Whats the best time to land in UK with the below exp in IT

Hi all,
I am planning to apply for EC in August,08. I want to know what is the best time to come to UK. I had read a couple of posts saying that Nov-dec is a bad time to come to UK.Based on that I am planning to ask for a post dated visa starting from Nov,08.So that i can come to uk in the month of Jan,09.So that I dont waste time outside UK.
Currently I am experienced in the below skills .Pls let me know what my chances are . I am planning to shift my family after I settle in Uk.

Exp : 4.5 yrs.
Current Domain: Banking (2.yrs)
Previous Domain: Health care(2yrs)
Technolgy : Java/J2ee, JMS, Java swings.IDE : Websphere Studio
Data Base : IBM DB2 , Microsoft Sql Server.
I also have experience in using basics of Mainframes Tools(QMF, SAR,DB2I, MQ series)

Pls let me know my chances of getting a decent job in UK.

Hi,

The Best time is ANYTIME because the no-one wishes to lose a person who has got the right skills.

Now, how do you know if you have got the right skills? Try searching ur job in www.cityjobs.co.uk, www.efinancialcareers.co.uk and if you find vacancies matching your position and the pay is good...file that EC appln.

On the face of it, since u r in to Computers and have exp in Banking domain.. you could sell like a hot cake.

You would probably get a Temp job first and then can slowly move in to a permanent role by Jan / Feb and then you can bring your family by next Summer.

Any persons in this forum with similar background willing to offer more specific advise?

UKHSMP,
In the UK market a lot depends on luck apart from the right skills and off-course the timing also matters a lot.

Things have been very slow in UK for Java/JEE professionals. You definitely need to have Spring / Hibernate in your skill set.

Another thing you need to have specific skills for banking jobs...for instance if you have skills in invt banking-derivatives, you may hardly be considered for fixed income.

If you are planning on coming to UK in Jan, I would recommend delaying coming to UK to the first week of April. Feb and March are slow months for job seekers. The job market opens up in April i.e. the beginning of a new financial year.

Thanks nshar and sathish for ur valuable advises.As far as my Banking domain is considered I work for my client in Retail banking sector in the Online Banking area.
As u said I am planning to study spring and hibernate before I come there.
Also One more doubt. u said that April will be the best time, but in my stuation if I get my EC successfully with effective from NOvember ,08 , is there any problem in coming to UK in April,09 because it will be nearly 5-6 months after I have got my visa.will there be any problem while entering UK.Pls advise

some inputs:

i think u have 6 months validity period for the initial approval letter.

so why not delay the EC filing to the max and then ask for a post dated approval in that appln. u have another 6 months time to enter UK from the date u receive VISA.

ur clock starts from the day u land here, so ...think abt it.

rsathish wrote:u have another 6 months time to enter UK from the date u receive VISA.

Can you please provide a link/document which says so?

ukhsmp wrote:Hi all,
I am planning to apply for EC in August,08. I want to know what is the best time to come to UK. I had read a couple of posts saying that Nov-dec is a bad time to come to UK.Based on that I am planning to ask for a post dated visa starting from Nov,08.So that i can come to uk in the month of Jan,09.So that I dont waste time outside UK.
Currently I am experienced in the below skills .Pls let me know what my chances are . I am planning to shift my family after I settle in Uk.

Exp : 4.5 yrs.
Current Domain: Banking (2.yrs)
Previous Domain: Health care(2yrs)
Technolgy : Java/J2ee, JMS, Java swings.IDE : Websphere Studio
Data Base : IBM DB2 , Microsoft Sql Server.
I also have experience in using basics of Mainframes Tools(QMF, SAR,DB2I, MQ series)

Pls let me know my chances of getting a decent job in UK.

Are you working in iFlex(Flexcube related,etc.) or Infosys(Finnacle) or some Indian IT services company?

If you have some banking giants (known to uk employers) like Citibank ,etc. on your resume as clients then you will be like a hot cake for recruiters.

Your array of skills is impressive and adding Web frameworks (Spring, etc.), ORM tools( Hibernate, etc.) will be a definite plus. Also familiarize yourself with some server side coding if you don't already know it.

General perception that Nov/Dec is bad for recruitment is generally right. It is maximum around Feb-April, etc. But it all depends on the strength of your cv. If you believe that your cv will attract interview calls(and you can pass uk interviews), then you can come to uk at any part of the year.

If you feel that your cv is not exceptional, then it is better to wait as uk economy is in bad shape, and jobs only go to exceptional people (jobs are not absent, just that they are hard to get).

So here are options for you.
1. If you feel u'll get a job fast, ur cv is good, then apply for ec as soon as possible(now) and come to uk in sept-oct period itself.
2. if you feel ur cv is not that good, then wait for next april when uk economy (hopefully)recovers, and meanwhile apply for ec in sep-oct, request for postdated ec in jan-feb 09 and come around feb-mar 09 to uk.

Summary: It is bad to leave a good paying Indian job for uncertainty, unless you are very confident about your skills(and you are right in that confidence).

rsathish wrote:Try searching ur job in www.cityjobs.co.uk, www.efinancialcareers.co.uk

Just a note of warning. Don't go by the numbers of job-ads in above websites. (If you really believe those number of jobs are there, then uk would soon surpass Bangalore in number of IT requirements )

Most of the job requirements are fake and are designed to attract potential candidates' resumes(in order to increase the size of candidate resume database with the recruiter).

Just be sure not to judge number of IT jobs requirements by looking at numbers of jobs posted in these websites.

CoolestGuyC wrote:

ukhsmp wrote:
If you have some banking giants (known to uk employers) like Citibank ,etc. on your resume as clients then you will be like a hot cake for recruiters.

This is not working in the job market right now. Very few banking giants are hiring. No CV is hot in this job market.

There is no time limit that you must enter within a fixed time after EC.

I would suggest that you do thorough research before entering/timing this market.

UKHSMP - To give you a rough estimate of the time taken to get a job- I had huge experience with the biggest of the global Finance/Banking organizations in India. I entered UK in the first week of Feb. It took 45 days to get my first offer . I hardly received any calls from Investment Banks - Hardly any was hiring.
I repeat - Your experiences in UK job market will be dependent on how lucky you are and which banking area you have expertise in. I am not sure about retail banking java jobs.

One thing is there - If you are ready with Spring/Hibernate/Webservices
And are flexible about the industry you want to work
And are ready to spend minimum 40-60 days looking for a job
Then November also wouldn't be a bad time.

I had very similar profile as yours except for the yrs of experience. If you have any more qtns please feel free to PM me.

Hi nshar and coolestguy,
Thanks for your valuable inputs. After reading your suggestions . I have planned to go ahead and apply for EC in the month of August beacuse my HSMP approval validity ends in september.And also I have planned to ask for posted EC.I have stated the below reason for post dated EC.Pls let me know if this is ok
"As I will have to give a notice period of 30 days to my current employer and have to finish some personal in the month of october.I kindly request you to give a post dated EC effective from November 01,2008 So that I dont want to waste time outside UK unneccesarily"


friends If Successfull I have planned to enter uk in the month of Jan-09. I am quite confident with my CV, but at the same time I want to be cautious as i dont want to leave my good paying salary .

nshar I will contact u in PM for further queries . Thanks a lot