So, you’ve taken the plunge and decided moving to the UK is the right move for you. Now, in order to make sure you can begin your new adventure you need to find a great job.
Looking for a job in a different country can be difficult but luckily there are countless fantastic resources to help you navigate this challenge. We’ve compiled a few of them in this article.
UK Job Market
While the idea of finding work in the UK might seem daunting there are plenty of opportunities for you, with the Office of National Statistics reporting over 1.2 million job vacancies in their September ‘Employment and Employment market overview’, and the current UK unemployment rate is only 3.6% as of July 2022. There are jobs in a wide range of sectors out there, so working in the UK is a very achievable dream.
The first helpful resource you can use to begin your job search in the UK is the UK governments list of ‘Shortage Occupations’, if your profession is on this list it makes it much easier to be approved for a UK ‘Skilled Worker Visa’ which would make it easier for you to settle and have permission to work in the UK.
There are a wide range of different vacancies on the list including for archaeologists, civil engineers, programmers and software developers, artists and graphic designers. There are also plenty of roles on the list which require very few qualifications such as care workers and home carers. This means that not currently having professional qualifications will not be a barrier to you working in the UK or hinder your UK job search.
How to look for jobs in the UK
Now you know that working in the UK is an option for you, how do you begin searching for an actual vacancy which matches your skills, experience and expectations? Firstly, there are countless independent job boards or websites which collate hundreds of thousands of live vacancies for anyone looking at working in the UK.
We’ve listed some of the top examples of these websites below with some key information, they are the easiest place to begin your UK job search and start to get a feel for the UK job market.
Indeed
Active since 2004. Indeed.com is the UK’s largest job listing website, with over 250 million unique visitors every month. At the time of writing there are over 700,000 job vacancies listed on the site.
Indeed is aimed at both job seekers and employers. Job seekers interested in working in the UK can carry out a job search using key information such as job title, keywords, the names of specific companies or by location. Job seekers are also able to upload their CV’s to allow them to easily apply for jobs by sending out the CV, or allow it to be automatically passed by Indeed to potential employers who are looking to recruit someone with their skills.The job listings on Indeed show a lot of helpful information which make it simple to tell if a particular vacancy is the one for you, listings normally include standard information such as salary information, working hours, and job type (full-time, part-time, temporary or permanent) but helpfully listings often include additional information such as any employee benefits which come with the role such as employee discounts or on-site parking.
CV-Library
CV library is the UK’s largest automated recruitment management website. Job seekers can search for jobs on CV-Library, but the more common way of using the site is to upload your CV, highlight your specific skills and the sectors that you are interested in working in, and then recruitment agencies, who are actively looking to fill specific jobs in the UK, can search through the available talent directly.
CV library currently has an active database of nearly 18 million CV’s and in 2020 was named the ‘recruitment website of the decade.
Other job sites
While Indeed and CV-Library are the largest examples there are hundreds of similar websites to search for jobs in the UK. You may find that some jobs are posted to multiple sites, but there are also some roles which are unique to each site, so it is important to not just stick to one site when looking for work in the UK.
We’ve listed a few more notable sites below.
Total Jobs
Monster
Fish4jobs
Gumtree Jobs
Adzuna
Many of these sites also offer very helpful features such as CV feedback and editing along with access to average salary data for different roles, all of which can be extremely helpful when looking at and applying for jobs in the UK
Industry Specific Websites
If the general job sites are not helping you find work in your particular niche, there are also a whole host of industry specific UK job searching websites.
Jobs for the UK government are listed on a specific Civil Service job search site, this is also the case for NHS jobs, and many local government jobs such as for teachers, town planners, social workers, and librarians can be found on the local council’s website. For example, local government jobs in the city of Sheffield can be found on Sheffield city councils job board. These public sector jobs have excellent pay, holidays and pensions.
If you are looking for jobs in a particular sector it is worth checking if there is an industry specific job recruitment website where the popular employers are likely to list their jobs and search for appropriate candidates.
We’ve listed a couple of these industry specific sites to look out for below.
CWJobs
CWjobs is the home for tech jobs in the UK. At the time of writing CWjobs had 5000+ job listings from nearly 400 different tech companies in the UK. If you are skilled in a technology related industry and looking for work in the UK, CWjobs is the place to start for you, with roles covering all experience levels from IT sales to project management.
With a user-friendly app and website CWjobs allows you to set up notifications for jobs which match your criteria and upload a CV for one click application.
Guardian Jobs
Guardian jobs is set up specifically for professional candidates who are looking for job vacancies that utilise their professional qualifications and experience and offer commensurate compensation packages. Chief Executive jobs and project management roles in leading UK companies are often advertised here. The jobs listed on Guardian Jobs are more sector specific and Guardian Jobs also has an extremely useful section tailored towards university leavers looking for graduate schemes at well-established and respected UK companies.
Recruitment Agencies
If trawling job websites is getting a little stale, you may feel you need a more personalised experience. If this is the case the UK also has a huge number of recruitment agencies who will do the hard work of looking for work in the UK for you.
Often these recruitment agencies either focus on a particular sector, or they focus within a local area.
The recruitment agencies have an advantage over a lone job seeker as they work closely with the companies which are recruiting, often building up long-standing relationships. This means that they may have access to a job vacancy that will not ever be listed on a job site, or sometimes they will put you forward to a company they know would work well for you, even when a specific vacancy doesn’t exist.
Most recruitment agencies will ask for a CV and following this will ask to do an interview in order to get a feel for your level of experience and to assess the type of role you are looking for.
Using a recruitment agency can be extremely effective as a good agent will work for you to find a role. They usually offer this service free to job seekers as they get paid a commission by the companies recruiting for roles when they successfully fill them.
Final thoughts
Trying to find work in the UK can seem intimidating, but it is important to remember that there are lots of opportunities out there waiting to be filled, and there are some excellent resources out there to help you be the person who fills them.
Our advice would be to start by searching the general job sites, checking the UK government information and getting a feel for what is out there. If you are not seeing vacancies that match with your specific skills, then seek out more specific industry sites, or more tailored advice from recruitment agencies.
It is also important when looking for work in the UK to make sure you get the basics right, ensure that your CV is up to date and contains all the relevant information a potential employer would need to see. There are many resources out there to help proofread and edit your CV to make sure it is top condition for attracting the right employer for you.
Good luck on your job search!