Helping my husband

Hello, in April next year my husband will be applying for his Spouse Visa to come to the UK.

I'm a bit worried about him finding work because he never finished high school so doesn't have any education he can put into a CV.

Unfortunately a lot of jobs focus on education before they look at experience so is there any online courses I can suggest he does to help on this front?

Many thanks.

What type of work does he do? Does he currently have a GED?

Hello, in April next year my husband will be applying for his Spouse Visa to come to the UK.

I'm a bit worried about him finding work because he never finished high school so doesn't have any education he can put into a CV.

Unfortunately a lot of jobs focus on education before they look at experience so is there any online courses I can suggest he does to help on this front?

Many thanks.

I would have him look at apprenticeships in something that he has an interest in or an aptitude for.  They are becoming increasingly popular due to the high price of a degree these days and can lead to really well paid jobs. 

https://www.gov.uk/topic/further-education-skills/apprenticeships

What type of work does he do? Does he currently have a GED?

He's done a lot of retail work and mist recently has been a customer service adviser with a phone company. I've asked him if he has a GED.

I would have him look at apprenticeships in something that he has an interest in or an aptitude for.  They are becoming increasingly popular due to the high price of a degree these days and can lead to really well paid jobs. 

https://www.gov.uk/topic/further-education-skills/apprenticeships

I'm sure there's an age restriction for most apprenticeships, the one I did 2 years ago was up to the age of 23 and my husband is quite a bit past that now. He's in his 30s.

He's done a lot of retail work and mist recently has been a customer service adviser with a phone company. I've asked him if he has a GED.

From what I've seen those are "low skill" jobs here as well. There may be some on the job qualifications and trainings that will help him move up the ladder, but degrees aren't often required (I have a friend who has done tons of customer service because he left school immediately after the equivalent of high school, did poorly on the UK tests).

Larrabee's apprenticeship suggestion is a very good one.

I'm sure there's an age restriction for most apprenticeships, the one I did 2 years ago was up to the age of 23 and my husband is quite a bit past that now. He's in his 30s.

Here is some information about adult apprenticeships. It looks promising. 

http://www.apprenticeshipguide.co.uk/adult-apprenticeships/

I'm wondering if a lot of apprenticeships want some standard grades/GCSEs -  which is okay if he's got GED, but probably harder without.  But certainly there might be something he might qualify for, if he's interested. 

May be harder to pass background checks, but the prison service is always looking for folks, likewise fire service and qualifications aren't needed for entry level jobs.   

A chicken sexer is a job that doesn't need qualifications, but pays quite well if you can hack it!

There are certainly all the usual customer service and call centre jobs too and manufacturing/warehousing jobs.  Hardest part is probably getting a bit of UK experience. 

So he doesn't have a GED so that means he has 0 qualifications.
I figured warehouse/retail would be his best bet especially as he already has experience of that in the US.

My main hope really is that he can get a basic job, and do some volunteering to gain more experience.

I work for an adult education charity so I'm going to make sure he can try do a maths and English GCSEs once he's here.

I barely finished high school and worked in telephone advertising sales for an advertising paper straight after high school and ended up moving up within the company.

When I moved to England, I got a customer service job for a datacoms company in Reading a week after I received my National Insurance number for a really good wage. They didn’t have a clue what constituted a “high school diploma” and didn’t care. They were more interested in my experience. I continued to prove my worth during the job.

So, if your husband has proven work experience in customer-facing or customer service roles, I don’t think he’ll have too much of a hurdle getting employment in those type of fields without education.



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So he doesn't have a GED so that means he has 0 qualifications.
I figured warehouse/retail would be his best bet especially as he already has experience of that in the US.

My main hope really is that he can get a basic job, and do some volunteering to gain more experience.

I work for an adult education charity so I'm going to make sure he can try do a maths and English GCSEs once he's here.

I think he could easily get by without a higher education, but I think it might be a bit more difficult without a high school diploma. It’s not impossible, but it will be significantly more difficult.

Would be be open to getting his GED? I would strongly encourage he do that, just to be safe. Or perhaps some other type of certification that he can go for that won’t require a high school degree. Could he look at going into a trade potentially?

Again, it’s not impossible, it’s just more difficult now a-days. The fact that he isn’t from the UK would be a potential hurdle already, but if employers see he also doesn’t have a diploma/GCSE equivalent, it might make it that much more difficult (especially in a post-brexit world.

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I think he could easily get by without a higher education, but I think it might be a bit more difficult without a high school diploma. It’s not impossible, but it will be significantly more difficult.

Would be be open to getting his GED? I would strongly encourage he do that, just to be safe. Or perhaps some other type of certification that he can go for that won’t require a high school degree. Could he look at going into a trade potentially?

Again, it’s not impossible, it’s just more difficult now a-days. The fact that he isn’t from the UK would be a potential hurdle already, but if employers see he also doesn’t have a diploma/GCSE equivalent, it might make it that much more difficult (especially in a post-brexit world.

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He might be open to it and i've done the research but it's so expensive. The GED can't be done online and he can't travel so I looked at him enrolling in an online course for Adults that need their High School Diploma and it's nearly $100 a month (on one of the websites i was looking at anyway).

He might be open to it and i've done the research but it's so expensive. The GED can't be done online and he can't travel so I looked at him enrolling in an online course for Adults that need their High School Diploma and it's nearly $100 a month (on one of the websites i was looking at anyway).

That’s so crap that they make it so difficult is there any type of financial aid he could qualify for?


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That’s so crap that they make it so difficult is there any type of financial aid he could qualify for?


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I don't know, the problem is he hasn't worked for about 3 years when he was made redundant and then moved States to move back into his mum's house. Now he's in the middle of nowhere with no public transport so he can't work, he can't travel for study and relies on his Step-Dad to take him place when needed but he's often out of state for work himself.

It's a really difficult situation for him.

I don't know, the problem is he hasn't worked for about 3 years when he was made redundant and then moved States to move back into his mum's house. Now he's in the middle of nowhere with no public transport so he can't work, he can't travel for study and relies on his Step-Dad to take him place when needed but he's often out of state for work himself.

It's a really difficult situation for him.

Are you prepared and able to support him for a period of time after he moves on a spouse visa? Or help him get any equivalencies? (I have a friend who just finished his UK GCSE's in his 20s)

The lack of a high school diploma may get in the way of many things. Community colleges and libraries often have GED programs, if you want to PM the town he's in I can have a closer look tomorrow to see if I can find anything. If he's been out of work for an extended period of time, it will always damage prospects but if he's willing to do anything then I'm sure he will be OK. We have seen people get fast food jobs before they've even been able to set up bank accounts. It's definitely not glorious work but it's a paycheck!

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