Ask HN: How to Find a Job in the UK
I'm self taught with an engineering background currently working as a QA Engineer in the US. Any advice on finding work in the UK or Ireland? Has anyone done something similar?
In the UK for tech jobs it's indeed.co.uk for perm jobs and jobserve.com for contract work. And linkedin.
In the UK, lots of jobs tend to be filled in via recruiters, and they are quite helpful.
Its usually pretty easy to get one to call you and they can give you an idea about the market.
Assuming you are worried by the language/culture barrier, have you consider Australia or New Zealand?
The first step is to understand the UK is more or less a 3rd world country by US standards these days and if you want to find a job you'll need to accept a salary that's likely far below your expectations, and a lifestyle that far, far below your expectations as someone living in the US.
- Cut your salary expectations by half or more.
- Cut your take home pay expectations by 60-70% as the government will take a huge chunk of your income.
- Assume you will struggle to pay rent since 50%+ of your post-tax income will go to rent.
- Assume you'll struggle to heat your home because the UK has the highest energy costs in the world.
- Assume you won't be have access to healthcare unless on your deathbed and you won't be able to afford private because the above.
If you're happy with this lifestyle then you might be able to find a QA engineer job in the UK for £30,000. The job market here is horrendous though. A lot of people I know are looking for other ways to make a living or supplement their income such as by claiming they're disabled.
20%-30% on average.
>Assume you'll struggle to heat your home because the UK has the highest energy costs in the world.
This really isn't the lived reality for most people in the UK.
>Assume you won't be have access to healthcare unless on your deathbed and you won't be able to afford private because the above.
No idea where this assumption is coming from. Free universal healthcare is the default and access is easy, even through the NHS.
>If you're happy with this lifestyle then you might be able to find a QA engineer job in the UK for £30,000
Utter nonsense. I won't deny, decent QA jobs are becoming more difficult to find but the average salary is at least double that.