of the knowledge I have acquired so far. I can provide CV and/or cover letter if required. Finnish Designer & Programmer seeking employment in the UK. Sincerely, Carlos Eriksson fiinixdesign.eu Click to view my CV (pdf)
There's a reason I've gone self employed... not to try and scare you off or anything but there is a recession going on and about a quarter of the UK's youth (16-24) are unemployed (and on benefits) which accounts for about 1million people. Just be aware you may be going up against people a lot more qualified trying to take any job they can. Suffice to say, if I could easily move to another country, I would do so in a heartbeat.
Given that Finland is currently considered the worlds centre of creative design then you have a nice angle to work with if you try to go the design route. I'd even be considering self employment and starting a design company specifically playing up the companies Scandinavian roots.
Dude your website is awesome. Make sure you show any employers that site! What part of the UK are you going to be living in?
I (and by extension We) don't have a specific part of the UK in mind yet, we are aiming for South-East of England but needless to say, if a job-opportunity in e.g Essex were to present itself I would be a fool to decline it. Imagine a ~40 mile radius from Central London and you have a pretty good estimate of the type of area I was thinking. Thanks Lorquis for the info. Bear in mind though that Finland has had (and by most accounts still having) a recession itself, high unemployment rates amongst young people and such. I got my current permanent full-time job when that recession was at its worst. But again, thanks for the warning, it is definitely something worth remembering. Thank you for your positive feedback regarding my website, Votick. I already have ideas of how to make it better but it's nice to hear that my recent redesign wasn't all in vain.
Please don't move to Essex. Now sadly, we don't seem very keen on employing the young either, and so depending on the sector you're looking to enter in to, it will take a fairly uncommon skill to get you going from square one.
As someone who immigrated into the UK I'd advise you to think about it carefully. The UK has its own "Jante Law". It's the Daily Mail mentality of "foreigners coming to take our jobs/women/houses/benefits" (note how women are considered in the same context as assets or property. Nice). There is a recession so competition will be fiercer in the nicer jobs like web and graphics design (not so much in the hard graft picking asparagus or cleaning hotel rooms sector), which is a field where competition was fierce to start with anyway. Plenty of capable British web designers out there pounding the pavement. I don't know what housing is like in Finland, but in the UK renting is expensive. Especially if you are thinking of Essex or within a 40 miles of London. You're picking one of the most expensive parts of the country. To illustrate: when I came to the UK there was a shortage of clinical psychologists, with jobs more or less up for grabs, and even then there was local competition to worry about. I started working up North where the cost of living and housing was cheapest. Nobody swans into London and just gets a job and a nice pad to live. That's fantasy.
Thanks to both of you (KidMod-Southpaw and Nexxo) for your replies. I merely used Essex as an example to illustrate that despite aiming for South-East of England, I don't want to limit myself to South-East of England. Birmingham seems just as nice as any other place, though I must admit that it's obviously not within a 40 mile radius of London. Maybe I should have said a 115 mile radius instead? Nexxo, it seems to me the UK and Finland share an unfortunate similarity then, as there are many here with the Daily Mail mentality, despite Finland being very restrictive with letting in foreigners for any reason. Actually, if I may use Birmingham as an example again, what would be a fairly standard prize (rent/month including utilities) for a 1-bedroom apartment, circa 500 ft² in Birmingham? In Vaasa, the prize is around £550-650 unless you are willing to live "bad" neighbourhoods where the prize range can drop to £350-550. As far as your advice goes Nexxo, thank you but it has already been thought about carefully and is no longer a question of "If" but more a matter of "When". Surprisingly so far though, the market seems quite similar; Bad recession, high unemployment.. very much a "Be happy you have a job and stick with it" -attitude. Again, thank you everyone, for all the advice so far.
p.s There's nothing really wrong with Essex if you work in London, it's one of the cheaper places to live if you are commuting into London within a reasonable distance.
Just remember in the UK there are over two million out of work. I spent today screening over four hundred cv's. It's so sad to see the that are looking for work and some so desperate that they are willing to take huge pay cuts. My store that is opening in April need eighty staff and to get applications is so easy. But let me tell it is so easy to see the difference between a good application and bad one. All remember when filling in applications don't take shortcuts, fill in everything. Also make sure you do not use words like innit and stuff like this. i was shocked how bad some of the grammar was and I mean mine is bad enough as it is. These are people with "A" levels as well. It is almost like they do not want to work. Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk
That sound like very sensible advice Kovoet. Since you seem to be be quite familiar with reading and/or screening CV's, might you be inclined to take a look at mine and give feedback where and if needed? Of course, if you simply don't have time that would be very understandable. Also, out of curiosity, may I ask what kind of store you are opening?
As a "foot in the door" I wouldn't rule out the other regions in the UK. Scotland for example has a declining population and is more welcoming to immigrants than areas which are (perceived to be) saturated. Edinburgh is a fantastic city to live in with lots going on all year round and Aberdeen has a very healthy jobs market as the oil industry keeps it in it's own economic bubble, although it's a tiny place and doesn't have the cosmopolitan charm of larger cities. Property prices in both won't be far off London but the cost of living will be substantially cheaper. The above probably applies to other parts of the UK but I don't have experience of them.
Same here, more or less. You can get a room with shared bathroom/kitchen for about £250,--. A self-contained flat in a crappy neighbourhood is £350,--. In a halfway decent one it is about £500,--. In the city centre the sky is the limit. Birmingham has a decent 90 min. connection to London but the astronomical cost of transport does not make it suitable for commuting.
Main thing with a CV is not to babble on to much. I assume you are still young so your C.V. should not be that long. In today's world especially in retail except at a Head Office Degree's mean nothing. I for one would rather look for experience. How many people today walk around with some degree or another and do not even work in an environment where they can use that degree in some way or another. Make sure you fill in any gaps of employment and have good reference's from previous employers. When if ask to fill in an application form read the form carefully and answer every question. I find interviews fairly easy and hate assessment days especially with role plays. Why do employers think role plays are any good I do not know because you do not react in that way in the real world. Interviews just be yourself, relax and be honest with them as with yourself. Also make sure it is a place where you want to work remembering you will spend more time there than at home. Get to my age it gets harder to work at a place where you actually WANT to work or WHO you want to work for. I know this sounds real corny I remember listening to a DJ back where I come from and remember him saying he loves his job because it was his hobby. Example I love retail and my hobby in computers and how I would love to work for a place like Yoyotech or Scan and yes I know that won't happen I have to take the next best thing. So think about where you want to work carefully. I remember seeing a couple of application forms yesterday where people have had at least 5 to 8 different emploers in a space of two years.
I updated my first post and added a link to my CV. If anyone feels inclined to check it out, any and all feedback will be greatly appreciated. Da_Rude_Baboon, alas, the missus is not as excited about the prospect of moving so far North so for the the time being I have decided to not focus my efforts to Scotland. That of course doesn't rule it out as option, it simply makes it a less desirable one.. for the time being. If that is the case, Kovoet, I should hope that having a single employer for the past two years would be in my favour.
What kind of programming skills do you have? There is the option of freelancing/contracting, but this is a risky venture to undertake on a first move the England. I work in a massive IT company who hire contractors for different projects, and they bring in anywhere from £300-£1000+ a day (top end is for a very niche skill(s) ) It is a lot of work to setup your own company and do all the leg work in terms of accounting, tax etc. and a lot of getting hired (from what I can see as a permanent employee in the company) is about having a good reputation with other contractors or managers from within the company. If you're interested, take a look on this site: http://www.elanit.co.uk/ It's where all our contractors come from, and they tend to have a dominance on a lot of IT jobs in the UK. You can also apply for permanent jobs on that site, but I'm not sure what the competition is like in the design/programming subset. I am guessing that a lot of companies on that site would be willing to have the initial stages of the interview over the phone as well, which could help you get a job lined up before deciding where to live (makes the job hunting situation easier if you aren't geographically limited). Hope this all helps, and if you want any further advice drop me a PM or post in here and I'll try and remember to look again!
Sorry don't mean to derail the thread, but Nexxo are you serious because either your rents way to high or I'm luckier than I had realised. I'm paying £300.00 PCM for a 3 bedroom house with a 300 foot long garden. Now fair enough its a council property but is the private sector really that bad rent wise?
Well with a quick look at rightmove and similiar places single bedroom flats and studio appartments are all you'll get in birmingham for £300 that or a bedroom in a flat share.
Yes. You're in a council property. People in council properties never seem to understand how bad things are in the private market in many places. I listened to a guy whine on about his door not being fixed (for free) by the council for two months, on a house he paid about what you paid for, and about the same size. Meanwhile we pay twice as much, and have a one bed place in an old tenement. Where I am is admittedly a bit more expensive than Brum, but here, it's £500-600 for a one-bedroom flat in any area which isn't full of junkies. A two bed is ~£700-900. Asphinx, I'm curious about the "so far north" comment. Last time I did the numbers where I am, Aberdeen, is a few hundred kilometres, south of Turku. I'm not sure where you are, but I'm guessing you're either on the south coast, or a bit further up on the west coast. If you're trying to escape smaller cities then fair enough. Also, moi! Se on suomenruotsalaiset? I can't really help on the job front, but if you're wanting to understand differences between the UK and Finland, I can try to answer questions. I've spent maybe 3-4 months there over the last 3 years or so.
