Employment

Every Ukrainian refugee has the right to work in the UK.

Steps to starting work

Here are the steps to starting work.

• Register for a National Insurance number, if you don't have one with your visa

• Open a bank account

• Make a CV

• Find and apply for jobs

• Go to job interviews

• Get offered a job!

• Accept the job

• Start your new job

Register for a National Insurance number

When you start a job, you will need to have a National Insurance number ("NI number"), which is a unique number for you. Your employer uses the NI number to tell the Government about your pay and tax. Your employer will deduct your taxes and pay them to the Government for you.

You can apply for a National Insurance number on the Government website at https://www.gov.uk/apply-national-insurance-number

Obtaining a National Insurance number is currently (April 2022) taking around one week, although the Government site warns that it could take up to eight weeks!

Open a bank account

Check out the Banking page for more details.

Make a CV

Here is a sample CV for you to use. This is a format that most employers will like.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kpzfpB5xcix2npN6l3i9jlQb5GKrd_Vk-QYdL-LpNaM/edit?usp=sharing

Some employers do not want a CV but instead would prefer you to fill in an application form.

CV writing tips

The first thing I would say is that a CV should be written for the job being applied for – or at least changed a little bit to highlight specific areas. Read through the job description, highlight any key words and make sure those words are included within your employment history, preferably in bold.

Have your name and job title at the top of the document, along with brief contact details.

Have a personal statement which is essentially your own sales pitch – no more than 3-4 lines just calling out your most important attributes.

Depending on the seniority of the role being applied for, I would also have a few bullets listing key projects you have worked on and their outcome (e.g. worked to develop a recruitment process for X client, improved new employee retention rate by x%) – again, tailor these to the role being applied for.

Employment history, detailing the name of the company, the job title and start/end dates, and a brief description of the duties (again, helpful to tailor these to the role being applied for)

Education – call out the highest level of education you have (no-one really cares about GCSEs if you have a PhD), in addition to any professional qualifications or specific training

Finally, separate from this, I would also have a key skills section. which again calls out any skills you want to highlight (team-building, MS Office, Scrum) etc.

Lastly, but probably most importantly, is to make sure the CV doesn't look like a wall of text, so introduce some spaces between parts of your CV... and keep it no longer than 2 pages.

Find and apply for jobs

It doesn't really matter where you find your job and there are lots of places you can look for work. We are compiling a list of jobs around Chew Valley and we'll keep those up to date here on the Information Hub.

BANES Future Bright Team can support guests seeking employment. They can refer themselves or if they give consent, referrals can be made via the Community Wellbeing Hub 0300 247 0050.

https://www.westofengland-ca.gov.uk/what-we-do/employment-skills/future-bright/

Cleanslate also provides some support in finding employment, money skills and benefit claims. Referrals can be made via the Community Wellbeing Hub 0300 247 0050.

https://www.cleanslateltd.co.uk/finding-work.html

Indeed

Indeed has a good selection of jobs, though you will find that many are in Bristol or Bath and not so many in the Chew Valley.

https://www.indeed.co.uk

Jobserve

Jobserve has many jobs in and around Bristol. Jobserve has jobs in IT & tech, health, education, engineering, and lots more.

http://jobserve.com/gb/en/Job-Search/

Gumtree

Gumtree has hundreds of jobs in and around Bristol. You will find all sorts on there, but please beware of potential scams!

https://www.gumtree.com/jobs/bristol

Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) website

The DWP has its own website for finding jobs, with thousands available.

https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/

Job Centre Plus

Your local Job Centre Plus will help you find jobs if you want to visit them.

You find find your nearest Job Centre Plus at https://find-your-nearest-jobcentre.dwp.gov.uk/search.php

Go to job interviews

You can find help with transport to and from job interviews on the Transport section of the Information Hub

Try to be confident and friendly. Although it can be hard to go to an interview, especially if you are not confident in your English skills, just do your best.

Get offered a job

Your new employer will offer you a job and will usually expect you to tell them if you accept the offer. This could be in an email, by phone or by letter. Your offer will usually tell you your start date, your working hours, your salary, your job title and other similar information.

You have a number of rights, such as the right to receive the minimum legal wage, the right to paid holidays and so on. You can find lots of information about your rights under UK law on this page from Citizens Advice.

Start your job

When you start your new job, you will need to provide information to your employer so that they can check that you are entitled to work in the UK. This is not specific to Ukrainians -- every employee has to go through the same process. Your employer will check your documents and take copies.

You must also have a National Insurance number before you can be paid. Most employers will want to pay you through your bank account.

On your first day of work, your employer must give you a written statement that tells you the main terms of your employment, such as how much you'll be paid, how much holiday you will receive, your working hours and other information.

Your employer may pay you weekly or monthly (or something different). When they pay you, they will deduct taxes (called "income tax" and "national insurance contribution") and pay them directly to the UK Government. Your employer will also pay extra National Insurance contributions as well.

Each time you are paid, you must receive an itemised statement (called a payslip) that shows you how your pay has been calculated.

Right to work checks

There are two ways that the right to work check can be completed.

1. You can do the checks in advance and give your employer a share code so they can find you on the Government website

2. You can do the check with your employer while they look at the Government right to work website and check your documents with you

Option 1 will only work if you have a Biometric Residency Permit. You may not have this yet. You will need to get a Biometric Residency Permit to convert your six-month visa to a three-year visa.

You must use option 2. If your employer asks you for a share code, tell them that it will not work yet and that they must check your original documents and use the website https://www.gov.uk/legal-right-work-uk