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Working in UK

11 points by tomtompl ↗ HN
Hi, I've got a question about chances for me to find job in UK. I am from Poland and I work as developer for 2 years. First job (for 1 year) was little company, writing for it CRM and some stuff to help managing clients. I was one of two developers so it wasn't exactly a "team" :)

Now I work for 1 year in bigger company with bigger team doing much more responsible and 'big' work. We are developing FleetManagement system which is used by hundreds of transport companies. This is very big and i am doing pretty well in that company with all that big code. I got bonuses and my work is pretty appreciated. The team is little less than 20 people. It's really ok.

But i wanted to reallocate to the UK, mainly because of my girflend - she is willing to study there.

But to the point. My english is pretty good, i can communicate with no problem i think this wouldn't be the "blocker". But i dont have formal education, i finished just polish "highschool". It is A-level equivalent.

I went to college for 2 semesters but it was waste of time for me. 0 practical knowledge, literally 0.

So i started to work. I program since I am... about 16, but documented commerce work is 2 years.

I'm just 22 now (almost 22 tbh :) ). What are my chances in finding job in UK?

21 comments

[ 5.0 ms ] story [ 85.4 ms ] thread
mark_sz
Pretty high. It will take you 1-3 weeks to find a job as a developer.
tomtompl
Could you say something more? How UK people look for guys like me, with no college? In Poland almost everybody goes to college.
mark_sz
No formal education is needed. If you have skills and you are able to demonstrate it (usually by passing a technical test), you will get a job.
tomtompl
Thanks for that info.

Can you tell me where is the best to look for a job? It's better to reallocate first or search while i live in poland?

I am targeting at Cardiff

mark_sz
Try CWJobs.co.uk - just register there and you should get plenty of phone calls.
tomtompl
I will check that out. Thanks.
mark_sz
I would relocate first. You will get plenty of phone calls and interview invitations so you really need to be in UK.
JazCE
I'm from Cardiff, It's a beautiful city and admittedly it does have a few big tech companies to work for. There is a decent polish community there too.

However, Cardiff is not a big big city, so it doesn't have hundreds of tech companies, and you might hit a pay ceiling faster in Cardiff than you would in London, however, the cost of living is also lower in Cardiff than London... Swings and roundabouts. Bristol is an hour or so's commute though with more tech firms.

tomtompl
Nice to hear that.

I would rather want to work in middle company than in big one. I like to know almost everybody in company :)

LukaszB
Experience is what in most cases gets you a job. Try applying directly from Poland rather than relocate first.
ig1
You can apply for jobs in the UK while still in Poland, just mention that you're currently in Poland but looking to relocate to the UK (I'm guessing London?).

Some companies (especially smaller ones) will only follow-up with local candidates, but plenty of medium and large size ones are happy to engage with candidates looking to move.

junto
The UK has an progressive IT culture. Experience counts more than academic results in this industry in the UK. I have never been asked to present any academic certificates in the UK whilst working for an IT company. They are much more interested to hear what projects I have previously worked on, what challenges I faced, and how I solved those problems.

Notably, your work experience comes first on your curriculum vitae in the UK. This is vastly different to Germany for instance, where I still get asked for copies of my university degree (completed 20 years ago). My "Lebenslauf" (CV) requires a photo of myself and needs to be in "reverse chronology", such that my academic qualifications are shown first.

I've always found this to be particularly backwards (no offence to any Germans here), but they do like to dot I's and cross T's, so it doesn't surprise me.

I think your chances are good if you can present yourself well and you can deliver.

tomtompl
Thank you for this description. It's good that in UK there's experience over formal education.
Stamy
I think you can find a job easily in UK with your experience. The problem would be, that you can end up in shitty IT company and you might not get the same payment as the person who has education.

(I am from Lithuania myself, I finished Uni in UK)

tomtompl
I am good in negotiations and i believe in myself :) I have no problem with quitting shitty job and look for a better one, but i need to get first job in UK so i can live there :)
zengxm
good luck to u.
tomtompl
Hope that's not a pity:)
zengxm
How could that be a pity! You can leave your hometown for your girl, i really think u are great and I sincerely wish you good luck. ^_^
izolate
Do you have any Wordpress experience? I may have something for you.
tomtompl
Some experience is good to put it :)

I know how it works, i know something about architecture, I can use it from frontend. But i don't have experience in writing plugins.