Clocking Off with Clouds
Big Sis Hotline: UK work visa, toxic co-workers, salary negotiations
13 Apr 2026
Chapter 1: How can I obtain a UK work visa as an international graduate?
I am unemployed as an international grad. Truth that you might not want to hear is, do you have a toxic coworker and how do you deal with it? Any first day, week at a new workplace tips? Let me just fire around some quick tips. Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring. Hello, you have reached the CloudJu Big Sis Hotline. How can I help?
You're listening to Clocking Off of Clouds, your cozy corner of the internet where we talk careers, personal growth, and real life.
hello guys and welcome back to another episode of clocking off with clouds and this week we have a pretty juicy and fun episode because we are addressing your career concerns dilemmas questions stories and let's just say we got some pretty interesting submissions so let's get through them if you guys don't already please do follow me on instagram at clocking off with clouds because that is where i ask you guys to submit your questions
and advice that you want, or stories, or things that you wanna share, or situations where you might want a third party input. So yes, at ClockingOffOfClouds on Instagram is where I usually go for my DMs, or I'll do little question boxes, so definitely submit there.
I know that the question boxes usually doesn't let you guys send larger scenarios, so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna put a little highlight on my story, and if you guys just reply to that highlight and DM me with whatever story you may want, then feel free to just DM me at ClockingOffOfClouds. I will be going through multiple more of these Big Sister Hotline kind of episodes.
So send me through any scenarios, any stories. It doesn't also just have to be about career. It could be about relationships or dating or life. or family or friendships. Okay, so last week I asked you guys to send some questions and most of them were career questions, even though there were a few questions that were also not career related.
But let's just make this a career big sister hotline for this week.
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Chapter 2: What strategies can I use to deal with toxic co-workers?
But I will definitely be doing way more of these. I'm thinking of doing a mini series, which is just the big sister hotline, so you guys can send through your dilemmas. But today we're gonna be focusing purely on some career questions that you guys sent through. Alright now, let's get cozy, grab a beverage, get comfortable, maybe put on a sweater, maybe do a face mask.
Let's just go through these and I would love to hear your guys' opinion on them as well if you guys have anything to say. Feel free to drop in the comments below if you guys have things that you might want to add or might want to share to some of these people that have dilemmas or questions because my advice is not the one source of truth.
I'm sure a lot of you guys have plenty of wisdom nuggets to share. So if you're listening to any of these dilemmas and you think, hmm, I could probably help with some advice, then just drop it in the comments below. Let me just say that this story where I asked you guys to send over questions got over 30,000 interactions. So that's a lot of views and interactions.
hundreds of you guys sent questions in so i'm not going to be able to get through every single one of them but a lot of them are repeats as well but let's just go through some like most commonly asked career questions and also some of the situations you guys sent me and some dilemmas that i might be able to help with even if it's just a little bit
Okay, the first question is actually something I have received a lot of comments about and it's I am unemployed as an international grad. I've tried everything. Don't know what else to do anymore. Sad face.
So I have a lot of viewers and followers that are international students in the UK, which means that it's a little bit more limited when you're looking for jobs because you have to look for companies that specifically sponsor grad visas, which With the current economy and with the current landscape, it's getting harder and harder.
I know that a lot of international students try to stay in the UK through a skilled worker visa, and the threshold for that is really, really high and getting higher and higher. I think it's about 38 to 39K, which is a really high entry-level salary.
I had a lot of friends who were international students who had this problem, and there are a couple of things that they did in order to be able to stay.
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Chapter 3: What tips should I follow during my first week at a new job?
First of all, don't even waste time applying for companies that don't sponsor. You're going to go through hours of prep, all these interviews, just so that they tell you no, we don't sponsor visa at the end. It's just not worth your time. You want to be able to allocate your eggs into the right baskets and really use your time efficiently.
So firstly, make a list of all the companies that actually sponsor visas. I know that there are filters on LinkedIn you can use. There's also lists of companies that sponsor visas specifically, mainly large companies, you know, the big four, the MBBs, the big banks, All these larger, larger institutions will sponsor visas.
The next truth that you might not want to hear is sometimes the role itself is not a role you want, but the company is going to sponsor the visa. So it's worth, it's worth exploring. Maybe it's a job in auditing or accounting, but you won't see the job in consulting. But if that job is more likely to get you the offer, sometimes you do have to sacrifice something.
a trade off in order to stay in the country. And maybe after two years of work experience, you can then prioritize to shift your focus to getting the actual role that you want. But in the short term, because you are an international student and you are on a time limit, you need to focus on getting that visa first.
I know in the long term and in the long scheme, it's actually not ideal to be applying for things that you don't ultimately want to do in your career. But in terms of your visa, you just have to find a way to stay right.
So in this specific scenario, I say it is worth potentially looking at roles that you are not that interested in and trying to apply to those roles just because those companies are able to sponsor visas. Also, because you have a more limited group of companies you can apply for.
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Chapter 4: How can I effectively reject extra work assignments?
I would be very intentional with every single application I'm sending in.
so instead of just doing a mass supply which is what i did because fortunately for me and luckily i didn't need a visa so i could apply to everything and anything under the sun and even some startups and some smaller companies you guys have a lot less options when you are looking for a visa right so be super intentional every single application counts this means every single application you should try to reach out to someone on linkedin that already works at that company so that they can help you with the application process maybe share some tips on how it was like for them
Maybe try to introduce you to the hiring manager, have a name to refer to in your interview or be able to refer to real life experiences that someone else relate to you in your interview.
All those things are valuable and yes, it's a lot of effort for very, very small benefits sometimes, but because you have a limited list of companies you can apply for, you have to go the extra mile in order to get those applications to go through.
Okay, now in the scenario where you actually unfortunately cannot find a job in time, I have so many amazing, capable, intelligent, clever friends, people who are way more capable than I am, who are not able to find a job in the UK because they needed a visa sponsorship.
these friends were able to go back to their home countries and actually land jobs in really prestigious companies companies that are actually way more prestigious than the ones that they would have had to work in had they stayed in the uk because when you go back to your home country with the prestige of a uk degree and uk work experience you can actually leverage that to get a job in a really really prestigious company so i have friends who went back to their home countries and worked at you know mckinsey bain bcg
or they worked at tier two strategy houses or bold bracket banks. And after working for about two years in those countries, they ended up then transferring back to London because you can then apply to jobs in London.
I even have friends who came back to London after one year of work experience, and they were able to find jobs at really prestigious companies because now they had one year of work experience at this bank, albeit not in London, but in their home country. But still, it's a very large consultancy or bank or
you know, tech company that they're able to leverage in their CV to then get a job back in London. So if you have to return back to your home country, it is not the end of the world in the large grand scheme of things. You know, one year, two years is really not a long time of your life. If you have to go back for one or two years and then get that work experience to then come back to London,
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Chapter 5: What are the best practices for negotiating a higher salary?
completely over if you have to go back to your own home country, but I promise you it is not the end of the world. Of course, it is a scenario that we want to avoid. Let's try to get your job in London first. But if that happens, I have so many friends that had to go back, came back with more and better work experience.
And sometimes they even land better offers after coming back than they would have originally. You know, a lot of those friends that came back to London with other work experience from their home country ended up in better companies than the company I ended up in. So trust me, it is not the end of the world if you have to go back.
I just want to give you guys that peace of mind because I know when you're in that position, you feel like your world is burning down because that is the absolute last thing you want to do. But trust me, Two years goes by in a flash.
Also, there are jobs I wouldn't recommend now, but I know a lot of people that were looking for consulting jobs in London actually ended up applying to the Middle East and applying to Dubai. Firstly, their salaries and their packages are insanely higher, you know, way, way, way, way, way better.
uh but also they were hiring a lot in those countries as well especially for consulting now obviously with the war i wouldn't say do that but that was also an option that was available for some of the international students in my year at least do you have a toxic co-worker and how do you deal with it after a certain amount of time in the workplace you will definitely encounter a toxic co-worker maybe they're not even toxic maybe it's just a co-worker that you don't get along with this will happen inevitably my biggest advice when dealing with people you don't like with in the workplace
is always, always stay calm, collected and cool. You do not want to be emotional in the workplace and even if they grind your gears, even if they're completely in the wrong, trust me, you will benefit so much more if you just take the calm and collected approach. Now, calm and collected does not mean don't do anything. I definitely think it is worth escalating, especially with your manager.
If it's affecting your performance, it's affecting your mood, if it's affecting your mental health, talk to your manager about it and see what your manager can do to liaise the situation between you and this toxic coworker. If this person is verbally abusing you, if this person is undermining you, if this person is just annoying you, it is definitely worth having a chat with your manager.
Now, if the person who is toxic is your manager,
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Chapter 6: How can I manage work pressure and high expectations?
Firstly, it's also important to have the conversation with them so that you can try to find a way to best work together. But unfortunately, you might just have to talk to your skip level about it. Your skip level is your manager's manager.
If you are having a really hard time with your manager and they're very, very toxic, then a conversation with your manager's manager, in my personal opinion, is warranted. A lot of people will tell you not to do this because it might come across as undermining a manager or it might make your relationship with your manager even worse.
But at that point, if your relationship is already toxic, you can do two things. You can either endure it and just be miserable, or you can go to your manager's manager and try to do something about it. And yes, it might worsen that relationship, but it might also help you by reassigning you to another manager.
But throughout this whole process, it is so important to never react in an emotional way. It is so, so important because once you react emotionally, I feel like you almost lose a little bit of leverage. And when I say don't react emotionally, it doesn't mean don't react at all. I am all for people
saying their truth and sticking to themselves and standing their ground that is super important but when i say act emotionally i mean don't start insulting the person don't start pointing fingers and like it's your fault blah blah blah we want to spill the facts without directly insulting the person because once you do that you do lose a little bit of credibility so the best way to protect yourself in these conversations is to come to them with a rational tone of voice and a calm attitude but you can absolutely stand your ground and you should
stand your ground, don't be biting your tongue. One thing I always, always remember and one thing that I try to tell myself whenever I'm in difficult situations is suffering in silence gets you nowhere. So many of us are taught to just suffer in silence and just keep it in, bite your tongue, bite your tongue, but for what?
It's almost like we think there's a price for suffering in silence at the end of the day, that someone's gonna give us a pat on the back and be like, well done for just enduring it. No. Suffering silence literally gets you nowhere apart from just sufferment, right? So don't do that.
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Chapter 7: What should I do if I feel burnt out in a fast-paced job?
I would say definitely stand your ground, but do so in a very rational way. Any first day week at a new workplace tips. Yes, I have so many tips for your first day at work or your first week. And actually I have tons of tips for you. Just your first three months or your probation period in a job. We can make a whole other episode about it, but let me just fire around some quick tips.
Number one, get some coffee chats in. Okay.
one thing i was taught when i first joined consulting when i first joined my first job is put in as many coffee chats as possible to introduce yourself to the team once you have a little bit more tenure once you get to the six month mark it gets a little bit harder to give yourself an excuse to put time with certain people who are leaders in the company or people who are way more senior than you but when you're new joiner introducing yourself to them is the perfect excuse to just throw out coffee chats and this is yes intimidating but it is such a good way to integrate yourself
straight away when you first join a company it is so easy to have a coffee chat because you can just talk about yourself because there isn't any work to actually talk about of course you can ask them about their work but you don't have to talk about work you can just talk about yourself and your experience and it also makes it so much easier so that in the future when you do need someone's help you already saw their face beforehand you already had a one-on-one chat so it doesn't feel as awkward so that's probably my number one tip if you're first joining a company
Secondly, I'd say try to scope out a three to six month plan for yourself of all the things you're trying to achieve because in the beginning, it's actually very overwhelming to know what you're trying to do or know exactly how to insert yourself. Have a rough six month plan that you are gonna try to adhere to. It can make onboarding a little bit more regimented.
And my last tip is really try to absorb as much as you can in the first three months, especially because when you're a new joiner, trust me, no one is expecting you to know everything. In fact, they're probably expecting you to know nothing.
so it's a perfect excuse to ask all the questions and I actually made this mistake throughout my career where sometimes I feel like I have to prove myself in the beginning and therefore I don't want to ask questions because I don't want to make them feel like they made the wrong hire in my mind I'm thinking oh if I ask this question are they gonna think I'm dumb and are they gonna think they hired the wrong person but it's actually the opposite in the beginning you have full range to ask every single dumb question in the book because they don't expect you to know anything
And later on, it becomes a little bit harder to ask those questions. So get all those questions out in the beginning and try to absorb as much as possible. Try to just be a sponge in the beginning.
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Chapter 8: How can I navigate salary negotiations when the company lacks formal scales?
And honestly, sometimes it actually can be a little disruptive if you just go in and try to solve problems straight away when you actually don't really understand how things work yet. And I feel like this is something we all try to do as soon as we join is like, I'm going to try to provide so much value.
But instead of that, I actually think it's way more valuable if you use that time to just absorb information kind of like, a battery, right? You want to charge it up so that you can then use the power. So you don't want to go in and provide power, but you actually have no, no power to give. You want to be charging, you know, in the first three months.
So charge up, load up on all the information possible so that after those three to six months you can actually give value. You can actually give advice that is actually practical and you can do things that are well suited. How to deal with having a completely remote boss and team.
I can relate to this one so much because my direct manager and my entire team, everyone who I work with are in New York. They only start working when it's 2pm my time in the UK. So bulk of my day, I'm actually working by myself and there are so many struggles and so many hurdles that come with being so remote, but there are some things that you can do to make that easier to manage.
One thing that really helps, especially with rapport and team building and feeling connected to your team, is my team and I have a fortnightly Friday fun session. So every two weeks we have a slot in our calendars that is just dedicated to chatting, having fun, and any work chat is strictly, strictly prohibited. And oftentimes we use this half an hour slot
to play some games together, to maybe talk about movies we watched. And it's an easier way to get to know your teammates, which I honestly think makes a huge difference. Another thing that really helps is just pinging my teammates with random things that are not necessarily work-related.
When I see a fun article, when I see like a reference to something that my teammates said about a movie or any references, I try to Slack them about it. So yes, pinging my colleagues on things that are also not necessarily work chats also helps with remote bonding. I have a fixed term contract that is set to expire soon.
This means that sometime in a month or so, I will have an end of contract meeting with my team leader to discuss my potential future within the company and the possibility of continuing my employment. Going into this conversation, I would ideally like to negotiate a step up in salary.
However, colleagues have indicated that the company does not work with formal salary scales and that I should not be overly optimistic about significant salary increases. Given this context, I am considering whether it would be more effective to focus on negotiating secondary employment benefits instead.
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