Job Hunting — The Complete Guide to Finding Work

Common Jobs for Working Holidaymakers

Job Types: A Realistic Breakdown

Job Type	Hourly Pay (2025)	Entry Difficulty	English Required	Notes
Cafe/Barista	£11.44~13 (approx. ₩22,918~₩26,043)	Low	Medium	Coffee experience is a plus
Restaurant Front of House	£11.44~13 (approx. ₩22,918~₩26,043) + tips	Low	Medium~High	Decent income with tips
Kitchen Porter (KP)	£11.44~12 (approx. ₩22,918~₩24,040)	Very Low	Low	Less English needed but physically demanding
Hotel Housekeeping	£11.44~12 (approx. ₩22,918~₩24,040)	Low	Low	Physical work, early morning starts
Retail (Shop Floor)	£11.44~13 (approx. ₩22,918~₩26,043)	Medium	Medium~High	Primark, Uniqlo, etc.
Warehouse/Logistics	£12~15 (approx. ₩24,040~₩30,050)	Low	Low	Easy to get through agencies
Cleaning	£11.44~14 (approx. ₩22,918~₩28,046)	Very Low	Low	Flexible hours, can juggle multiple jobs
Office/Admin	£12~16 (approx. ₩24,040~₩32,053)	High	High	Worth a shot if you have experience
Korean Businesses	£11.44~13 (approx. ₩22,918~₩26,043)	Low	Low	Korean restaurants, grocery shops, logistics, etc.

Hospitality (Cafes, Restaurants, Hotels, Pubs)

This is by far the most common sector for working holidaymakers.

Pros:

• Lots of vacancies, so you can find work relatively quickly
• Tips can add up to a decent amount (especially in restaurants)
• Plenty of chances to use English with colleagues and customers
• Many places provide staff meals

Cons:

• Weekends, evenings, and bank holiday shifts are the norm
• Physically tiring
• Busy during peak season, but hours may drop in the off-season

Job hunting tips:

• If you have cafe experience, go for barista positions
• Many employers are interested in Korean cuisine — experience at Korean restaurants can be a selling point
• Chain restaurants (Pret, Wagamama, Nando's, etc.) mainly hire through online applications
• For independent cafes and restaurants, walking in with your CV is very effective

Warehouse & Logistics

What it's like:

• Usually found through recruitment agencies
• Amazon, DHL, and other large distribution centres hire year-round
• You can start even if your English is limited
• Night shifts come with a pay premium (night shift allowance)

Watch out for:

• The work is repetitive and can get monotonous
• Some warehouses are far from the city centre — factor in commuting time and costs

Office & Professional Roles

Worth trying if you have relevant experience from back home.

• Admin/Reception — Requires good communication skills. Email, phone, diary management
• Design/Development/Marketing — Freelance or contract roles are possible if you have a portfolio
• Accounting/Finance — Korean qualifications aren't recognised, but relevant experience still counts
• LinkedIn is essential for these roles

Korean Businesses

• Korean restaurants, grocery shops, delivery/logistics, travel agencies, etc.
• Check job listings on HiKorean and KakaoTalk group chats
• Pros: No language barrier, quick hiring process
• Cons: Less opportunity to use English, some employers have poor working conditions
• Places paying below minimum wage or paying cash-in-hand (to avoid tax) are doing so illegally — be careful

Job Search Strategy

Step 1: Prepare Your CV

A UK-style CV is quite different from a Korean resume:

Item	Korean Resume	UK CV
Photo	Included	Not included
Date of Birth	Included	Not included
Gender/Marital Status	Sometimes included	Never included
Length	1-page template	1~2 pages, free format
Focus	Education-focused	Experience and achievements

CV Structure

1. Personal Details — Name, phone number, email, city (no full address needed)
2. Personal Statement — 3~4 lines introducing yourself. Tailor this for every application
3. Work Experience — Most recent first. Focus on achievements and numbers, not just duties
4. Education — Your qualifications (Korean universities are fine)
5. Skills — Languages (Korean: Native, English: Intermediate/Advanced, etc.), software, certifications
6. References — "Available upon request" is perfectly fine

Step 2: Use the Right Job Search Channels

Online Platforms

Platform	What It's Like	Best For
Indeed	Largest job board	All job types
Reed	UK-focused	All job types
LinkedIn	Networking + job search	Essential for office jobs
Caterer.com	Hospitality specialist	Cafes, restaurants, hotels
Gumtree	Local classifieds	Small businesses, casual work
Totaljobs	General job board	All job types

Walk-in (Dropping Off Your CV in Person)

For hospitality jobs, walking into a venue and handing your CV to the manager is extremely effective.

• Print 10~20 copies of your CV and carry them with you
• Avoid peak hours — visit between 10~11am or 2~4pm
• Hand it directly to the manager — "Hi, I'm looking for work. Could I leave my CV with the manager?"
• Walk down a busy high street and hit up every cafe and restaurant in one go
• If you make a good impression, you might get an interview on the spot

Agencies (Recruitment Agencies)

• Register with major agencies like Adecco, Hays, Reed, and Manpower
• Warehouse, admin, and temp roles are often filled through agencies
• Register with multiple agencies at the same time to maximise your chances
• The employer pays the agency's fee — it costs you nothing
• You'll need your ID (passport/BRP), NI Number, and bank details to register
• After registering, follow up proactively — the squeaky wheel gets the shifts

Korean Community

• HiKorean (HiKorea.co.uk) — Job listings board
• KakaoTalk group chats — Search for "UK working holiday", "London working holiday", etc.
• Facebook groups — "Koreans in London", "UK Working Holiday", etc.

Step 3: The Interview

Interview Formats

Format	Description	Commonly Used By
In-person interview	1-to-1 at the venue/office	Hospitality, small businesses
Phone interview	Initial screening call	Medium and large companies
Video interview	Teams, Zoom, etc.	Office jobs, remote roles
Group interview	Multiple candidates at once	Chain restaurants (Pret, Costa, etc.)
Trial shift	Working a test shift	Hospitality in general

Frequently Asked Questions

• "Tell me about yourself" — Keep it to 1~2 minutes, focusing on experience relevant to the role
• "Why do you want to work here?" — Give a specific reason for choosing that particular place
• "What's your availability?" — State the days/times you can work. The more flexible, the better
• "Do you have the right to work in the UK?" — "Yes, I have a YMS visa which allows me to work full-time for 2 years"
• "Tell me about a time when..." — The classic UK behavioural question. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your answer

Interview Tips

• Drop the Korean-style modesty — Instead of "I'll try my best", go with an "I can, I did, I will" attitude
• Smile, make eye contact, give a firm handshake
• Prepare questions — When they ask "Do you have any questions?", always have 1~2 ready. Something like "What does a typical day look like?" works well
• Trial shifts — Unpaid trials are legally questionable, but short ones (2~3 hours) are common in practice

Understanding Employment Types

Contract Types

Type	Description	Key Features
Full-time	35~40 hours per week	Stable income, paid holiday
Part-time	Under 35 hours per week	Flexible hours, pro-rata holiday
Zero-hour contract	No guaranteed hours	Flexible but income is unpredictable
Temporary (Temp)	Fixed-term	Short-term work through an agency
Self-employed	Sole trader	Freelancing, delivery work, etc.

Employed vs Self-Employed

	Employed	Self-Employed
Tax	Employer deducts via PAYE	You file a Self Assessment tax return
National Insurance	Automatically deducted	You pay it yourself
Paid Holiday	Yes (28 days per year)	No
Minimum Wage	Guaranteed	Not applicable
Examples	Cafe staff, office worker	Deliveroo rider, freelancer

Most working holidaymakers are employed. If you go the self-employed route, you'll need to handle your own tax returns — so be aware of what that involves.

Your Rights as a Worker

As long as you're working in the UK, you have the same worker rights regardless of your visa type.

Minimum Wage (National Living Wage / Minimum Wage)

Age	Hourly Rate (from April 2025)
21 and over	£11.44 (approx. ₩22,918)
18~20	£8.60 (approx. ₩17,228)
Under 18	£6.40 (approx. ₩12,821)
Apprentice	£6.40 (approx. ₩12,821)

Paid Holiday (Annual Leave)

• Full-time workers get 28 days per year (this can include bank holidays)
• Part-time workers receive holiday pro-rata based on hours worked
• Any unused holiday must be paid out when you leave

Other Rights

• Payslip — Every employer must provide a payslip on payday
• Breaks — At least a 20-minute rest break for shifts over 6 hours
• Sick Pay — Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is £116.75 (approx. ₩233,885)/week (after 4+ days off; the first 3 days are unpaid)
• Protection from Discrimination — Discrimination based on race, nationality, gender, etc. is illegal
• Unfair Dismissal Protection — Applies after 2 years of continuous employment (may not apply within a typical YMS period)

Tips and Service Charge

Tips

Under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act (in effect since 2023):

• Employers must pass on 100% of tips to staff
• Deducting admin fees from tips is illegal
• In hospitality, tips can add an extra £100~300 (approx. ₩200,330~₩600,990) (approximately $125~375 USD) per month to your income

Service Charge

• Many restaurants automatically add a 12.5% service charge to the bill
• This must also be distributed to staff
• Customers can ask to have the service charge removed if they wish (it's optional)

Getting Ready for Your First Day

Once you've landed a job, here's what you'll need to provide to your employer before your first shift:

Job Search Timeline (Realistic Expectations)

Stage	Hospitality	Office Jobs
CV prep	1~2 days	3~5 days
Applying / Walk-ins	1~2 weeks	2~4 weeks
Interview	Same day~1 week	1~3 weeks later
Decision	Same day~1 week	1~2 weeks later
Total	1~4 weeks	4~8 weeks

Application Tracker

Once your applications reach 10 or 20, it gets easy to lose track of where you applied, when you sent it, and who needs a follow-up. Keeping the company, role, application date, current status, and follow-up date in one place makes the whole search more manageable.

• Use the Job Application Tracker to log applications and sort them by status.
• Add follow-up dates so you know exactly which roles need a check-in next.
• Data is stored only in your browser, so export JSON backups regularly if you want to keep a copy.