UK Job Search

[LD4Life]

Hi, I'm a college lighting designer and electrician who is about to graduate in a few months. I searched everywhere on CB I could but couldn't find anything, so here goes. I've decided recently that I would like to pursue jobs in the UK. However, I'm from the US and really have no clue how to go about finding openings. I figured since we have several members on here from countries other than the US, this would be a good place to ask. Does anyone have any advice in this area?

Rob

 

[kiwitechgirl]

What's your visa situation? I'm not 100% sure but I don't think there's a Working Holiday visa for the UK open to USA residents, just Commonwealth citizens. I could be wrong though! If you can't get that or an Ancestry visa, then it's tricky - to get a working visa, you have to have a guaranteed job and your employer has to be able to prove that they couldn't find anyone in the UK who was capable of doing the job - and with the number of technical graduates moving into the workforce every year, your chances of that are pretty slim.

Anyway, that aside, the best place to look for jobs is The Stage, a weekly newspaper which also has a very good website - clicky here!. If you're interested in working on the West End then your best bet is to go door-knocking and just ask for the chief electrician at the stage door. I never did that myself (I spent two years working in the UK - being a Kiwi I was able to get a Working Holiday visa) because I get bored with monotony and a West End show doing the same thing day in, day out would have driven me mad, but I know quite a few people who have got jobs that way. Sometimes West End jobs are advertised in The Stage if they're slightly higher-level.

 

[Footer]

The few people I know who have done it went over in college for study abroad trips and worked their way in. They did have some issues with getting the more permanent work visa, but they could do it. Do you have any contacts over there? Have you been there at all?