OP - Without a work visa or other right to work in the UK already established, you're not gonna have a good time. Tech vacancies are dropping in the UK and QA vacancies are one of the hardest hit. Couple that with the fact that QA salary is one of the lowest in the UK tech sector. If you also have to factor in an employer who is willing to sponsor you, then the odds of you securing something decent are almost non-existent.
The first step is to understand the UK is more or less a 3rd world country by US standards these days and if you want to find a job you'll need to accept a salary that's likely far below your expectations, and a lifestyle that far, far below your expectations as someone living in the US.
- Cut your salary expectations by half or more.
- Cut your take home pay expectations by 60-70% as the government will take a huge chunk of your income.
- Assume you will struggle to pay rent since 50%+ of your post-tax income will go to rent.
- Assume you'll struggle to heat your home because the UK has the highest energy costs in the world.
- Assume you won't be have access to healthcare unless on your deathbed and you won't be able to afford private because the above.
If you're happy with this lifestyle then you might be able to find a QA engineer job in the UK for £30,000. The job market here is horrendous though. A lot of people I know are looking for other ways to make a living or supplement their income such as by claiming they're disabled.
In case it's useful, there are like 15 "UK" in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47219668
Assuming you are worried by the language/culture barrier, have you consider Australia or New Zealand?
OP - Without a work visa or other right to work in the UK already established, you're not gonna have a good time. Tech vacancies are dropping in the UK and QA vacancies are one of the hardest hit. Couple that with the fact that QA salary is one of the lowest in the UK tech sector. If you also have to factor in an employer who is willing to sponsor you, then the odds of you securing something decent are almost non-existent.
Find recruiters within your niche on LinkedIn.
In the UK, lots of jobs tend to be filled in via recruiters, and they are quite helpful.
Been a few years, and not sure if it's still true after the job slump.
In the UK for tech jobs it's indeed.co.uk for perm jobs and jobserve.com for contract work. And linkedin.
> QA Engineer in the US
The first step is to understand the UK is more or less a 3rd world country by US standards these days and if you want to find a job you'll need to accept a salary that's likely far below your expectations, and a lifestyle that far, far below your expectations as someone living in the US.
- Cut your salary expectations by half or more.
- Cut your take home pay expectations by 60-70% as the government will take a huge chunk of your income.
- Assume you will struggle to pay rent since 50%+ of your post-tax income will go to rent.
- Assume you'll struggle to heat your home because the UK has the highest energy costs in the world.
- Assume you won't be have access to healthcare unless on your deathbed and you won't be able to afford private because the above.
If you're happy with this lifestyle then you might be able to find a QA engineer job in the UK for £30,000. The job market here is horrendous though. A lot of people I know are looking for other ways to make a living or supplement their income such as by claiming they're disabled.
>Cut your take home pay expectations by 60-70% as the government will take a huge chunk of your income.
20%-30% on average.
>Assume you'll struggle to heat your home because the UK has the highest energy costs in the world.
This really isn't the lived reality for most people in the UK.
>Assume you won't be have access to healthcare unless on your deathbed and you won't be able to afford private because the above.
No idea where this assumption is coming from. Free universal healthcare is the default and access is easy, even through the NHS.
>If you're happy with this lifestyle then you might be able to find a QA engineer job in the UK for £30,000
Utter nonsense. I won't deny, decent QA jobs are becoming more difficult to find but the average salary is at least double that.