UK Job Market is getting better!!

[npanglia]

I am reading through lot of opinions in this forum on Job market in UK.
The comments that I see are restricted to few active participants who suggest that UK market is really very very bad. I won't disagree to that.

However I have spoken to few of my friends within UK to get an assessment of UK job market, where the general opinion is changing from "Bad" to "Getting better" (looks like long way to hear "good") and it will go even better in next 3-6 month.

Well these are still opinions based upon individual experience and sector in which he/she is working.

Lot of negative news! Lets park them for a while. People who post their queries here look for direction (positive) and the reply they are getting is "Don't come to UK" especially by those people who are already in UK. If that is the case Why don't they just pack their bags and head back to their respective countries.

We got to be positive about few things. Rather than being a critic I am starting this forum so people can provide inputs on what all skill set/ jobs are still relatively in demand in UK soo that individual can work on those skill set and plan to travel to UK to hit the bull's eye. It's not that there NO jobs in UK. What matters is whether you have enough skill set/experience to get a job without much struggle. Don't race with crowd, race with yourself.

The subject line I have used here is deliberate so people can put across their positive thoughts in this negative environment.

[Markie]

the road to recovery is still a very bumpy ride...some factors can be controlled internally while others don't. By the way have you managed to get job leads based on your findings?

Some of comments provided by members previously were based on their personal experience...that could have change as well as over time. As you mentioned below...each has its own personal opinion and the reader should take it with a pinch of salt...a pint I suppose

I am reading through lot of opinions in this forum on Job market in UK.
The comments that I see are restricted to few active participants who suggest that UK market is really very very bad. I won't disagree to that.

However I have spoken to few of my friends within UK to get an assessment of UK job market, where the general opinion is changing from "Bad" to "Getting better" (looks like long way to hear "good") and it will go even better in next 3-6 month.

Well these are still opinions based upon individual experience and sector in which he/she is working.

Lot of negative news! Lets park them for a while. People who post their queries here look for direction (positive) and the reply they are getting is "Don't come to UK" especially by those people who are already in UK. If that is the case Why don't they just pack their bags and head back to their respective countries.

We got to be positive about few things. Rather than being a critic I am starting this forum so people can provide inputs on what all skill set/ jobs are still relatively in demand in UK soo that individual can work on those skill set and plan to travel to UK to hit the bull's eye. It's not that there NO jobs in UK. What matters is whether you have enough skill set/experience to get a job without much struggle. Don't race with crowd, race with yourself.

The subject line I have used here is deliberate so people can put across their positive thoughts in this negative environment.

[IMHO4u]

Nice (say Positive) speech.

Facts – All views expressed here are Honest. (positive or negative are just perspectives, say saying not to waste hard earned money chasing fake jobs IS very POSITIVE thing, in a way!)

So, if you are looking for ‘feel good’ essays or having ‘let’s spread happiness’ talks .. wrong place. All one will get is frank opinions by people who are facing the circus. Deal with it.

“People who post their queries here look for directionâ€

[namastelondon]

The job market might be good for those who are already working in UK. For somebody without UK experience it might be a struggle, plus you cannot negotiate as you had nothing in hand.

If anyway one comes to UK for job search, shud set a time frame. If you do not get a job, bugger off.

[gd_Shepherd]

I feel it is easy to get a call once you work with the client here and build rapport from offshore locations or visit in short periods on Tier-2 and work here , otherwise we may need to possess the exact skill-sets asked in the jobs + lots of patience + money to get "that right job" in the UK

Many of my friends have got it the first way.

Shepherd

[*FC*]

No matter how much one hates to accept the reality or how much we hate being told the bad news, the jobs directly depend on the economic climate which at this point of time isn't great.

How about accepting the reality that jobs are not as easy flowing as they were a few years ago and competing with the lot or learning another European language(s) and trying out jobs in the respective countries?!

FC

[Laksonline]

No matter how much one hates to accept the reality or how
FC

I came to London in the end of may,
and have gone to 2 companies for interview, and am getting calls from consultants almost everyday...
so feel that market is getting better...

[jithan]

No matter how much one hates to accept the reality or how
FC

I came to London in the end of may,
and have gone to 2 companies for interview, and am getting calls from consultants almost everyday...
so feel that market is getting better...

hey what is your skill set? what is the hot skill set there ?

[kenfrapin]

Lot of negative news! Lets park them for a while. People who post their queries here look for direction (positive) and the reply they are getting is "Don't come to UK" especially by those people who are already in UK. If that is the case Why don't they just pack their bags and head back to their respective countries.

Ok, I think you are missing the point completely and not looking at the big picture. Let me lay it out very clearly

Until 20006/07
Great job market, lots of demand and many openings in the IT sector. You post your CV and you could easily get called for atleast 3 to 5 interviews per month and even get couple of offers. Salaries were good and you could more or less get what you asked for

Post 2008
The recession made all those from above category lose jobs or take pay cuts. During this time, many companies looked towards outsourcing more IT work to the cheapest bidder to cut down costs
1. On top of that, a lot of the senior local population lost permanent jobs - PMs, Architects, Designers, QAs etc.
2. And on top of that, the huge and lucrative contracting market crashed big time. This resulted in a lot of contractors now hunting for lower paying perm jobs that guaranteed a constant salary.
3. Then take the huge influx of MBA and MSc students who used to get multiple offers when in college and now entering the same pool of above hunting for perm jobs
4. Put all this together and add to the job market that have even fewer openings as Employers are wary and stepping back on hiring freely.

Today
The jobs now advertised have applications from the entire list above. This directly increased the quality of the applicants and couple that with companies offering lower salaries has made the market very competitive. It is no longer easy to land jobs with great pays. The roles may be considered 'good' career wise but does not necessarily pay the required money that role demands - makes sense?

So, for all those planning to come to the UK today, either with good experience, families etc - they have to compete with a lot more people. If you add to that they have no previous UK experience, are generally Tier 1 visa holders, they will face a lot of issues landing that final offer.

Looking at all this, it does not make sense for people with relatively lesser experience, no prior UK exposure, weaker English and Communication skills to pack their bags, quit their jobs back home and come here thinking things will be great. That is not practical and nor will it give you any results. The market may be opening up now, there may be a few more jobs coming up but the competition is only getting better and even more competitive.

Anyone can come here and try their luck - but only those who have excellent profiles, have experience in roles that are in demand, have exposure to niche technologies, have years and years of experience etc will end up getting the role and the salary they want. For the rest, it is going to be a struggle and the UK of today is no longer the UK of yester years. Things have changed a lot and so has the job market and the happy go lucky world of a easy-well-paid jobs is no longer existent in this country

KP

[*FC*]

hey what is your skill set? what is the hot skill set there ?

I'll get banned if I tell you the hot skill here !!


KP: Man, you only seem to fascinate me more. Thats a fantastic post close to reality!

FC

[LearningCurve]

Brilliant post Kenfrapin. Very clear picture of the current situation. Thanks !

[Mohanfromblr]

Dear Kenfrapin
You simply rock. This kind of posts really make one analyze his/her own self, compare with similar ones who is in the market and gives scope for enhancing their skills.
By the way, I have been trying for perm roles since April, 2010, have got 6+ years in J2EE technologies. what I can say is, at least from my experience the hirings are really happening in my domain. Lots of calls and a good number of interviews I have attended. I can see that there is a lot of competition for jobs and because they got candidates better than me,offers were rolled out to them. But still I am happy and looking forward to attend more interviews that are actually scheduled next week.
If any one wants to see the graph of grown, please see the site
www.itjobswatch.co.uk
This is really encouraging, when compared with the data that is existing exactly one year back.

[LearningCurve]

Thanks Mohan, for sharing your experience. Should sound reassuring for the folks in J2EE domain.

And best luck to you with your job hunt. Your positive attitude will definitely help you go a long way.

[kenfrapin]

...
By the way, I have been trying for perm roles since April, 2010, have got 6+ years in J2EE technologies. what I can say is, at least from my experience the hirings are really happening in my domain. Lots of calls and a good number of interviews I have attended. I can see that there is a lot of competition for jobs and because they got candidates better than me,offers were rolled out to them. But still I am happy and looking forward to attend more interviews that are actually scheduled next week.

Way to go...im always happy to see perseverance in people, and you are a great example. Wish you all the very best and from the way things are going, I predict you will get the offer you want very soon....my fingers are crossed for you

Cheers
KP

[gainvidya]

The job market looks good for some sector. My personal opinion is EU is heading for another recession however positive government may want to sound.

[zaynab79]

hi,
very interesting thread for ppl like me who are planning to come to UK. me n my husband have banking experience. i have 5 yr exp in compliance n currently working in customer service for telecomm company. my husband has been doin pretty well in retail banking branch sales as relationship manager with exp in citi,standard,abn amro and RBS.

what are the prospects for us ?? do we need any other skills that we shld work on b4 coming to UK

thanks

[kenfrapin]

hi,
very interesting thread for ppl like me who are planning to come to UK. me n my husband have banking experience. i have 5 yr exp in compliance n currently working in customer service for telecomm company. my husband has been doin pretty well in retail banking branch sales as relationship manager with exp in citi,standard,abn amro and RBS.

what are the prospects for us ?? do we need any other skills that we shld work on b4 coming to UK

thanks

Hi Zaynab,

I do not have practical knowledge in banking domain but from general observation of job trends, here are a few points
1. For you - as you have experience in Banking there may be opportunities but given you are currently working in Customer Service for Telecom, it may be difficult for you. Cust Services in the UK does not pay very high - about £14k for fresh grads going upto £24k for experienced hires plus bonuses on meeting targets. Banking specifics on Compliance I do not have info

2. For your hubby on Relationship Management for Banks - given he does have experience in reputed banks there is a good chance he can get some openings. The only issue is that the Banking Domain in Europe is different from Asia and thus related fields of investments, mortgages, taxation etc is very different so that may be a negative factor for him. A quick search on Google shows top jobs paying around 75k and the average or most common openings not going way beyond £30k so it does not look promising.

You need to find out if lack of knowledge in the UK Banking World will affect his chances - thats the best way forward. Leaving everything aside, this is a fiercely competitive market and let me explain why
1. Banks look at fresh grads to fill such posts
2. Fresh grads from top Universities are primary targets for jobs that have starting pays of £40k
3. Fresh grads from all other Unis are targets for jobs that have starting salaries from £24k onwards

Given that there is a huge influx of jobless grads and postgrads in the UK now, most of them local to the market and well versed academically on UK Banking laws and principles, there is a lot of competition to get into all types of Relationship Management roles. All this weighs in as well when your hubby goes on a job hunt - if a bank can get a local Post Grad kid with good knowledge and ready to start for just £24k then why will they look outside - unless someone has a lot of practical experience and brings something different to the table, its very difficult.

As I said, you need to research some more before deciding what to do. There are enough jobs around but a lot of jobless people as well and the pay is not that high. But if both you get a job and even if it pays below standard say about £28k each, then its good enough as you both are working and in the market to try for better chances later

All the best
Kp

[rohitktm]

Guys, to be honest, getting calls from recruiter is not a big deal. These are tons of recruiting agencies and they call everyone that have some profile matching to job. Why? Because if they get you hired, the company who hire you pays them money. So unless you get call from the company itself don't gets excited. I searched job for 4 months and believe me over that period I got calls from more than 60-70 companies. Everytime I have telephonic interview, I used to think...aha...may be I will get job. But nothing like that happened. I didn't get job in a week or month. It took me over 4 months. During this time, i did nothing other than applying job. I finally got job as SAP consultant. But please do remeber that despite having MBA from USA, specilized second Master degree in SAP, SAP certification and 4 years of experience; it was not easy at all as I have thought.

UK have some jobs but competition is too intense. I do not say you not to come to UK at all. But come with prepared mind. Be prepared to search job for 6 months and bring some money because the living expense very high. it is not comaprable to expenses back home. I am very scared to see some post people writing I got visa, flying now....without any research about the demand of their expertise in UK. Please please....do enough research before leaving your country.

And one last advise: do not quit your job back home, take 2-3 months leave and come to UK so if nothing works out you have option to go back. I have read a post in this forum where a tier 1 visa holder is working as security guard. Do not come to UK just for name sake. Do enough research.

[sapvish]

rohitktm that was a good post from you... and few others in this thread have posted some very thoughtful comments. Much appreciated.

I want to seek opinion. My husband works for cisco in india. Was keen to know how is the job market for cisco professionals (like ppl with CCNA certificate, not necessarily a nerwork engineer, when i mean working in cisco). If anyone has any clue pls share your thoughts. Thanks.

[prisat]

[quote="npanglia"]I am reading through lot of opinions in this forum on Job market in UK.
The comments that I see are restricted to few active participants who suggest that UK market is really very very bad. I won't disagree to that.

However I have spoken to few of my friends within UK to get an assessment of UK job market, where the general opinion is changing from "Bad" to "Getting better" (looks like long way to hear "good") and it will go even better in next 3-6 month.

Well these are still opinions based upon individual experience and sector in which he/she is working.

Lot of negative news! Lets park them for a while. People who post their queries here look for direction (positive) and the reply they are getting is "Don't come to UK" especially by those people who are already in UK. If that is the case Why don't they just pack their bags and head back to their respective countries.

[quote="indianinworld"]

LoL.. Well that is a very good question.... It should be either one of the below two cases for sure
1. Dog went to the market just becos Goat / Lamb went.
(Literally, in the local slang - ஆடà¯

[LearningCurve]

I think it makes sense to post my friend's experience in this thread,

He has 7 years experience in the Java / J2EE technology. He travelled to the UK last month after 16 months of obtaining his Tier 1.

He joined the Indian establishment of an American company, and they agreed to send him on an assignment to the UK on the Tier 1 visa which he already had.

But when time of travel came, the travel desk, refused his travel, saying he can't travel because he hasn't activated his visa etc,. (which clearly wasn't the case)

His manager, worked out a deal with the UK manager to directly recruit him into the London establishment. So he quit his job in India and flew into London last month.

When he met with the manager in London and salary etc was discussed, he quoted 60k and they closed the deal at 55k.

This is another less risky way of getting to the UK, without having to quit your job back in India.

[kenfrapin]

A good end result but it was a great concoction of things that happened and led to him getting the offer in UK
Such instances are, if not impossible, then close to being special.

The obvious choice is this - there are a lot of Service Providers with offshore and onsite delivery models in many cities in Asia, specifically India. People with Tier 1 visas should get into these companies and then push for an onsite role. This is a sane and sensible way of entering the UK market and then planning your next step

KP

[namastelondon]

A good end result but it was a great concoction of things that happened and led to him getting the offer in UK
Such instances are, if not impossible, then close to being special.

The obvious choice is this - there are a lot of Service Providers with offshore and onsite delivery models in many cities in Asia, specifically India. People with Tier 1 visas should get into these companies and then push for an onsite role. This is a sane and sensible way of entering the UK market and then planning your next step

KP

This looks like a good option but rarely works. You need to have a good relation with your manager and opportunities at onsite location.

When I got my Tier 1 visa , I did ask my employer regarding a onsite opportunity, but the issue is that they also know you can switch employers with this Tier1 and really not good for employers.

In some cases, manager's might say there is an opportunity when there is none to buy time.

[kenfrapin]

You are right about that namastelondon - employers usually dont take Tier 1 holders as they all know the candidate's ulterior motive

I stated this option as closer to reality that the previous post where the India manager contacted the London manager, got things agreed, candidate then quits India office and interviewed for the London offer directly and got the role for £55k - this, according to me, is no way a common occurrence and instead, joining Service Providers is probably more common with better chances of coming onsite

But yes, companies usually apply for the Tier 2 visa themselves to have total control on you and treat you as their slave - such is the never changing mentality of Asian companies and most of us dont have any other option

KP

[LearningCurve]

Yes totally true Kenfrapin and NamasteLondon.

Infact in my friends case, he told the manager during recruitment only about the Tier 1 he was already holding and stated his intentions clearly.

However after the travel desk goofed up, they couldn't conside applying a Tier2 because apparently a company can apply for a Tier 2 only after employee completes 12 months with the company.

It was purely his manager who worked this out for him and a totally one off case.

But again, maybe mentioning the Tier 1 and intentions of onsite opportunities during the interview is an option to try.