I live in Denmark and am straight out of university (MSc), so please excuse my complete lack of both basic and UK specific knowledge. I was just offered a job interview for a job as a scientific programmer in the UK (app. two hours from London according to Google Maps, close to Cambridge). While I was initially happily surprised, I am starting to freak out a little about the practicalities if it were to become a real thing. My first immediate concerns are:
\- It says it’s a 3 year contract, does that really mean I’m bound to work there for 3 years, or can I still quit if I found out it’s not really for me after some months? I am mainly concerned about whether I can do a full time job due to a chronic disease, or if it will be too hard after all.
\- If I’m to live alone in a fully furnished 1 bedroom apartment 2 hours\*\* from London, app. what do you think it would cost on a monthly basis?
\- What is the minimum salary for this type of position I should expect/ask for, any idea at all?
\- Anything else that’s important for me to enquire about at the interview, stuff I should know etc.?
Thank you in advance. I’ve always dreamed about living for a while in the UK, but now that it’s an actual possibility I’m starting to panic a little to be honest.
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For the contract part there should always be a break clause. Either side will be able to get out given suitable notice (30/60/90 days or something similar). This protects both sides in the event of a problem.
If you’re not remote, then not sure why you’d want to live in London – it’s expensive. Cambridge is not cheap, but there are other places closer to Cambridge that could be a lot cheaper.
Salary-wise I’d need to know more about the job, but £40-60K might be a reasonable starting point, but more research is required here.
HI, congratulations on the job offer. Cambridge is an expensive town to live in. I used to work there and travelled in 55 miles each day. I would be looking for £100k a year for that type of job. You would need to pay UK tax, I believe. Accomadation is around £800 to £1000 a month. So if you are self employed, then set what you can against tax. You would need to employ an accountant. Phone a Cambridge accountant from Denmark for advice before you agree terms. You should be able to get an interview for the job by Zoom these days to save the cost of travelling for the interview.
A three year contract just means you technically will only be employed for 3 years, rather than permanently until you retire. You will have a notice period of typically 1 week during your probation period and maybe 1 or 2 months once you finish your probation period, which is the length of notice you must give the employer if you want to leave.
I don’t live in London but it is very expensive, especially central London, I would imagine a nice 1 bed apartment would be at least £1,500 – £2,500 per month!
Do some reasearch on typical interview questions on youtube as that will help, something like this:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr-mwiyhZAo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr-mwiyhZAo)
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Good luck!!
A 3 year contract means that the company will employ you for 3 years (instead of offering you the job permanently). Of course during this time you can decide to leave by giving notice (usually 1 month but it will specify in your contract) or the employer can fire you, in the same way that if you take a permanent job you can leave at any time.
I can’t tell you what the average pay for that role will be, but the company will have a range of what they are expecting to pay and it’s perfectly ok for you to ask. When you speak to them to arrange the interview just ask ‘what’s the expected salary range for the role?’. If you get the job, they’ll offer you an annual salary amount and you can try to negotiate.
I wouldn’t want to live in London for a job in Cambridge, what’s your reasoning for that? Have a look on a site like Rightmove for rental listings to give you an idea of costs.
Don’t bother coming here….honestly don’t bother
To get an idea of salary ranges, try contacting recruiters for the industry – especially ones based in Cambridge or London, you can search for location on LinkedIn – and see what they can offer you. You could also try asking them directly what salary they think you can achieve, it helps of course if you show that you are well qualified, keen, and willing to work with them now or in future.
Bits of advice after skimming the other comments:
Double check your notice period in your contract if you get offered one as others have noticed. It is worth noting that until you’ve worked at a place for 2 years, it’s easy for your employer to ‘let you go’ for the same notice period – not saying this will be the case at all! It’s just important to know what your rights are. ACAS is your leading resource in employment rights as employers have to follow their standards.
In terms of where you are working and living – I recommend getting on rightmove and searching your location to get an idea of expected rent. I completely understand you don’t want to share the exact location and 2 hours is massively variable for the UK so no one can give you a solid price range there.
Minimum salary (or hourly rate maybe) is again a thing that is massively variable depending on levels of responsibility and the area. Salary would mean you get paid for having sick days, hourly you do not. I recommend searching on Indeed for your job or very similar jobs for rates which will give you an idea at least, although if you have no experience working I the field, I would expect to be in the lower end of the range.
Finally in your interview aside from establishing rate and notice period, I would recommend asking whether it is monthly / fortnightly / weekly payments – you’ll need to know in order to organise your bills. However most companies will tell you all this during, so you shouldn’t have to ask.
For the cost of housing, it will vary enormously (for instance, Cambridge is notoriously expensive, Peterborough is much cheaper because it’s a pit). Look at Rightmove and Zoopla for an idea of costs for a 1 bed flat in that area, and then add on council tax, gas, electricity, water and broadband.
If you decide to look at houseshares then Spareroom.co.uk is the main website.
Cambridge is very expensive to rent in. The entire area is a cluster of university, university spin off companies, tech, pharma etc. The villages surrounding the city are better, but there will be nothing to do and you’ll need a car. It’s a nice area, though increasingly busy due to, well, success attracting success I guess. There are lots of specialist job recruiters here, I would suggest you email them and ask what the salary should be – do not tell them where you are going to work. Hatfield / Stevenage – where Roche and other pharma firms are, are, well, not lovely. Might be nicer to be in a village nearby, cheaper too.
Can’t help much but wanted to say that Cambridge is a beautiful city and also great for science-based jobs. If you decide to live/work near there it wouldn’t be a bad choice
Avoid
Having lived in both Denmark and the UK, I can tell you you’ll find the cost of living here is considerably cheaper.
Cambridge, however, is quite expensive. You may like to consider other nearby locales such as Newmarket or Bury St. Edmunds, both easily accessible to Cambridge with a 30-45 minute drive. Unless your place of employment is close to the station, I would avoid relying on rail to get you to your job, as a combination of rail and bus public transport will take up a considerable part of your day. Cambridge is very cycle-friendly, but I’ve no experience of that, so others will be able to chip in with more experience.
All the best.
I live between London and Cambridge but 2 hours from London could be anything from lovely city to crap village. If you want to dm feel free and I’ll advise if the areas you’re looking at are any good
UK employers can break their contracts with employees at any time and employees are free to do the same
Stay in Denmark, this country is a shitshow 🫣
Is it for the ebi?
There’s this thing called a casting couch which is often used. Look it up.
I know you’re young and all, but euhm, do you really want to leave a country like Denmark for the UK? I loved my time in London, but healthcare alone is enough reason not to do it.
I would give it a second thought tbf. On the other hand, it will be a great experience, so up to you
Just so you are aware there is a common recruitment scam that has foreigners pay the “recruitment agent” for travel and accommodation to an in person interview, on the promise you get it paid back when you turn up.
If they’re not asking you to pay, or you have met them on phone/video. Good luck 🤞
I’m from the UK and have lived and worked in many countries. It has really well rounded me as a professional getting all of that global experience. You are getting good advice on this thread, if you do your research and its financially viable – and you are protected – visa situations can hold you a bit hostage, factor in the additional skills and life experience you may gain from an international assignment. Also the travel opportunities at weekends. I’m only recently back in the UK so will leave more specific advice on UK employment legislation and taxation to the rest of the sub.
Another point not mentioned- your next job will be very easy to find if you are based in Cambridge. You might never need to move house again, there are a crazy amount of jobs available.
UK visa is crazy expensive, make sure you negotiate them covering that as part of accepting a position. Easily a month’s salary
Come on over to r/cambridge. We don’t bite, but we will almost certainly steal your bicycle 😉
And Cambridge is very international. I have two Danish friends; one works in biotech and the other teaches at the university.
For housing here do you want to share or live alone?
A 1 Bed Flat will cost you anywhere from £600-800 outside of London purely on rent. You then have Council Tax, Gas Water Elec Internet which is another £300 + Transport which may cost anywhere from £50-100 a month or more.
You’ll want a salary of at least £30k if you plan on living here alone and even that’s hard to live on these days.
On top of the rent there is maintenance fee, council tax and other things like electricity, gas, internet, water which could altogether add up to £600-700 per month. The landlord usually require 1 -1.5 month rent as deppsit and they will do everything to deduct it when you move, and ask you to do a professional cleaning (by law you don’t have to do it, just need to leave it as clean and tidy as when you move in. Take pictures and video before and after, be prepared to dispute, check legaladviceUK on reddit).
Public transport is more expensive than Europe and not very convenient.
All things considered, you will live comfortably with £2800 after tax.
I’ve had a look through and don’t think anyone has mentioned this, I hope I’m wrong but it seems too good to be true. £2800 a month after tax is a very, very high wage for a first job (unless you have a particular sought after skill or experience that would be rare in other graduates?). What is it per year gross? Somewhere around £30k before tax would be very good for a recent grad even as a programmer… this seems much too high
Make sure your employer can sponsor you for a visa, as you will need a work visa
Sounds like you got plenty of advice regarding the job and accommodation already. All I’ll add regarding your chronic condition is that if you do get the job and move to Cambridge, register with a local GP practice(doctor) asap and make them aware of your medical history. This way if you fall ill, you can get an appointment quicker than if you were to register only when you need it.
Also join local meetup.com groups so you can make friends, this is very important in helping you acclimatise to a new country/culture.
Finally, best of luck for your interview.
A long commute?