In this video, I explain how making a career strategy will help you get a visa in the UK.
Working out your career strategy, and working out your visa strategy, often have a lot in common. If you position yourself right in terms of your skillset and your qualifications, then it is easier for you to create job opportunities and business opportunities, but it is also easier for you to create visa opportunities. The government makes no secret of what skills are in demand. We have to look no further than the Shortage Occupation List.
This includes skills in relation to health (remember, the NHS (National Health Service) is one of the biggest employers, and sponsors, in the UK:
… engineering:
… software:
These are all areas in which the UK government is saying: we don’t have enough people to fill the roles. But also, in the private sector, there is no shortage of jobs:
If you just go into indeed.com, and type in the area you are in, let’s say for an example, Engineering Management:
Straight away you can see a list of six-figure jobs:
Being in one of these areas is going to mean you are less likely to experience a struggle, both with your career and business, but also with visa options.
The settlement visa options are all designed to attract highly skilled people, working in high-demand areas, where there are problems that need solving. You see this not only in the UK, but also the EU, the US, Canada and elsewhere, with their visa options.
Once you have made sure that your objectives are aligned with the demand, from the private sector and from government, the next stage is to position yourself for success.
It is rare that people are able to apply from outside of the UK successfully for a Skilled Worker visa, for example. Most of the time you will need to be in the UK on a visa to do something else, but with a right to work, and then actually do some work with the prospective employer.
You then have an opportunity to make yourself really invaluable to them and it is so much easier to then be sponsored for a Skilled Worker visa.
You can also consider the Start-up visa, which gives you a right to work alongside your start-up business. Again, this gives you the opportunity to get your foot in the door.
Maybe you are looking for visa options for yourself, or maybe you are looking at your children, if they are approaching university age, and considering with them what they may wish to study if they are studying abroad. You want to make sure your children maximise their prospects of moving onto a settlement visa when they finish their studies, to have that option open to them.
If you go through these steps:
- checking the Shortage Occupation List; and
- for each area, doing the indeed.com search; and
- see how these match up with what you want to do, or with what your child wants to do, this will give you a great starting point of research to make your decision on what to study, and to give you or your children best opportunities in life over the coming years.