Hello, I’m ryoppippi. Nice to meet you if we haven’t met before.
Since June 2025, I’ve been working as an AI Engineer at Stackone, a UK AI startup.
As I write this, I’ve been working for exactly three weeks. I’d like to reflect on the journey that led to my UK employment and share information that might be helpful for those in similar situations.
TL;DR
The current UK job market is extremely challenging. I applied to 533 positions and it took 8 months to finally secure employment. However, with the right approach and continuous effort, I was ultimately able to land an ideal position.
From Immigration to Starting Job Search
Journey to the UK (February 2022 ~ April 2024)
In February 2022, I came to the UK accompanying my wife who moved here as a PhD candidate. I’m here on a spouse visa.
For about 2 years after arriving in the UK, I basically worked remotely for Japanese companies. From February 2022 to June 2023, I worked at a Japanese startup where I had been since its founding, then until December 2023, I worked as a contractor for several startups. From January to March 2024, I worked full-time at a certain startup while temporarily back in Japan.
However, in March 2024, I left the Japanese company, and my RA contract at the doctoral program I was affiliated with also ended. Thus began a period of unemployment.
Considering Options (April 2024 ~ September 2024)
During the unemployment period that started in April 2024, I had two options in mind:
- Return to Japan permanently and job hunt there (Easy Mode)
- Job hunt in the UK (Hard Mode)
Honestly, I had a strong desire to return to Japan. Lower cost of living, easier to find work, and better food. I thought job hunting in the UK was an impossible game.
As a result, I spent lazy days at home muttering “I want to go back to Japan” every day. During this time, I mainly spent time on OSS activities. Since I had earned a decent amount from contracting work the previous year, I didn’t have immediate concerns about living expenses.
For more about my 2024 OSS activities, please see this article: https://ryoppippi.com/blog/2024-12-31
The Actual Job Hunt
The Trigger to Start (September 2024)
Around this time, the yasunori project was launched in VIM-JP. It was a groundbreaking initiative centred around YASUNORI0418, the heart of vim-jp discussions, to job hunt together, write books, produce output, and encourage each other. While I wasn’t actively involved initially, this activity inspired me to finally escape my lazy lifestyle and decide to start job hunting in the UK.
However, at first, there was absolutely no response. The situation of not getting anywhere continued. Even when applying on LinkedIn, I didn’t receive a single reply. My case was quite special - I had never job hunted in Japan, and until this age, I had always been introduced to work through personal connections. So this situation with zero response was very tough. I didn’t know where to start, and the phrase “completely lost” couldn’t have been more fitting.
Improving the Resume (October 2024)
In October, I learned about the concept of ATS (Applicant Tracking System) friendly CV writing (I learned this while attending a career workshop at my wife’s university with her). I rewrote my resume using typst to match this format.
I also described my work experience in more detail and made efforts to fit it on one page. These improvements finally led to more interview opportunities.
The Turning Point (November-December 2024)
In November, I temporarily returned to Japan and spoke at vimconf and neovimconf. Knowing that recordings would be published in advance, I prepared in English with job hunting in mind, aiming for short but rich content. I probably spent an excessive amount of time preparing. The presentation videos were very well received, and this led to interview invitations. It was an event that made me realise the importance of technical output once again.
My vimconf presentation report is here: https://ryoppippi.com/blog/2024-12-09
The Language Barrier (January 2025)
At the end of the year, I went to the final interview at a company that was excited about my vimconf presentation. The day after returning to the UK, I travelled to a WeWork in London. I felt it went well, but I was rejected due to “communication difficulties”. I was quite shocked because communication had been very positive up to the final interview.
This experience made me painfully aware that technical skills alone are insufficient, and that English communication ability is the ultimate deciding factor.
First Offer (February 2025)
In February, I got another interview opportunity from a UK AI legaltech venture that had rejected me once in October. This time, I successfully received an offer!
In parallel, I was fortunate to receive a direct interview opportunity (headhunting) from a Korean AI venture (Company W). Ultimately, by leveraging these two offers against each other, I decided to join the Korean company with reasonable salary conditions. At this point, I was considering leaving the UK alone to relocate to Seoul.
Record at this point:
- Via LinkedIn Easy Apply: 306 applications
- Applications with forms outside LinkedIn: 89 applications
I had made a total of 395 applications.
Change of Direction (March 2025)
I started working at the Korean company, but it became clear that the corporate culture and work content were completely incompatible. I resumed applications in the second week of March and began full-scale job hunting in April. I concluded that it would be better to live in the UK with my wife.
Ironically, my experience working in an English environment at Company W had improved my English communication skills. This experience would prove valuable in subsequent interviews.
Improved English and New Developments (April 2025)
In April, I received offers from another UK AI venture and a certain AI-focused web browser company in France (Company L). With the UK company, I conducted coding tests and architecture discussions in English. My English communication skills had improved significantly thanks to my experience at Company W. I was very happy about this.
After much deliberation, I chose Company L based on what I wanted to do. However, we couldn’t reach an agreement on contract terms and it ultimately fell through. The UK company’s offer acceptance deadline had passed, so I was back to square one.
Meeting a Game-Changing Recruiter (May 2025)
At the end of April, I accidentally connected with a recruiter from a staffing agency through a position I randomly applied to on LinkedIn. He gave me much valuable advice:
- Advice on appropriate salary ranges in the UK market for my experience and skill set
- I should include OSS activities on my resume. It’s fine if it becomes 2 pages
My rewritten CV is here: https://cv.ryoppippi.com/pdf
I also had a technical interview with the recruiter. I handled a wide range of technical questions about React features, the process flow when entering a URL in a browser, and how RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) works.
He gave me feedback saying, “The lack of UK work experience is certainly a hurdle, but I noticed your high technical skills from your GitHub activity.”
After updating my resume, he actively searched for companies that matched my skill set. As a result, through his introduction, I was able to meet StackOne. I also received another offer from a company on my own.
The salary conditions were almost the same, but considering what I wanted to do and the company’s growth potential, I decided to join StackOne. This recruiter didn’t just introduce job opportunities; he seriously considered my career and worked hard to find the best match. Meeting him was a major turning point in my UK job search.
Results
The final application status was as follows:
Total Applications: 533
- Via LinkedIn Easy Apply: 410
- Applications with forms outside LinkedIn: 123
It was a long 8-month journey, but this many applications were necessary.
What I Learned
Through this long job search, I gained many important insights.
Understanding Market Reality
The current UK job market is in an extremely tough situation. Getting your first job is particularly difficult. Without local work experience, even with technical skills, it’s commonplace to be rejected at the screening stage just for “lack of experience”. It’s important to understand this reality early and be prepared for a long battle.
The Importance of the Resume
CVs have clear formats and optimisation techniques. Creating an ATS-friendly format and properly showcasing OSS activities and technical achievements is key to passing document screening.
Reconsidering Application Methods
It became clear that the chances of being hired through LinkedIn Easy Apply are low. By putting more effort into individual applications, you can improve your success rate.
The Value of Networking
Meeting an excellent recruiter can greatly influence your job search. Building relationships with recruiters who can properly evaluate technical skills and accurately understand market value is very important.
Continuous Learning and Output
Technical output, especially OSS activities and technical presentations, are important means of proving your technical abilities. My vimconf presentation leading to interview opportunities was a good example of this.
Conclusion
After 8 months and applications to 533 positions, I finally achieved engineering employment in the UK. While this experience was certainly not easy, I gained many valuable lessons.
However, in my case, the difficulty was relatively lower since I didn’t have visa concerns with my spouse visa. For those who need student visas, working holiday visas, or skilled worker visa sponsorship, there are undoubtedly even higher hurdles.
I hope this experience can be somewhat helpful for those in similar situations. UK employment is certainly a difficult path, but I believe that with the right strategy and continuous effort, a way will definitely open up.
The current UK job market is certainly horrible, but breakthroughs can be found by continuing to improve without giving up. Results can change dramatically with just how you write your resume, and meeting a good advisor can be a turning point.
Finally, I deeply thank my wife who supported me through this process, friends who gave advice, Japanese companies that provided contract work to keep me afloat, and ultimately StackOne for hiring me.
P.S. I’ve just started working at StackOne, but the team and atmosphere are fantastic, and I feel I’ve finally found an environment that suits me. It was a long journey, but I’m really glad I didn’t give up.