Current IT job market in UK

Hello Guys,
I just uploaded my resume on some of the well known job sites in UK on Sunday(31-May)... And not a single call as of now...

If any one else searching for jobs.. wats the latest situation in market especially in ASP.NET??... I have 5+ yrs of exp(2+ yrs in UK)... Is it required to do some sort of certification or wat?.. I can carry on my hunt till august end and that’s all i have... I am worried if i don’t get an interview call then its like no opportunity to prove... that’s pathetic..

HI Guys,

As said by other, im not gona be diffrent than them.

It's really true the IT market Ranging from Network/Infrastructure to Software Development all are under biggest threat.

The main focus we seen during this recession is on sales and managing finance

So if you have a job then stick to it and go to any extent to survive it.

Thats what I can say from my 2 yrs Experience in Uk working at an capacity of Senior IT Consultant.

Hi,

Currently I am working in Indian Organization as Software Engineer, and have a plan to move to UK for work. I am not having Tier 1 visa, planning to apply in the mean time i got confusion whether currently whether an opportunity available in UK because after getting visa every consultent saying i should be inside the UK with 3 months. I would like to go but at the same time i don't want to loose my job over here as it is very difficult to get job over here also in current situation.

please guide me ...

Thanks
Thamayanthi

Yeah i can understand that. What u can try is that, take 2-3 months off from work and search a job here...If things do not work here atleast u can go back to the same job.

But given the market conditions here , it will not be cakewalk here...
Guys who are working here are also finding difficult to get jobs.

Preference is always given to someone with UK experience..

Hi,

Yes I understand, but if I come through consultant (offering both getting visa and providing opportunity to get job) will i get opportunity.

Because when i checked with consultant they are saying, they have some contract through we might get.

But I am not convinced their words just like that.

If the preference is only those who having UK experience means i will not get job if i come over there also right.

Is it good to approach consultant for getting visa?
And what type of expectation from UK employer?

Thanks
Thamayanthi

It's picking up for me, phone ringing constantly, but it's still all talk and no jobs. It's a positive sign though I feel but it will be a while yet.

I am a career contractor but I've taken a permie job till the contract market picks up. In my opinion there's practically nothing in that sphere, lots of stuff on jobserve but we all know very few of these are proper opportunities. Permie isn't too bad but i think you need to be very good/very experienced, employers can afford not to have take chances so they'll take the cream of the crop.

Mr Thamayanthi,

Please dont waste your hard earned money by failling into these consultant traps. When UK experienced top notch people out here are finding it difficult, just chalk out the probability of you being successful here.
Consultants are there only to make a quick buck and trap gullible people with the lure of UK riches but the bottom line is every person is on their own.

Only companies that have UK clients and send employees on 'onsite' visits can be trusted, the rest only eat your money. So try getting into such good companies and then come to UK for an assignment.

Also note, if you dont qualify for a Tier Visa now, that what visa is that consultant giving you? He can only give you a so called Work Permit valid for a few years and bound to some bogus company or contractor in the UK.
It will then be upto YOU along to get a new job and also a new VISA because legally you cannot work for a company without that company's work permit or a Tier 1 Visa.
The only other thing I can think of is this so called Consultant will always be your namesake employer and always take a cut for their own sake even if you get a job on your own here.

Take my advice and just stay far away from such Consultants mate. Dont dig yourself into a deep hole with false promises. Try coming here on your own if you can and you will benefit a lot.

Cheers
KP

Hi guys,

I've actually had friends that have had very good experiences with Consultancies on a whole and even recommended them. The "So Called Work Permit" is now a Tier 2 Visa that can only be issued by companies that are approved by the Home Office and in most cases are "A-Rated". The Visas are granted for 36 months (3 years) which is the same amount of time as the new Tier 1 visas. Whilst my friend was employed by them he was able to work on different contracts and didn't have to change his Visa once for the duration. The company took care of the entire Visa application, Tax and NI payments and just charged a monthly fee when he was working.

Don't get me wrong, I think you're right that there are some cowboys out there but in general, as long as you look around and find a good company I think it's a great solution for those guys that can’t get a Tier 1 or permanent position at the moment.

At the end of the day, you can get a Tier 2 Visa and work for a year then apply for full-time work afterwards from inside the UK when the markets recovered..... Or you don’t get a visa, go home and then try to apply to the UK with no visa status and 1 year out of UK experience.

This would hold true only for "Niche" technology.

Vanadil wrote:Hi guys,

I've actually had friends that have had very good experiences with Consultancies on a whole and even recommended them. The "So Called Work Permit" is now a Tier 2 Visa that can only be issued by companies that are approved by the Home Office and in most cases are "A-Rated". The Visas are granted for 36 months (3 years) which is the same amount of time as the new Tier 1 visas. Whilst my friend was employed by them he was able to work on different contracts and didn't have to change his Visa once for the duration. The company took care of the entire Visa application, Tax and NI payments and just charged a monthly fee when he was working.

Don't get me wrong, I think you're right that there are some cowboys out there but in general, as long as you look around and find a good company I think it's a great solution for those guys that can’t get a Tier 1 or permanent position at the moment.

At the end of the day, you can get a Tier 2 Visa and work for a year then apply for full-time work afterwards from inside the UK when the markets recovered..... Or you don’t get a visa, go home and then try to apply to the UK with no visa status and 1 year out of UK experience.

Oh yes without a doubt.

SAP, .NET, etc:.

£300+ per day areas.

Thanks Vanadil for correcting me there, totally forgot the Tier 2 Visa route option.
Finding trustworthy consultancies is another matter as I am pretty sure neither these Consultants nor the UKBA want to misuse this wonderful option for talented people

So lets hope for the best for Thamayanthi !!!

Cheers
KP

Vanadil wrote:Oh yes without a doubt.

SAP, .NET, etc:.

£300+ per day areas.

IdM was £750 a day for me - got a call today for £220 - eeeeek!!!

Needs must, 220 is better than 0 although I went permie recently - maybe i will slow down and get trained in something for the next boom!

Wanderer wrote:

Vanadil wrote:Oh yes without a doubt.

SAP, .NET, etc:.

£300+ per day areas.

IdM was £750 a day for me - got a call today for £220 - eeeeek!!!

Needs must, 220 is better than 0 although I went permie recently - maybe i will slow down and get trained in something for the next boom!

Ouch 0.o. Your quite right though, £220 is enough to buy food

hey guys i am having Tier-1 due to recession i stayed in my decent software job in india and watching the market.I Can see from wanderer that now you guys could get some calls for niche skills? It means for SQL Server DBA and .net guys fall in niche skills? I am having good experience in those areas. So i will be waiting till jan2010 and will fly to UK by Feb2010 is it a good idea? I am feeling enthusiastic after seeing all the posting ere saying the market is slowly picking up for .net and sql server DBA's? Pls guide.

ramesh1 wrote:hey guys i am having Tier-1 due to recession i stayed in my decent software job in india and watching the market.I Can see from wanderer that now you guys could get some calls for niche skills? It means for SQL Server DBA and .net guys fall in niche skills? I am having good experience in those areas. So i will be waiting till jan2010 and will fly to UK by Feb2010 is it a good idea? I am feeling enthusiastic after seeing all the posting ere saying the market is slowly picking up for .net and sql server DBA's? Pls guide.

All of those skills are in demand in the UK at the moment; it just really depends on how many years experience you have in the relative areas and which companies you've worked for in the past. If you're looking to go into contracting I would be prepared to take a pay cut initially until you have a bit of UK experience, at which point you can then start demanding a bit more

If you have a Tier 1 then I would really make the most of it and Jan / Feb sounds like a good time to start trying, although but be warned, it's going to be freeeezing cold

Vanadil wrote:Hi guys,

I've actually had friends that have had very good experiences with Consultancies on a whole and even recommended them. The "So Called Work Permit" is now a Tier 2 Visa that can only be issued by companies that are approved by the Home Office and in most cases are "A-Rated". The Visas are granted for 36 months (3 years) which is the same amount of time as the new Tier 1 visas. Whilst my friend was employed by them he was able to work on different contracts and didn't have to change his Visa once for the duration. The company took care of the entire Visa application, Tax and NI payments and just charged a monthly fee when he was working.

Don't get me wrong, I think you're right that there are some cowboys out there but in general, as long as you look around and find a good company I think it's a great solution for those guys that can’t get a Tier 1 or permanent position at the moment.

At the end of the day, you can get a Tier 2 Visa and work for a year then apply for full-time work afterwards from inside the UK when the markets recovered..... Or you don’t get a visa, go home and then try to apply to the UK with no visa status and 1 year out of UK experience.

Mr. Vanadil, I Doubt ur claim abt this Tier 2 Visa route. But i might be wrong, pease clarify.

As u said Workpermit is Tier 2 now. But based on the news reported in the border agency site, i believe for applying to tier 2, at present we need to work in the corresponding Indian / foriegn company which is sponsering you, for atleast 6 months. And this criterea is going to get revised to 1 year from 2010. This is my understanding on the news link below.

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteco ... ea=Working

Please clarify.

Thamayanthi,

I believe you are taking abt a consultant based in India, who is saying I will get u a visa and also give 100% assistance for job search. If thats so, dont ever think abt that. Trust my words, as I am a victim of that. They simply apply in various portals and wait for reply, nothing more than that. They dont even tweek your resume or the coverletter based on the advert. Its jus bull S___ when u go thru them. But from the visa point of view, if u are talking abt tier 1, then they can really help u a lot. But again, instead of spending so much of hard earned money (like I did-- Victim of this one too ), you can follow the posting in this site itself, but on a diff forum. There are hell a lot of threads explaining the procedures. Please dig into it.

Also one other imp think i want to say u is, based on your mail postings, I can understand a bit that your english is not good ( I am not a scholar either). But if thats because u typed very causually or urgently, I am sorry for pointing that. If not, since you have more time now(as u havent applied for visa too), u can concentrate on ur english skills. Coz here in UK, i believe after giving preference to Uk people, they do consider outsiders like us mainly based on our fluency and communication in English. Anyone else quote if am wrong. (Quote me if am not wrong too ).

Also as Kenfrapin and others said, it shd be right to come by jan or feb 2010, but again it depends on ur will power and your mental strength. If u have 'I wont rest untill i Win' kind of an attitude, then go ahead without any hesitation.

By saying these, it doesnt mean I got a job . I said what i believed. And I believe in myself.(dont ask 'if u believe in urself, why did u give money to the consultant '. No answers Knowledge comes thru experience. )

ksankar1982 wrote:

Vanadil wrote:Hi guys,

I've actually had friends that have had very good experiences with Consultancies on a whole and even recommended them. The "So Called Work Permit" is now a Tier 2 Visa that can only be issued by companies that are approved by the Home Office and in most cases are "A-Rated". The Visas are granted for 36 months (3 years) which is the same amount of time as the new Tier 1 visas. Whilst my friend was employed by them he was able to work on different contracts and didn't have to change his Visa once for the duration. The company took care of the entire Visa application, Tax and NI payments and just charged a monthly fee when he was working.

Don't get me wrong, I think you're right that there are some cowboys out there but in general, as long as you look around and find a good company I think it's a great solution for those guys that can’t get a Tier 1 or permanent position at the moment.

At the end of the day, you can get a Tier 2 Visa and work for a year then apply for full-time work afterwards from inside the UK when the markets recovered..... Or you don’t get a visa, go home and then try to apply to the UK with no visa status and 1 year out of UK experience.

Mr. Vanadil, I Doubt ur claim abt this Tier 2 Visa route. But i might be wrong, pease clarify.

As u said Workpermit is Tier 2 now. But based on the news reported in the border agency site, i believe for applying to tier 2, at present we need to work in the corresponding Indian / foriegn company which is sponsering you, for atleast 6 months. And this criterea is going to get revised to 1 year from 2010. This is my understanding on the news link below.

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteco ... ea=Working

Please clarify.

Thamayanthi,

I believe you are taking abt a consultant based in India, who is saying I will get u a visa and also give 100% assistance for job search. If thats so, dont ever think abt that. Trust my words, as I am a victim of that. They simply apply in various portals and wait for reply, nothing more than that. They dont even tweek your resume or the coverletter based on the advert. Its jus bull S___ when u go thru them. But from the visa point of view, if u are talking abt tier 1, then they can really help u a lot. But again, instead of spending so much of hard earned money (like I did-- Victim of this one too ), you can follow the posting in this site itself, but on a diff forum. There are hell a lot of threads explaining the procedures. Please dig into it.

Also one other imp think i want to say u is, based on your mail postings, I can understand a bit that your english is not good ( I am not a scholar either). But if thats because u typed very causually or urgently, I am sorry for pointing that. If not, since you have more time now(as u havent applied for visa too), u can concentrate on ur english skills. Coz here in UK, i believe after giving preference to Uk people, they do consider outsiders like us mainly based on our fluency and communication in English. Anyone else quote if am wrong. (Quote me if am not wrong too ).

Also as Kenfrapin and others said, it shd be right to come by jan or feb 2010, but again it depends on ur will power and your mental strength. If u have 'I wont rest untill i Win' kind of an attitude, then go ahead without any hesitation.

By saying these, it doesnt mean I got a job . I said what i believed. And I believe in myself.(dont ask 'if u believe in urself, why did u give money to the consultant '. No answers Knowledge comes thru experience. )

The 6 month period is only relevent for Intra-Company transfers and transfering, for example, from a TATA office in India to one here in the UK. I was referring to a 100% UK based consultancy that would only have to fufill the newly imposed 4 week advertising period. Once this has been done you would be brand new employee of the UK consultancy.

Vanadil tx a lot for your tips (Better i will make myself prepared for cold climate as i am not used to cold climate really) I have around 8+yrs of exp. But all my exp is with top Indian MNC companies and all for US clients and i do not have exposure to UK clients and neither UK exp. So I will brush up my skills and go for microsoft certification and will start searching from Feb. Is there any way we can overcome the UK exp requirement ? I have cleared IELTS GT with an overall band of 6.5 and planning for some Certification too? Will these things really helps?

Hi Vanadil,

The confusion on who and what 'Consultants' are is what causes a lot of confusion between Asian countries and the UK.

What you mentioned about a Consultant is what I had written where you join a company that sends their employees onsite for short or long term assignments.
However, these companies are not called Consultancies back home. There are just IT companies there like Tata, Infosys, Wipro, IBM etc

Consultants in India are more like agents, hungry for cash and prying on innocent people and hanging the bait of a perm job and visa to the UK. These guys are never to be trusted. They will just suck you dry.

On the other hand a Recruitment Consultant is someone who hunts for jobs on behalf of the candidate. They are something like Reed etc in the UK but one big difference is that Indian consultants go out on a limb and have internal company contacts to place experienced candidates in high profile jobs. In the UK, such consultants only put up adverts on behalf of a company and do nothing more.

Thamayanthi,

Just make sure you check if the agent / consultant you approach is legal and trustworthy. And forget about the so called '100% job assurance' because that is something you have to come here and sweat it out yourself. Also find out what sort of a visa they are promising to give you and how long is it valid and if you are free to work for anyone. Any doubts, just post us a question here.

Another thing, some permanent job processes takes a long time. If the role is not urgent, it can easily take 1 to 2 months from the initial interview to the final offer being signed off, so be patient always. Companies like to ensure they do due diligence when taking on a 8+ yrs experienced employee on a possible long term role for 5 or 10 years

All the best
KP

Hi

Its all looks worthy and valid postings, am planning to change company by next year. Currently am in UK and having one and half year of experience here and 5 years of total IT Experience.I was deputed by my employeer from India to UK and expecting that the project may end up on the first quarter of next year.Currently am in Datawarehousing..

Looking forward the comments from the people who experienced more about the UK market.

Wanderer the below is your post on 26-Sep.

It's picking up for me, phone ringing constantly, but it's still all talk and no jobs. It's a positive sign though I feel but it will be a while yet.

Now it's 27-Oct and came to know that UK is till in recession. What do you feel now...is market picking up or it came down after an initial pickup? I am still watching the situation from india. your input will help me to take decision on when to fly?? Any other members would like to comment on the market situation pls do so it will help lot of people like me who is having tier-1 but still at india watching the UK market situation to make a decision on when to fly.[/i]

Hi

I was hearing from my friends here that the market is up but not really valid responses..

ramesh1 wrote:Wanderer the below is your post on 26-Sep.

It's picking up for me, phone ringing constantly, but it's still all talk and no jobs. It's a positive sign though I feel but it will be a while yet.

Now it's 27-Oct and came to know that UK is till in recession. What do you feel now...is market picking up or it came down after an initial pickup? I am still watching the situation from india. your input will help me to take decision on when to fly?? Any other members would like to comment on the market situation pls do so it will help lot of people like me who is having tier-1 but still at india watching the UK market situation to make a decision on when to fly.[/i]

I have to say it's gone really slow again! I found a job but it's not what I wanted....

Still looking.....

Wanderer wrote:

ramesh1 wrote:Wanderer the below is your post on 26-Sep.

It's picking up for me, phone ringing constantly, but it's still all talk and no jobs. It's a positive sign though I feel but it will be a while yet.

Now it's 27-Oct and came to know that UK is till in recession. What do you feel now...is market picking up or it came down after an initial pickup? I am still watching the situation from india. your input will help me to take decision on when to fly?? Any other members would like to comment on the market situation pls do so it will help lot of people like me who is having tier-1 but still at india watching the UK market situation to make a decision on when to fly.[/i]

I have to say it's gone really slow again! I found a job but it's not what I wanted....

Still looking.....

Hi...
How is SAP CRM market now in the UK?( I am a SAP -Technical)
I am planning for a training in CRM it...Pls suggest.
I am planning for an Online training for 50 days . The person who will be training us is from India.Is it worth taking?

dima it seems u r in london now and u r searching for Job with Tier-1?

I heard that .net/SQL Server/Oracle/SAP market is good in UK but not sure about CRM.