My UK Job Search

When you think of 'Working Holiday Maker', the idea would normally be 'arrive at a destination, find part-time job, earn money, save money, visit surrounding places, go to next destination'. The part time job would normally include waiting at restaurants, working in bars/pubs, an office / desk job i.e data entry, general admin etc if you are lucky, working in farms picking fruits or packaging staff in a factory... yes, mostly physical demanding job without having much use of the brain... all those i mentioned above were the type of jobs i thought i would be doing during my WHM stint. I know it will be hard work but also i think it's kinna cool as it's totally different from my previous job as a Hardware Engineer. It will most definitely add 'flavors'? to my life experience be it good or bad. This however would mean low pay and i wonder if i could save enough for my expenses in the 2nd year.

Then i guess my 'asian' mindset (seeking safety & security) kicks in and i started thinking would it be possible for me to get a proper job (engineering) while I am in UK? A job as an engineer means better pay and better financial security for the later part of my adventure. Also, it would give me a chance to learn the UK work culture and it'll look good in my resume? Well no harm trying right? With that in mind, I started posting my resume online and to UK recruiters. I also search through the UK online jobnet and send out applications.

I received replies from some of the recruiters asking more details about myself and also most importantly if I am allowed to work in UK (work permit). I explained my WHM visa conditions to them that I am allowed to work for a year. Some of them 'disappeared' after that, some came back asking if I could get myself a proper work permit... Still, I manage to get myself 3 telephone interviews with 3 companies which seems doesn't mind my condition. Of the three, I managed to get 2 invitation for face-to-face interview after I arrived in UK. Yippie... looking good so far.

After I arrived in UK, I contacted the 2 companies to confirm the interview dates. One of them was contacted via an recruitment agent and I couldn't get through to him. In the end, to my horror and disappointment, the agency was actually going through some re-org and was bought over by another company, the agent who handled my case left the company. I somehow managed to contact the hiring manager but he told me that the position was already filled. There goes my 50% chance of scoring a UK job.

Luckily, the second company is still keeping their word and they even arranged a car to ferry me from my cousin's house to the company and back. That was such a nice gesture. I first met with the HR manager, followed by the department director and manager. I managed to answer the questions from the manager but failed to answer those from the director (which is actually pretty basic electronic knowledge)... blame myself for my weak electronics :( After the interview, I was showed around the office the lab and also the range of products they've done. After that i bid farewell and was sent back to my cousins. Honestly, I pretty much like the company and the people seems to be very nice people. I hope they would hire me but based on my performance (failure to answer basic questions), I wasn't confident.

A few days later, I got the good news and got the job offer. They are offering me a 12 month fixed-term contract. Yippie-dee-doo... way to go !!! Lucky lucky me... hehehe...