Hi everyone welcome back! If you're aiming to work in the UK, understanding the job market and visa processes is crucial. In this video, I'll guide you through the UK's economy and job market, the steps to obtain a sponsored job, the various work visas available, top job search websites, and essential tips to keep in mind.
If you’re new I’m Ashika and I talk about moving across the world to work or study and with that, let’s dive in.
The United Kingdom boasts a diverse and robust economy, with key industries including finance, technology, healthcare, and engineering. In the year ending September 2024, the UK granted 241,719 work visas to main applicants across various categories.
But in order for you to get that visa it’s important for you to understand what the process is, and there is a whole process, of getting a visa to live in the UK.
For starters, if you want to live & work in the UK, you need a work visa. You can’t work on a Visitor visa. It needs to be a work visa
Depending on the nature of your work, there are different visas and we’ll come to that in a bit.
How to get a job in the UK
To get started, you’ll need a job & a sponsor in the UK.
So if you logically look at the process
Step 1 would be to build your CV in the UK format. Depending on which country you’re applying from, the requirements might differ. You need to ensure your CV not only conforms to UK recruiters’ requirements but also communicates what the recruiter would need to know about your previous experience.
I have a team that specialises in helping fix people’s CVs especially if you’re very serious about landing a job or have been facing trouble converting your work experience into an interview call.
If you’d like to book a session, you can visit our website.
Step 2 would be to apply for a relevant opening. Now how relevant is defined is really important.
There is something you need to remember that is very very important. Sponsoring someone is not a difficult task but it is a task that takes up time and money. The employer will be willing to put in this time & money if you are a good fit for the role. If you have experience that is not a strong match, you’re wasting your time because then it’s a huge gamble for the employer. And no one wants to spend time & money on that.
So you can apply to roles that have some overlap with the work you do but it’s best to apply for roles for which you are a good fit.
The second thing to keep in mind when it comes to relevant roles is that the employer should be a licensed sponsor.
In order to offer sponsorship to anyone to work in the UK, the employer must first have a license issued by the government that makes them eligible to be a sponsor. They would need to have a license depending on the type of visa they can issue. Like I mentioned earlier there are different types of visas and so there are different types of licenses as well.
If an employer posts a job opening for a role that you are perfect for, your first move should be to check if they are licensed sponsors or not, so you’re not wasting your time.
You can either check on www.uktiersponsors.co.uk or the Government page, either works.
Take for example you want to check if IBM is a licensed sponsor in the UK, this is how you check.
But what happens if they aren’t licensed sponsors - then to be honest, it’s not easy. It means they prefer hiring locally and unless you are the Elon Musk of your industry, it might not help. If talent is extremely exceptional or it’s a role that is very very niche, then they may be willing to apply for a license just to hire you, but let’s be honest, that’s very rare. So you might want to apply, but not get your hopes too high.
Step 3 would be to secure a job offer. If everything goes well, you’ll receive an offer before which you should have discussed your requirement for sponsorship. You should also discuss who will bear the cost, whether your family’s cost can be covered too, travel & relocation expenses because some employers cover all this.
Once this is done, Step 4 would be for your employer to then apply for a CoS or Certificate of Sponsorship. You cannot apply for this yourself. Your employer needs to do this and they also need to cover the cost of this themselves. They cannot pass this cost on to you. If they’re asking you to pay for this, something is seriously wrong.
Step 5 is for you or your employer to then apply for your work visa. Now either you or your employer can apply for it and the same goes with payment. The best part is that you apply online for this from the gov.uk website. gov.uk is the website of the UK government for all official communication on pretty much everything.
After you apply online & pay the visa fees & all other fees, you’ll receive your visa and you’ll be able to move to the UK and start working.
Types of Work Visas
Now let’s break down the types of work visas available in the UK
In terms of long term visas there’s the very popular
Skilled Worker visa
The Health & Care Worker visa
Senior or Specialist Worker Visas
These 3 visas make up the most popular work visas because most people find it easy to get these particular visas.
Skilled Worker Visa:
Eligibility: In order to be eligible for a skilled worker visa, you would need a job offer in a qualifying role from a UK employer with a valid sponsor license (like we discussed above)
Duration: The visa can be valid up to 5 years and you can renew it post that or apply for an ILR or Indefinite Leave to remain.
Cost: £610 to £1,408, depending on circumstances.
Family: This visa allows you to take your family along
Permissions: While you’re on this visa you can work for your sponsor; you can also take up limited additional work; study permitted.
Restrictions: Cannot access public funds.
Health and Care Worker Visa:
Eligibility: With the Health & Care worker visa, to be eligible you would need to be a Qualified health professional with a job offer from the NHS or related organizations. The NHS is the public healthcare system in the UK and is the biggest employer in the UK.
Duration: The visas can be up to 5 years; and once again you can either extend after that if your employer agrees or you can apply for an ILR.
Cost: Lower application fees; exempt from the immigration health surcharge.
Family: Once again, your family is allowed to accompany you.
Permissions: Work for your sponsor; limited additional work; study permitted.
Restrictions: Cannot access public funds.
While both of these visas would need you to apply for a job, get a sponsored job and then move to the UK, there is a visa that is specially meant for transfers which is the Senior or Specialist Worker Visas. So for instance if you work for IBM in India and you’ve received a transfer to the UK branch, you’ll use this visa to move.
Senior or Specialist Worker Visa:
Eligibility: In order to be eligible you would need to be an existing employee of an organisation that’s been approved by the Home Office as a sponsor and be paid at least £48,500 per year
Duration: Unlike the other two visas we just discussed the validity is a little different. If you’re salary is less than £73,900 a year your visa can be at max for 5 years in any 6 year period. If your salary is 73,900 a year or more your visa can be extended for 9 years in any 10 year period because the whole point is that with this visa, you are not eligible for an ILR or permanent residency.
Cost: £719 to £1,636
Family: This visa allows you to take your family along
Permissions: While you’re on this visa you can work for your sponsor; you can also take up limited additional work; study permitted.
Restrictions: Cannot access public funds.
Apart from this there are other visas, it doesn’t end here and they include the Religious worker visa, International sportsperson visa, there’s an Innovator Founder visa, the Youth Mobility visa, a Seasonal worker visa which is a temporary worker visa and a lot more which I won’t cover in the interest of time and because most of you will apply for one of the three visas we discussed, but if you want to know more you can visit this page to get all the information.
For the main visas, I’ll make lengthy videos to explain every detail which I’ll link below so if you want to know more, you can check them out.
Websites to check for job offers
Now let’s break down where you would need to start your job hunt in the first place. This is where you should be careful. There are so many scams going on when it comes to getting sponsored jobs in the UK because the scammers have realised that many people are desperate and so they quite literally look for such people, take their money and run away.
So for starters stick to these websites.
Indeed UK
That being said it doesn’t mean you can’t get scammed using these websites. Sometimes they post fake openings. So it’s important for you to do your research by
Checking whether this company actually exists on LinkedIn and through their website
Speaking to other employees at this company
Checking the email id of the person you’re in touch with
Checking if they are licensed sponsors
Be careful if they have reached out to you with a job. If they have and unless you’re extremely famous in your industry, it might be a scam
If they ask you to pay for a CoS, it’s most likely a scam
If they send you a job offer without attending an interview, it’s a scam
So just be really careful.
Preferably don’t go through agencies because you never know how legit someone is. Only when it comes to healthcare roles, there are agencies which fall under the list of ethical recruiters, these agencies you can consider because they have been vetted by the government. Anyone else, be careful.
And that’s it. But like I always say before you commit to a job, please ensure the salary is sufficient for you. Things are very expensive in the UK and salaries are often not the highest. So it’s important for you to calculate your cost of living vs your salary before making any big move.
I hope that was helpful! See you next time!
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