Precedence given to EEA nationals over Non-EEA

Hi All,

I wish to apply for _research_ jobs in the UK. However, being a non-EEA national, I wish to know if the vacancy will only be made available if it cannot be filled by an EEA national. I.e would EEA nationals be given precedence over candidates who would need work permits in order to work in the UK? Please be kind enough to advise me on this, as I was told that this rule only applies to posts that are administrative in nature.

Yours Sincerely,

Brian

Brian Anderson wrote:Hi All,

I wish to apply for _research_ jobs in the UK. However, being a non-EEA national, I wish to know if the vacancy will only be made available if it cannot be filled by an EEA national. I.e would EEA nationals be given precedence over candidates who would need work permits in order to work in the UK? Please be kind enough to advise me on this, as I was told that this rule only applies to posts that are administrative in nature.

Yours Sincerely,

Brian

I think that is true.

UK is part of the EU so you would expect it, wouldn't you? I don't think it's anything to do with the issuance of WP's, more to do with the UK's obligation to the EU.

Wanderer wrote:

Brian Anderson wrote:Hi All,

I wish to apply for _research_ jobs in the UK. However, being a non-EEA national, I wish to know if the vacancy will only be made available if it cannot be filled by an EEA national. I.e would EEA nationals be given precedence over candidates who would need work permits in order to work in the UK? Please be kind enough to advise me on this, as I was told that this rule only applies to posts that are administrative in nature.

Yours Sincerely,

Brian

I think that is true.

UK is part of the EU so you would expect it, wouldn't you? I don't think it's anything to do with the issuance of WP's, more to do with the UK's obligation to the EU.

yeah but I wouldn't worry about it. the good thing about the UK is that they are anglophones and research is primarily done in English so they would want a native English speaker, that would kick out most of the EU.

my own experiance for working for universities is that you have to prove you are better than the EEA ppl being interviewed. I have succesfuly got workpermit for jobs in the universities even when the competitino was between non EEA and EEA.

I suggest that you apply ASAP. a good site is www.jobs.ac.uk for academic and reseach related jobs

Research in what? And what are your qualifications?


Victoria

Wanderer wrote:I think that is true.

UK is part of the EU so you would expect it, wouldn't you? I don't think it's anything to do with the issuance of WP's, more to do with the UK's obligation to the EU.

Yes, but does the law specifically state that this precedence holds for all job categories, or only for support/administrative/business-commercial jobs, and not for academic/research jobs? This is my confusion.

teekay_tk wrote:my own experiance for working for universities is that you have to prove you are better than the EEA ppl being interviewed. I have succesfuly got workpermit for jobs in the universities even when the competitino was between non EEA and EEA.

Yes, I assume the law is different for academic/research type posts

VictoriaS wrote:Research in what? And what are your qualifications?

Victoria

Research in Comp. Science (Networking/Distributed Computing). My qualifications can be quickly summed up as: 8 years industrial (CITP), 3 years academic research and lecturing.

Yes, I assume the law is different for academic/research type posts

I'm pretty sure the law isn't different for academic posts. Why would it be? There are more knowledgeable people here who might know differently, though.

I've been offered university research positions in the EU, and in all cases, they did have to do all the advertising/proving they can't find an EU citizen to do the job, etc. The thing is that I trained in quite a specialized area, so it's easier for my would-be employers to prove they can't find anyone else. If you're confident that your skills and experience are better than others likely to apply for the positions you are, then you should go for it.

The good thing about universities is that they are used to getting work permits for people, and they are open to finding talent wherever they can get it, so they're unlikely to react to an overseas application with an automatic no, which is what a lot of employers would do.

Platinum wrote:

Yes, I assume the law is different for academic/research type posts

I'm pretty sure the law isn't different for academic posts. Why would it be?

The reason is academic posts, in particular research posts, are not the type of jobs that require a standard skill set that people can be easily trained to do. The best person for a research/academic job is the best applicant in the pool. Even if an EEA national meets the job specification, it would be more useful/productive/prudent to select an applicant with wider experience, knowledge and creativity even if he/she happens to be a non-EEA national. There's a lot of uncertainty involved in research and every university wants the best people it can find to work on the problem. It would be nonsensical if the law restricted this.

Platinum wrote:I've been offered university research positions in the EU, and in all cases, they did have to do all the advertising/proving they can't find an EU citizen to do the job, etc.

Hmm.. I've been looking at jobs.ac.uk, and I've only seen that restriction on non-EEA nationals applying for non-research posts. Do you know of any specific site where I can actually verify this? Or a number to dial or an address to email?

it would be more useful/productive/prudent to select an applicant with wider experience, knowledge and creativity

I can't think of any mid- or high-level position for which this cannot be said, so I'm not sure how it would only be applicable to academia.

I only know from my experience in applying for work permits, etc., and from what my employers have told me. Why don't you call up the professors you are interested in, or the university departments you're interested in? They would know, and they would even be able to tell you about the process.

(Now, I'm not saying that the following has ever happened to me, but, sometimes, if a professor really likes you and knows of your work, they may put out an ad that is tailored to your CV, and therefore virtually guarantees that you will be the one who best fits the job description.)

Good luck.