Finding a job for a well qualified non-EU national

ixus

A good friend of mine is having difficulty finding a job at the moment.
He is a Chinese national who completed his Leaving Cert in Ireland, has a good Degree in Computer Engineering and is currently writing his thesis for a Masters.

He has been in the country 6-7 years and his visa is up in August.
Despite the supposed lack of skills in this country, this guy is finding it difficult to get a job. The obvious issue is a visa.

I know the government is supposed to be introducing a visa system for non_EU nationals whereby they can stay for up to 2 years if they are suitably qualified, but it doesn't appear to be coming through anytime soon.

I find it hard to believe that this guy, who has obtained his entire adult education in Ireland is not automatically granted a 1 year visa upon completion of a degree.

Has anyone any advice in how I can help this chap get a job?

Ancient1

What kind of visa does he currently hold?

He might hold a visa which does not allow him to seek or enter into employment from within the country. But that's to do with Immigration and not the prospective employers. If he has a job offer from an employer, it's the employer's responsibility to apply for a work permit.

So in his case, he will have to get a job offer first.

ixus

Thanks for the reply.

The visa is a student only one.

Entitles him to work during the Summer, go on work experience ( which he has done) and to work part-time during college.

He can apply for jobs while here as far as I know, but must have a visa, which as you said, an employer must obtain.

puttoos

Ancient1 wrote:

What kind of visa does he currently hold?

He might hold a visa which does not allow him to seek or enter into employment from within the country. But that's to do with Immigration and not the prospective employers. If he has a job offer from an employer, it's the employer's responsibility to apply for a work permit.

So in his case, he will have to get a job offer first.

Most employers will not go through the pain of applying for a work permit, going through FAS to certifiy no EU candidate was available for the job etc.

Immigration used to issue "Working Visa" for ICT candidates instead of work permits. This used to be much easier since the candidate can directly apply for a work visa and the employer doesnt have to be bothered. Not sure they still issue this. If they are, this should be the way to go. If the employer thinks that the candidate needs a work permit, they usually decline his candidature, just because they dont want to bother about work permit procedures. To get a work visa, he should have an appointment letter and a contract from the prospective employer.

Ancient1

puttoos wrote:

Most employers will not go through the pain of applying for a work permit, going through FAS to certifiy no EU candidate was available for the job etc.

Many employers, not most.

Applying for a work permit is not as much hassle as it's made out to be. It's a matter of getting certain documents together, applying, and waiting. The FAS bit can be tricky sometimes (if only because it's an incredible pain in the bollocks, having to wait weeks for FAS "clearance"), but if an employer really wants to hire you, he will. It's as simple as that.

puttoos

Ancient1 wrote:

Applying for a work permit is not as much hassle as it's made out to be. It's a matter of getting certain documents together, applying, and waiting. The FAS bit can be tricky sometimes (if only because it's an incredible pain in the bollocks, having to wait weeks for FAS "clearance"), but if an employer really wants to hire you, he will. It's as simple as that.

Exactly. But when employers hear about Work permit, they just go "all those formalities" mode. If another candidate is available who does not need work permit, they tend towards him unless the employer thinks your candidate is so brilliant and his skill cannot be replaced by another candidate. This is true with many big employers in the country. I hear about these every day for last many years. As a non EU job seeker, your friend will have to improve his chance of getting hired. If justice dept. still issue work visa, he should try that route and convice the prospective employer that they does not need to do anything for his work permit to give him a more level playing field with others.

elvis2002

Its very very hard to find an employer to sort out the visa. Maybe some of the chinese companies in Ireland would be interested in him like sina.com. I think he only needs another two years residency in Ireland and he can apploy to be a citizen. I think its 9 years residency or thereabouts.

He's lucky in a way that he has the Computing qualification because if he had something like a business qualification he might as well pack his bags. Computing is listed as one of the shortage skills in Ireland. That'll be to his advantage.

AFAIK, getting a working visa for a Chinese person is quite involved and my gf is currently gone back to China to get hers as the company lawyers said it was the quickest way to get it. On the FAS route, I think I heard the company has to prove they advertised the job for 4 weeks or something? My gf will have her visa in 14 days from Irish Embassy in China.

leeroybrown

Some useful information about work permits in Ireland.

As has been pointed out above employers tend to avoid employing people who require work permits unless they have specific skills that are valuable to the employer. It can be slow awkward and expensive compared to employing someone who doesn't require a permit.

Ancient1

elvis2002 wrote:

Its very very hard to find an employer to sort out the visa.

It's not. Perhaps the smaller employers who are not familiar with the procedure at all think that it's a nightmare and that it's not worth their while. There are large multinationals (IBM and Microsoft among others) who wouldn't bat an eyelid in sponsoring you for a work permit.

elvis2002 wrote:

He's lucky in a way that he has the Computing qualification because if he had something like a business qualification he might as well pack his bags.

That's a technicality. What counts at the end of the day is your experience and how you sell yourself to a prospective employer. Getting the work permit is not necessarily difficult, but getting an employer to agree to apply for one can be.

I speak from extensive personal experience, by the way.

leeroybrown

Ancient1 wrote:

It's not. Perhaps the smaller employers who are not familiar with the procedure at all think that it's a nightmare and that it's not worth their while. There are large multinationals (IBM and Microsoft among others) who wouldn't bat an eyelid in sponsoring you for a work permit.

Exactly - large multinationals are 'familiar with the procedure'. They have large HR departments and often outsource staffing/recruiting to large companies who speciailze in the area. They have experience of recruiting in many countries and of moving existing employees between countries. Most companies who are not this large, who do not have these kinds of HR structures in place and are not familiar with the procedure will prefer to take the known route.