Re: Major current problems in the UK?
 

Here you go:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13773692

(Just google UK unemployment and you'll find all sorts of info)

Re: Major current problems in the UK?
 

Thanks for this Sally.

Re: Major current problems in the UK?
 

Sounds like Woodridge near us, it is like driving into a different country, full of bogans, cheap shops and those short term loan businesses that have sprung up lately.

Re: Major current problems in the UK?
 

NatalieLucy, what type of work does your husband do?

I can't provide you with a link, but what I can provide you with is firsthand knowledge.

My husband is an experienced Web Developer with an excellent portfolio and work record. It took him 5 months to even be offered a full-time job - and it was in a job 100% outside of his career field. He is now permanent, thank goodness after 6 months on the job, but he isn't particularly happy with his job, and he continues to look at the classifieds every single day.

I am an experienced Legal Secretary with an excellent job history and work record. It took me 6 months to find a full-time job. I absolutely love it, but it's not a Legal Secretary position and it's still only a temp job.

We both took tremendous salary cuts compared to what we were making in the States.

Before anyone in this thread starts accusing me of dissing the UK job situation, I'm not. I live here and I'm just giving you an example of what happened in our situation.

Hopefully information like this can help you be prepared for what you might encounter.

It's very important that you get your head around that fact that you may have to take a pay cut, and be willing to possibly have to accept work that it outside your field.

Hopefully, this won't happen in your situation, but we truly believed that with our experience, we would have no problems finding work when we returned to the UK - especially in the Greater London market - but we were wrong.

Just because unemployment is much lower over here doesn't mean your husband will have a better chance of finding a job. It's all relative and based on many factors. You'll just have to wait until you get here to see what happens. It's a gamble and all of us who are moving back/have moved back have to take that risk.

Re: Major current problems in the UK?
 

The current problems are hard to pinpoint, though most of them can be summed up under the following headers:

1) Immigration

2) Public sector cuts

3) Sovereign debt exposure (the EU)

4) Inflation

5) The fragility of the global economy

and

6) The shaky coalition

Re: Major current problems in the UK?
 

To add to this, I would say don't rely on classified ads when you get back. Be proactive about your search so you can find opportunities before they arise. Look for books on proactive job search to get tips, but examples would be building and actively using a LinkedIn profile to make connections, and walking in to companies with a copy of your CV. Agencies are OK, but don't expect them to be the solution.

The average job search in the US right now is 43 weeks - that's 10 months. Since unemployment is lower in the UK, DDL's 6 months sounds realistic.

But there are things you can do to shorten that timeframe. I knew two people looking for work in the UK, both in the same field. One is a friend who is creative and proactive - she found a great job within 6 weeks of losing her last job. The other is a family member who is more old-fashioned in his search methodology - looking at job boards and talking to agencies - he's still unemployed after 5 months.

Re: Major current problems in the UK?
 

Agencies are a good place to start and with all things, if you want to get something done, you have to do it yourself, so pestering them on a daily basis usually helps. Contacting companies directly is another excellent way to get your foot in the door, though going door-to-door is something I would not reccommend. Never worked with any organisation that takes those sorts of CV's seriously....

You need to stay on top of the search and contacts companies/ agencies / contacts you have aeveryday until you get to see someone. Then it's all down to you to sell yourself to the best of your ability and hope for the best.

Classifieds are a good way to see who's got openings, but responding to those sorts of ads hardly ever pays dividends.

Re: Major current problems in the UK?
 

I guess every hiring manager is different but I disagree with this. That's how I got my first two jobs back when I lived in the UK and how my brother got his last job. Why would a CV dropped off personally be any less desirable than one mailed in?

The benefit of going personally is the chance to strike up conversation with a receptionist or assistant - doesn't always work but it often does - and that way they'll make sure your CV gets to the right person. Phoning is also sometimes effective.

The problem with agencies is that they only have an incentive to help you with jobs that are on their books - which lots of them won't be. Too many people think 'oh well all the agencies know me now' but lots of people won't be using an agency to fill a slot and so that person misses out.

And I can't say 'LinkedIn' enough times! if you're looking for a job and you're not on LinkedIn with a killer profile, you're shooting yourself in the foot.

Re: Major current problems in the UK?
 

But as with everything: there are always exceptions to this rule. :)

I answered a classified ad almost immediately after we arrived back in the UK last year. It was a small law firm in Windsor. I was called in for an interview, and was hired for the job. I quit after working there for 1/2 a day (long story, loads of red flags).

But just to say: If you want to work local for a small company (and, depending upon the company, just because it's small doesn't mean it won't pay well; case in point: law firms), many of these types of businesses still choose to advertise in the local newspaper instead of going with an agency and having to pay agency fees.

Re: Major current problems in the UK?
 

Official statistics are quite confusing and often appear to contradict each other, making it difficult to place much reliability on them, speaking from a UK perspective. It was officially announced recently that unemployment in the UK had fallen last month, albeit by a minimal amount, yet at the same time the number of people signing on for JSA (Job Seekers' Allowance) had increased fairly substantially. With so many different types of social welfare benefits on offer here in the UK at the present time it's never quite clear what the true figure of the number of active, able bodied working age people here who are truly looking for work. One of the main conditions of eligibility for receiving JSA is actual proof of evidence of an active work search acceptable by the benefits office.

The sooner the present Coalition Government fully implement their promised* radical simplification of the UK social welfare benefits system the better it will be, replacing all the various out of work benefits with just one single out of work benefit - the one they have vowed to call Universal Credit or something like that. Kicked into touch never to be seen again will be things like income support, the widely abused incapacity benefit, disability benefit and whatever else is currently in operation for those able bodied people not actually contributing to the system but living off it gratis.

*More especially by the Conservative sector of the Coalition, those not allowing themselves to be influenced by Liberal Democrat wishy washy limp wristedness.

Re: Major current problems in the UK?
 

The figures are misleading here too, once you are no longer eligible for unemployment benefit and drop off the roles you are no longer counted even though you are not employed. Also those who's employers fight for you NOT to get unemployment and the dept of labor agrees, then they aren't counted either. Even then here the rate is hovering around 20% in our area, plus those not counted.

Re: Major current problems in the UK?
 

Yes, the official rate of unemployment in the US nationally is over 9% but the 'real' rate is 16-18%.

And in some areas the official rate is closer to 30% which only makes you shudder to think what the real rate is.

Re: Major current problems in the UK?
 

He has a BS in Communications so he could get a wide range of jobs. To be honest he's not sure what he wanted to do after graduating. Right now he has a part time job in Museum as an office administrator. He has a lot of experience in customer service.

I'm a Graphic Designer and right now hold a job as a Typesetter.

My husband does worry about finding work out there.

Re: Major current problems in the UK?
 

The UK doesn't have any "Major current problems".

Lots of the usual overblown niggles on crime, employment, blah, blah, blah, but actually it is still the land of milk and honey in comparison to the vast majority of the world's population.

Re: Major current problems in the UK?
 

When you look at it sensibly you are absolutely spot on.