An International Students Guide to Working in the UK

Hey guys! This blog of mine will be highlighting the basic steps to work in the UK as an international student. I'll be talking about ways you can find part time jobs as a student, what are the essential requirements before you start working and a few tips on getting work after graduation.

Example of a BRP where work hours in term time are specified.



1.  If you are applying for part time jobs or work experience as a student make sure to check if you're eligible to work (a certain number of hours) in the UK. This will be clearly specified on your student visa (Tier 4 General) or on your BRP. The usual limit is 20 hours max (per week), during term time. So make sure to check the number of hours you can work on your relevant documents.

      2. Get your National Insurance Number.

Q. What is a national insurance number? 

Ans: In order to work in the UK, you require a national insurance number. The format of the number is two prefix letters, six digits, and one suffix letter. You don't need this for voluntary work or internships (usually), but it's required for long hours of work (including part time jobs and on campus jobs). It's free of cost but can take up to 4 to 6 weeks to process. 

You are still eligible to work if your national insurance number is being processed (but just inform your supervisor/ employer that its on its way, if its required by your work place.)

Q. How do I apply for a national insurance number?

Ans: You have to call 0345 600 0643 after arriving in the UK and follow then the instructions. Make sure to have your passport and BRP/ Visa in front of you as they will ask you a series of standard questions, such as when did you first arrive to study or live in the UK or when is your BRP going to expire. This is a fairly simple procedure, however the call waiting can be very loooong so make sure to stay on hold (I personally even stayed on hold for up to 90 minutes as the lines are very busy). Within 10 working days, they will send a form to fill out which you need to return on the given address, and will take about 4 weeks then for you to get a card with your national insurance number.

 For more information please check this https://www.gov.uk/apply-national-insurance-number

     3. Where to find student or part time jobs?

• Career Central on campus

Located on The Street, next to Barclays on campus- Career Central is the most resourceful tool for job preparation,internship opportunities, work placements and vacancies. From tips to writing your CV, interview practices,internship opportunities, work placements and workshops to develop and learn useful skills- Career Central is an extremely useful guide.

Career Central also has a lot of career events and some events specific to international students, so make sure to check their website for updates.

• Search useful websites to get part time work. Some of these are: https://www.savethestudent.org/student-jobs/student-job-websites.html , https://www.indeed.co.uk/ and https://www.reed.co.uk/ 

• LinkedIn! 

LinkedIn is a great tool for networking, strengthening your interests and knowing which skills are employers looking for. LinkedIn Job Search is a very useful search engine for quickly searching for part time work in a particular company, area and industry. As a student if you're looking for work experience, I highly recommend you to download the app and it's very easy to access from your phone.

• Work placements and Summer Internships 

You can apply to these after or during your first year (undergraduate) to get great exposure in multinationals or large corporations (or anywhere you are interested in). Search for these directly from the company websites as entry requirements and deadlines should all be mentioned there. These opportunities are great to turn part time work into full time opportunities after graduation!

   4. Graduate Opportunities

If you're looking forward to work opportunities after graduation, here are some basic things you need to know (I won't go in to too much detail here but you can email or message me on Facebook for any questions)

• You need a Tier 2 Visa to work with a company that gives sponsorship to international students. Please see this for further information https://www.uea.ac.uk/careers/students-and-graduates/global-opportunities/international-students/working-in-the-uk
• There are LOADS of companies listed as Tier 2 sponsors in the gov.uk website BUT only a handful of them really sponsor international STUDENTS. I wish there was any easy way to search these opportunities in one place but here are some useful tips: 

      - Don't wait till your final year to search these up. Be prepared and know all the basic information before hand (visas, entry and language requirements, companies) because your final academic year already has a lot of workload.

      - Talk to UEA Alumni who were international students once and are now working in the UK. Connect with them through LinkedIn or events during Employability Week to get to know their own experiences. 

      - UEA Student Support Services are always there to help you out with any questions you might have.  

      - Google. As basic as it sounds, keep looking for places that sponsor visas for international students. You'll hopefully be able to find some websites or lists for graduate jobs for international students.

I really hope this blog is helpful for you and I wish you all the best! Message me here https://www.facebook.com/ueapakistan/ or on our email pakistanstudnets@uea.ac.uk for more information or any topics you're interested to know more about!!! :)

Signing off for today,

Aimen Mobin.