₦airaland Forum

mystikal:
Greetings Fam. Please any advice and info would be deeply appreciated.

Been in Glasgow for close to a year now.
Wifey and 2 kids are coming to join me in all likelihood by the end of the year.
I am doing a PhD which I am sponsored. My scholarship funding wont be enough for us obviously for the next 3 years or more duration.
When she comes she will need to assist with work to be able to cater for the extra bills and mouths.
She is looking to do care work during her time here, but she does not have medical or care background, apart from taking care of sick old parents in Nigeria. Her primary background is Telecoms and Customer Care
Is there any advice that will enable her get an edge in her care application when she applies eventually?
is there anything (course maybe) that she can do to boost her chances in the next 2 to 3 months before she travels from Nigeria?
Is there anything I myself can do to ease her work chances from over here in Glasgow?

Customer service jobs are widely available here. The good thing is that that is one sector that has embraced the WFH revolution, so she can quite easily get a CS job where she is sent a PC and headset and just requires unlimited broadband to work remotely so you guys can better manage your childcare requirements. Quite a few companies also offer shift working which might also help with fitting in childcare.

Of course, when you speak of "customer care", the elderly in care homes are customers in need of care, so if you and she prefer that, then go for it. There are quite a lot of people who can advise on the best way to get in, even though I don't think the care homes are too fussy these days.

Lexusgs430:
É plenty....... But you get the money to pay ....... Price ranges from 15 minutes relaxation, would cost you £45 only ..........

If you no explode in 15 minutes, you go pay for another session....... Full GFE is assured........

Plus VAT?

semmyk:
That's correct. Referral bonus has been the norm; especially the (not so anymore) Big 4 acctg/audit firms, the likes of your mgt consulting firms, some multinationals, some banks and few others. At times, the (referral bonus) tap is closed! At times,payout is when the recruited spend 3 or 6 mths or 1yr. At times, it upfront on appointed (aka onboarding).
I've worked briefly with a big 4 some years back, hence I know first hand. Nonetheless, staff are warned not to refer 'just random fella'. Whether that is followed, is another discuss!!!

Quite a few companies condition their referral bonuses on the new hire lasting a specific period, most often the standard 6 month probationary period.

Poanan:
Please i am looking for a referal into consulting. I was told referaal is the surest way. Any type of consulting; mangement, fiancial, audit etc.

You might need to work a bit more on your offline networking. Referrals from random beings on the internet who do not know you in real life, irrespective of the website/platform, mightn't be easy to come by.

Solumtoya:
Population is a factor, true. Did you look at the student figures? We have over half their number in student visas but about 10% in Work Visa. How come the population proportion doesn't affect Student Visas?

With the way Nigerians have started looking more into the Work Visa, I bet you, this time next year, the ratios would be very different! Nigerians generally believed getting Work Visa in the UK was impossible but the Indians were storming the Health and Tech sectors. Nigerians have now discovered this so the numbers would get interesting. I look at the ratios in my office and see the trend.

Maybe because more Indians can access the UK through skilled worker visas so proportionally fewer bother to use the study visa route?

LagosismyHome:
This bold ehnnnn. Indians have perfected this like a well oiled machine . Not just UK self , in USA na them dey grab majority of h1b. I give it to them shaA lot of them belive they rise by lifting their own .

Recently I met a Zimbabwe woman who has a care establishment. She brought 30 of her people, all given free Cos, but if it was a Nigerian.....never, we still dey learn for that department

When it comes to nursing and care homes, its the Zimbabweans who seem to have established themselves in that area. Lots of them run care homes.

Solumtoya:
Indians have definitely found a hack on Work Visas that other Nationalities are yet to learn. Nigeria (15k) coming 2nd with a massive difference between us and Indians (102k)

The hack is simple - There are 1.2 billion Indians in India and maybe 200 million, 220 million, 250 million people in Nigeria (nobody really knows), all herdsmen from across west Africa included. So on the numbers alone, India is bound to be proportionally represented in the stats.

Lexusgs430:
How come Nigeria is overpopulated, despite been ravaged by poverty..........

Religion.

Lexusgs430:
We shall be having many high cost of living babies.......

When EDF has finished direct debiting 2/3rds of someone's monthly salary, all their libido will vanish.
No high-cost of living babies will appear, there was no lockdown baby boom either. Unless there was an abortion boom, probably, but in any case, pregnancies and live births during the last two years remained broadly the same. Reality is hard to avoid these days o.

Lexusgs430:
After enjoying my wimpy burger, a thought crossed my mind ..........

UK residents, I hope you're all aware your energy bills (gas & electricity)...... Would be going up by 85% in sept/oct.........

Your energy bills are going up to £4500.00 per annum.......

What are your coping mechanisms, assuming the government does nothing in way of support........

We'll eventually learn how to live like the oyibo man was living before central heating came in the 70s and 80s, when people were doing coal fire in one room then off to bed. Jumpers, jumpers, thick blankets, thick blankets, wool coats, etc.

After all, apart from some parts of Scotland, the UK isn't really a cold country any more, thanks to global warming.

bigtt76:
Thanks for sharing but how can one get into the bolded? I'm interested

Certifications/relevant experience.
Our chap has a CIPP/E certification.

Tinyemeka:
As our brain no too sharp like before, how we wan take break into this tech industry bikonu?

I also want to join and be doing £400-£500 a day too.

Seriously.

Try and find a way to insert yourself, even if it's at the periphery and work your way to where you can.
Areas like information governance and privacy, data protection, moving on to DPO (not Nigeria police o), you could then segue into infosec at some level, maybe.
I write some JDs and the pay is good for those areas, even though they're not considered pure IT/tech roles.

Not everyone can do pure tech, we all have different abilities, for instance, I can barely count, hate Excel with a passion (still learning that program after all these years), and don't even know how I managed to get through training school when I got my bank job. Payroll stuff gives me nightmares when the spreadsheets land in my inbox.

The areas I mentioned above are for people like me who are most comfortable dealing with words, not numbers. I function best when dealing with policies, firing off emails and answering the sometimes inane queries from employees (HR here is in many ways not very different from it is in Naija, sometimes employees bring the craziest kinds of stuff to us). You see what you can do to upskill in an area you can manage. You might be surprised to find there's something within your abilities that will fetch you the figures you named above.

kode12:
I don't understand why you guys are getting all salty about someone calling £22k/yr shyte pay. It very much is!!! But that does not in anyway mean you shouldn't take it if that's the only option you've got. C'mon we are all adults, do we really need to add a proviso or rider to each statement?
Not settling doesn't equate to sitting idle and because you haven't gotten a £100k job, you can be contented with your £22k/yr and still keep your eyes on the market for better openings. You don't necessarily have to start from the very bottom of the ladder, even if you do, you don't want to be there too long. Employers don't give a damn about loyalty, find something better and switch up.
If you're just coming from Nigeria or haven't been in UK employment for very long, you need to realise that your thoughts and perception are still a bit hazy. You might be comparing your UK pay with the N30,000 private teacher salary you earned in Nigeria and obviously will see the £11/hr pay as big money, but as you move past the euphoria of living in the UK and your taste, lifestyle etc changes, you'll begin to see the reality of things.
Pursue the money, chase it aggressively, those earning 6figs aren't any better than you.
PS: These personal attacks on people offering their opinions are totally unnecessary though, you can choose to accept or ignore the opinion, there's no need for all the vile.

Lol.
As if Nigerians need to be told that.
I used to be in the banking industry back when there were like 90 banks or so. For those who remember, bankers used to be jokingly called prostitutes due to the rate at which they switched jobs back then. I have just changed jobs myself, and I know many others who are still hitting me up asking for advice about interviews and stuff, which means they are scaling up or in the process of doing so.

Again, staying with an employer doesn't necessarily mean fear of leaving a job. Back home, for instance, there are many of the big companies where we'd all be dying to work for where a top management role such as head of HR is a highly politicised job, virtually a poisoned chalice. I used to know someone in one company whose phone literally never stopped ringing with calls they simply had to answer, management interference all the way. Literally unable to do the job, even government people disturbing them. After a couple of years, they left, blood pressure all messed up.

I dont think Nigerians coming to the UK are lazy or "settling". Nigerians like good things, we LOVE white collar work like our very lives. I'm quite sure many of us want to be able to tell the people back home "I dey work for [the UK equivalent of] Shell ati Chevron". So I'm sure people are doing their best to hustle work, and not earning what internet pundits believe is good money is not an indicator that one has "settled" for small pay.

That apart, everyone is different. Occupations in demand will always be easier to move up in, generic jobs less so. Tech industry workers are on a roll now, those who came from maybe a banking work background not so much, as bank branches shut en masse, for instance. The UK is a more level playing field than Nigeria was, but the fact that one hasnt yet attained or never does attain a dream job or level is not an indictment on them.

MichaelUde:
Nigerians and expectations. Nothing wey person no go see for here.
About the NHS pay as opposed to care, first, are those saying its worse comparing like for like? Basically, how much per hour does the average care assistant earn as compared to the hourly pay rate for an NHS Band 3? In other words, make una no dey compare person wey dey work 80 hours a week in care to someone working 37.5 hours a week in the NHS on band 3. Of course, someone working 37.5 hours a week fit still work more hours, after all many nurses also work for agencies on weekends, etc.

Secondly, I no understand how people go feel say person wey dey start in an unskilled role (which na wetin carers and nursing auxiliaries be o despite all the fancy fancy titles) go suppose collect CEO pay overnight. Like most people, I definitely think that pay should go up given current inflation and the cost of living crisis, etc. but the reality is that applying foam and pads is generally not a wonderfully-paid job except where person dey work plenty hours. So wetin una wan make fresh comers do? Go and quickly take all the 50k and above jobs wey just dey wait for those who apply, abi?

Lastly, all those saying 22k na small money should tell us how much they expect to earn in that kind job in Naija. And yes, people here dey live on those pay levels. Make una understand that if you dey civil service on level 2, the pay is tailored for a school leaver aged maybe 18, early 20s and not a married man with 3 children in his 40s. The UK is certainly no paradise, but una come here because Naija no dey work for una (make we leave aside all the high sounding stuff people were yakking some weeks back about how Naija take dey better, and them just come UK to look around).

Bottom line, if person wan make better money for here, go and skill yourself in the fields in demand, then come collect the money. Aspiration is good, aspiring to be something better is a noble goal, na why people like me come here - to give my children opportunities wey I know dem no go see in Nigeria where playing field no level at all. Otherwise, make una try manage una expectations wella.

Make I leave una first go attend to one small matter. My oga just dey do one kind today, and me fit vex, leave the work and go back to Naija to see if I fit do special adviser for Soludo small, after all better work no dey UK.

Nwoke m,
I nwekwa efe.

Solumtoya:
No offence, £22k is peanuts compared to a Carer's income or any casual job really. Care homes may not pay "what City firms pay" but certainly way more than 22k. £22k is roughly £360 per week or less when they deduc pension. Many of these casual jobs pay a lot more now o. Like he said, they work many hours and rake in close to £1k weekly, sometimes even more.

I totally agree with all your other points, just wanted to correct your first line. I am definitely not looking down on NHS, but neither am I on Care homes.

No offence taken at all. You obviously did not understand what I wrote.

I did assume it was a given that anyone would compare pay in terms of base pay/hour, and I am most surprised that you (or indeed anyone) would assume that:

a) 37.5 hours at maybe 12.50 per hour was the same thing as my oga's Mike's comparator up there of maybe 80 hours a week at 11- 13 pounds per hour, and

b) a person whose full-time hours are 37.5 weekly is stuck and cannot work anymore hours than that (for instance my not-too-long-arrived cousin is an NHS nurse and I am aware that she earns a full-time salary and also works on their Staff Bank and I think with an agency too).

I am surprised.

But to be honest, I shouldn't be.

Phayie:
Hello, please how can I prove right to work to an agency if I just applied to renew my visa

Your application reference number.

teeebest:
Hello Elders, please is there any advantage working for NHS as a band 3 Nursing Assistant?

My Wife works with a care home. She work as many shifts as possible depending on what are strength permits. We are also looking at healthcare sponsorship as she's comfortable with the job and I'm the one studying on tier 4 visa. Now, she got a Job with NHS as a Nursing assistant. She can only work for a 37.5 hrs per week.

When it comes to settlement in this country or career growth, please is it worth it for her to move from the private care home to NHS despite earning less?

NHS Band 3 pay is certainly not peanuts, unless care homes have suddenly started paying what City firms pay?

It's about £22k or so (and set to go up somewhat by a few percentage points after the latest round of strikes/threats of strikes) and single people and people with joint family incomes live comfortably on such pay. Remember that whichever job you get you're most likely going to start climbing the ladder from the lower rungs and these are the pay bands you will be offered.

But you're way more likely to get sponsorship with a care home than with the NHS Band 3 role. On the other hand, virtually no such thing as "career growth" with a care home, they generally sign you up for five years to do the core work of personal care. Thereafter you can do other things, maybe, but in the NHS you'd have jumped by 2 bands in that period.

If she's comfortable with the care home, then nothing wrong with her staying and asking them for sponsorship.

Dammyzeal007:
Good afternoon Guys,

Firstly, thank you for all you have been doing with your online encouragement and motivational posts that kept me pushing till now.

please kindly advise me on the following courses of study that is sellable and has employability after my msc and city where I can easily get a job to sustain myself.

1. International Business ( Hertfordshire and Anglia Ruskin)

2. Supply Chain management and logistics (Leeds bacckett)

3. MBA Global (Gloucestershire and GCU glascow) 

4. MBA global with pathway in Public Health (GCU glascow) 

Please guys which of the courses has high employability rate after graduation and which of the cities can I get student job easily to sustain myself while schooling.
Thank you ALL

Employability and the rest of your question are in the eye of the beerholder, but if you can help it do not waste your money on either options 1, 3 or 4. Especially 3 and 4.

DadR:
Madam Ticha, I greet o.

Pls. I'm in a somewhat similar situation.

Since we rented our 2br apartment in May 2022, my landlord is yet to lodge the deposit we paid. Also, immediately we paid deposit and 1 month rent, he sent us a draft 6-month tenancy agreement for our review and concurrence before both parties sign off. We got back to him that we are cool with the terms hence we should proceed to sign off. Up till now he hasn't said anything about it. In fact, that was his last communication to us.

I've sent SMS, WhatsApp messages, emails, called but he would neither pick nor respond. The guy is alive o, hale and hearty.

We needed him to fix something in the flat too, we reached out but he ignored as usual.

What can we do please? Cos we intend to leave the flat after our 6 month tenancy and we want our deposit back.

Thank you.

Nothing to panic about.
You've paid rent and a deposit, so you are a lawful tenant and you will get the deposit back if you are entitled to it (not having caused any damage) when you leave.

grandma123:
Thank you icon8 for your input, I know mostly the care work visa is 3 years or 5 years and you need to work for that employer, switching role or job means the 5 years route will reset.
The question is, would corporate employer be willing to employ with Care visa?
How would I be able to convince employer that I am still relevant in my profession with care job? Those are my thinking really.

Ralphlauren is correct.
What resets the 5 year route is when you switch visa categories (e.g. Tier 2 to Tier 4), not employers within the same visa category.
Secondly, an employer who wants you doesn't care what your current visa status is - they can employ you from outside the UK with no resident visa in the first place, so why not if you are already in-country with a visa.

Lastly, in this country, it is accepted for career paths to vary widely, a period of doing what you have to do to make ends meet while searching for something better is OK. Don't overthink that aspect.

Regarding the italicised, I thought you said you were taking certifications and all that in your [non-care related] field? Where that's the case, dont worry and be not afraid, it may surprise you but a lot of people in HR can actually read and draw relevant information from a resume and where your details fit their JDs, that could be you sorted.

HondaLover:
@Bolded
I might not have the statistics ó, but honestly more than 60% can actually afford that, the country hard but it's not that worse

The state of instruments is not something to write home about, but I believe there can be a form of redemption.
The case of Ilupeju and so many hospitals in Lagos is not the standard for many places in Nigeria, I still believe private dentist won't charge far way beyond what an a middle class can afford pull the Lagos standard out of the picture.

Then the working class thingy, I won't say I fit in or not.
I have a modus operandi, get food on my family's table irrespective of where I find myself(so far it's legit), the so called "dental desert" works for so many people likewise being in the UK, your choice of stay is dependent on your need at a particular time or reason behind the movement.

Just to clarify, I didn't ask you for your social status

iboboyswag:
This is apt. Nah just say I no get time for too much long talk.

Many are in the UK not because condition bad baje.

The conditions in Nigeria are relative and the "government cost" for basic things are near socialist standards, making room for all strata of the demography.

But this UK... Nah just light, credit (a trap) and passport dem get.

Virtually every developed country is socialistic to an extent, even the United States.
By that I mean the basic principles of socialism (providing generalised free or subsidised access to social goods such as education, healthcare, etc.) are implemented in most countries these days, because it has been proven to work. Even the US at least provides free emergency room care, if nothing else.

Of course, the quality of the social goods provided varies, and the means of funding them too.

HondaLover:
I've been fortunate enough to watch some interviews of Rishi Sunak and a debate with Liz, huge concerns were on NHS and to be honest it's not looking like the problems are going to end soon(Rishi seems to be making sense, but not like he's gonna come perform magic)

An old man said he's literally out of teeths because he can't see a dentist(there aren't even much of them around). His father used to work with the NHS, bla bla bla sadly he can't afford to go private.

People pay for IHS yet to access healthcare na war.

Shebi people dey come during september now, your Queue to your GP go long well well.

Pay #500 and you can see a dentist on clinic days in Nigeria. If you be big man Dentist go come visit you for house or go into his private lab for chikini money too.

How many people do you think have N500 to pay to see a dentist in Nigeria?

A young cousin of mine came to stay with me once, in 2012 or so. She had a dental issue, so I took her to that Lagos state dental hospital in Surulere, can't remember where, it was newish at the time (or newly refurbished?). We paid the card fee and all that, and when it got to the examination stage, the instruments the dentist brought out were rusty. The plating or whatever it is had come off on parts, and all that. I asked him if it was safe to use those, and he said simply that that was what they had. I took my ward off to a private place in Ilupeju and paid N8 or 9K for the procedure she had to have. That was still good money in 2012.

Private dental care is expensive everywhere. In 2018 or so, I had a root canal done in a dental practice in Ikeja GRA. It cost me about 200k, cash upfront. I had another done here in the UK, it cost me something in the region of 1k. Of course that went on to my 22 months, 0% purchase credit card, gradually being paid off.

If you were working class (in the true meaning of the term), would you rather live in a so-called "dental desert" in Nigeria, or in the UK?

iboboyswag:
Thanks on the word play *I'm blushing here*

But I dare say you are wrong. Primary and Secondary Healthcare are functional in Nigeria and the reach is quite good. We might argue about the quality but there is measurable reach and things like vaccinations, antenatal and prenatal care are available and at a very subsided cost even in remote villages.

As to bashing Nigeria, it has become a common sight to read takes about how Nigeria has did one or us in discussions that have no bearing for such takes.

We can have conversations without trying to bring Nigeria down at every turn, and more because when we amplify these ills, we should not forget that we are Nigerians and are directly or indirectly a part of the problem.

I am most certainly not part of any of Nigeria's problems in any way, shape or form.

Both I and my parents, particularly my late father, who was a doctor, have invested time, money and energy into providing social assistance at the rural level, and in our own small way have contributed something to the country which I have always said once gave its people so much. My father was organizing and participating in medical outreaches way back in the early 80s from when I first became old enough to understand things up till the year he died, he and my uncles rebuilt the primary schools in my village and were paying fees for a lot of children to attend them. At the moment we're not only paying fees here and there, but also with the current economic situation, providing food assistance as well. I dont bang on about Nigeria's messed up state, because as I earlier stated, its pointless and a waste of time, I think Nigeria is already beyond redemption, but if you want to allocate blame for its condition, assign it where it belongs, not to all Nigerians.

As an aside, the time spent moving around in rural areas (not Ikorodu) informs my knowledge of the primary healthcare system in Naija and its functioning, but there's no point arguing over that. Ransome-Kuti's focus on that in the 80s was the high point of the system, thereafter all went downhill with Nigeria. Primary healthcare is more than making available vaccines to those who turn up or sending out vaccinators on polio vaccine rounds.

wonlasewonimi:
Bro, your observation is very valid. I have taken tome to study this shyte. There's something wrong somewhere. Out of 10 children, about 8 would be on shitty spectrum in this country and nobody is investigating it. This is abnormal!

At a point, I thought it could be stupid vaccine they give the children which noone knows the composition. Anyway, I pray the whole stuff is exposed one day. As for me sha, na snip snip we dey.

Is that a reversible or irreversible snip snip?

iboboyswag:
Make una stop all these takes... Nigeria isn't as bad as most folks here tend to portray.

To say 3/4 of Nigerian women haven't had a pap smear is a smear campaign.

Nice play on words.
But she is probably correct.
Nigeria fails at primary/preventive care because there is no functional public health system at those levels.
No health visitors coming to check on children, no scheduling of vaccination dates or times for regular check ups, things like that.
I don't see mentioning things of this kind as "bashing" Nigeria, or what's left of the once-potentially great and promising country I grew up in, we're way beyond that.

kode12:
I see. That's interesting. I haven't done a deep dive on the matter, but it'd definitely make for an interesting read.

You would have to read a library's worth of material to come up with anything showing a consensus that your perceived high rate of autism diagnoses is probably linked to benefit fraud.

Autism is not a disability in itself. Some children who have autism are indeed disabled and their parents/guardians can claim DLA and maybe carer's benefits and but that is quite frankly a small amount, and getting through the DWP assessments is a hurdle of a special kind. Also despite the fact that this country is more enlightened than the one we left, children are the same everywhere and a parent gains nothing by labelling their child for no reason - the child's fellow children/classmates if they are being mainstreamed can be just as cruel and bullying as anywhere in the world.

Put simply, there are always benefits fraudsters in any category of benefits, but it is incorrect to think that a perceived "high" level of autism diagnoses is related to that. For what it's worth, scientists are theorising that the higher rates of prevalence are down to, among others, the increasingly polluted environment (some autism diagnoses are related to inability to process some of the things people ingest) and the increasingly complex society (a person with autism in maybe the 19th century or earlier times when life was all about farming and millions of people lived in the same village all their lives would have found it easier to function as life was way simpler, no gadgets to operate, no TV, traffic, school to attend, etc.).

And as we all know, in Naija, sometimes children are either hidden in the village when they have some conditions, or, as you pointed out, the society applies violence to the issue.

Bottom line - icon8 could have softened his message quite a bit, but the thrust is correct.

domin8:
Thanks. Seeking for broadband only and something sub £30.

Try BT, they're everywhere like MTN. 27 quid a month or so.
Virgin would be the best option, but they're not everywhere.

Lexusgs430:
Tesco no query my alcoholic tendencies........ If a man can be bold to buy condoms....... I should not be ashamed to claim my FREE bottle of Budweiser @ 07:40 hrs ..........

Just enjoy the fact that you aren't in Scotland, you would have had to quench your thirst with water until 10 a.m.

Lexusgs430:
International nurses no dey ever finish.........

And in the UK, nursing, healthcare assistants, those are jobs for the working class these days.
So they will continue to leave the taps on for the flow of international healthcare staff.

deept:
don't know which is worse, the behaviour of the person article is about or the comments

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/london-woman-jailed-after-claiming-council-house-even-though-she-owned-two-homes-already/ar-AA102yyN?ocid=entnewsntp&cvid=194384dfd2df421ba162b116afc0e1ba#comments

Those sort of comments are normal any time a member of an ethnic minority/immigrant is convicted of a crime or when a Yoruba boy misses a penalty for England at an international tournament or any time immigration as an issue comes up.

Lexusgs430:
But the staff in the shop,would still run a credit check, via same computer database nah.........

Of course they will.
But sometimes, after the computer has said no, a human can say yes.