International students are one of the biggest assets to the economy of the United Kingdom like many other countries and play an important role in the seamless functioning of the kingdom. There are hundreds of incredible working opportunities for foreign students in the United Kingdom after graduation. The best thing about working in the United Kingdom is the unmatched skill and diversity that you witness first-hand which only leads to exceptional personal development.
Having said all that, we have gathered the top job opportunities in this amazing country for you to look into after graduation. We will explain the details of the best work opportunities in the United Kingdom for your benefit with their requirements, salary range, and growth potential.
Do international students need a visa to work in the United Kingdom?
Yes, international students do require a visa to work in the United Kingdom and it is called a Tier 2 (General) Work Visa. If you are an international student, you will be holding a Tier 4 Student Visa which is issued for 5 years, and with this visa, you can study in any of the educational institutes, universities, or colleges for full-time degree-level courses. For more information on the matter, please have a look at the UK Government’s official website regarding Skilled Visas.
To be able to apply for the Tier 2 visa and to successfully obtain it, you need to address some specific prerequisites and requirements:
- You must be a non-Switzerland and a non-European Economic Area (EEA) resident.
- You must have a job offer letter from a UK-based employer with a valid and granted Tier 2 sponsorship license.
- In case the employer does not hold a sponsorship license, he can obtain one.
- The employer should offer a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) that mentions the Leave to Remain (LTR) and the appropriate salary package.
- The applicant also needs to hold a valid English Proficiency Test and also the amount of £945 which will show that the applicant can maintain his stay.
Job Opportunities in the United Kingdom for International Students
1. Data Analyst/Scientist
You might have heard that anything related to Data is highly in demand everywhere in the world at the moment. The reason behind it is that Data Management or Analysis Science can be applied to almost all work sectors and can discover incredibly useful work patterns and profit-bringing strategies. Each and every sector somehow has some data and to be able to analyze it and manage it to draw conclusions from it is a valuable art.
A Data Analyst/Scientist is someone who is given large sets of data or is given a data-related problem. Their role can be different, depending on the company but mostly they are required to either help the company look for consumer and growth patterns based on their data, interpret important data points and the reasons behind them, and finally predict and articulate future patterns. To go into the field of Data one might have a degree in Data Science, Data Management, Data Analysis, Statistics, Mathematics, or sheer will and interest.
As the industry is ever-growing, there is tremendous space for growth. A normal Data Analyst is paid around £40,000 per year. A person with good statistical and mathematical skills will surely excel in the field. Any experience with computer languages or any data management software is a plus.
2. Healthcare Worker
Another job opportunity in the United Kingdom to consider is to be a healthcare worker. With the advent of Covid-19, the healthcare system of the UK has been under a lot of stress and difficulties. There is a constant need for people of all sorts of health-related professions. Doctors, Nurses, Public Health Administrators, and Managers, you name it. There is a never-ending need for these professionals, not just in the UK but the whole world.
The shift timings and the job descriptions vary from professional to professional but the average pay is anywhere around £85,000 per year. You will however need specific degrees like a Master in Public Health, Bachelor of Medicine, or Bachelor of Surgery before you are eligible to be a healthcare worker so plan accordingly.
There are some specialized courses and certifications that you can do to get into the field like an X-Ray machine expert, anesthesiologist, medical instruments expert, or lab technician. Some of the universities that offer such courses in the UK are Coventry University, the University of Essex, and the Queen Mary University of London.
Read More: How to Study Nursing in the UK
3. Human Resource Manager
The Human Resources department is a part of every business and sector be that healthcare, education, or governance. There is a need for competent and understanding HR personnel that truly understand the importance of their resources and how to best retain and flourish them. Most people change their jobs in search of a good administration and work environment and the HR plays a great role in maintaining both of them.
The median pay of HR personnel is around £70,000 per year. There is a good amount of growth and learning in this field as well. To get into this excellent job opportunity in the United Kingdom, you should have a degree in Management Sciences, Human Resources, or have prior experience and skills for the job.
4. Software Engineer
No one has ever had a Software Engineering degree and said that there were not any jobs available. That is the beauty of this profession. In the world today, a Software engineer is required in every sector because the world is moving towards digitalization. The ones who are not will surely be left behind. Even a fresh Software Engineer is high in demand.
You need to have a degree in Software Engineering or some sort of certification from the likes of Google or IBM or a strong skill set that will help you land the role. The best universities in the UK offering such courses and degrees are the University of Glasgow, Coventry University, and the University of Bradford. With the high demand for Software Engineers, most of the well-known universities offer related degrees and courses. The salary of an average working Software engineer lies somewhere between £70,000 to £100,000 per year if not more. This field of work and role also has exponential growth because you can always come up with a better functioning and compatible app or design than before.
Read More: Free Software Engineering Schools with No Tuition
5. Financial Accountant
Every person, living or dead, literate or illiterate, rich or poor, needs a financial accountant. To get into this field of work you do require a Finance or an Accounting major and exceptional mathematics skills. Having said that, you can start at a lower job post in the field without prior experience and work your way up the hierarchy ladder. The average yearly income of a financial account in the UK is £75,000.
As a Financial Accountant, you will be handling the assets of your clients and probably investing them too if needed so you need to have good know-how about the economies and the stock markets. You will be well-versed in the highs and the lows of the markets.
The more diligent you are with your clients the more business you will get so there is a lot of room for you to grow in this profession. However, it may take you some time to get to a point where you have extremely good pay and a good set of wealthy and loyal clients. It all comes down to your skills.
To sum it all up, the United Kingdom is a gold mine for graduated international students, in terms of job opportunities, if they know what they need to look for. Keep your eye out for news regarding job openings in the commercial, corporate, and education sectors.
We hope this article on work opportunities in the United Kingdom for international students was informative and helpful. Feel free to also check out the UK Scholarships Page for more information about studying in the UK!
