My name is Lisa, I moved to London from Moscow a little over a year ago. In Moscow, my last job was at Sberbank, where I was responsible for the 25 millionth segment of retirement age clients. On the advice of a friend who is an HR consultant in the UK, I also focused on fintech in London, partly because both fin and tech are always happy to have a professional woman on their team and thereby improve their 'diversity' .

I moved on a partner visa, so I was not limited to companies that are willing to sponsor Tier 2. I received and accepted my first job offer last fall. It was a Program Manager position at a fintech company with 250 employees. When I started working, I immediately realized that I did not like many things. For example, culture (I compared it with what my husband and friends told about their companies), tasks, area of ​​responsibility and salary (I gradually began to get more insights about the market and realized that I was worth more than I was paid).

Six months later, I began to look for a new job and a few weeks ago received an offer from one of the ‘sexy’ fintech startups in London.

Because of the first unsuccessful experience of finding a job for the second time, I decided to prepare thoroughly and even developed my own system.

What do you need to keep in mind when you start your job search?

In England, other career paths

I have (which seems to be typical for a Moscow specialist) a general but shallow understanding of many industries and disciplines. That is, there is a horizontal dash in the so-called T-shaped personality . In Russia, I quickly grew to a leadership position. I didn’t have to solve many tasks myself: I delegated them to my team or agencies. In London, a career is most often built from narrow expertise. Here, a candidate even for a ‘senior’ position is expected to show the ability and willingness to do many things “by hand”. It is almost impossible to get into a leadership position by simply a good manager, without a deep enough expertise behind them.

What did I do with it?

- Roughly determined the level that I should apply for at this point in my career;

- I began to pull up the necessary expertise, watching my team. Interviews often ask you to describe the process inside and out. It is greatly appreciated if you can tell what specific difficulties the team went through and how they solved them;

- I edited my resume: I removed the skills that I could comment on rather from the position “it was done by the team that I sent”. Added a variety of managerial skills. I sorted them, placing at the top of the list those in which it is easiest for me to confirm my competence.

There are special terms in the labor market

And they are used for everything: methodologies, approaches, organizational structures, frameworks, and skills themselves. Meetups are held here, articles and books are written, courses are taught about what I intuitively did in Moscow. For example, I only found out about the existence of the Program Management discipline, which, as it turned out, I had been studying in Moscow for several years, only in London.

In the London market, you have to compete with native speakers, who, other things being equal, automatically gain a competitive advantage, even if only in the subconscious of the interviewer. If I cannot clearly explain what exactly I did, although there is a capacious term for this, then even at a conscious level, my experience can be assessed lower.

What did I do with it?

Again, edited resume. I rewrote my responsibilities, results, and skills based on jobs that I thought were right for me, and sampled LinkedIn profiles of people I liked in similar positions.

There is high competition for good jobs in London

Now the demand for talent is getting a little bigger due to Europeans leaving ahead of Brexit, but attractive companies can still afford to choose, of course. There is a serious struggle for the attention of the employer. I was constantly faced with the need to “sell myself” in a minimum amount of time: 10 seconds for a resume, 1 minute for a job fair, 15 minutes for a phone screening, and so on.

What did I do with it?

That's right, summary! The classic recommendation to fit everything on one page helped, although they say that two are acceptable if the work experience is more than 10 years. At first, I painted my pitch in a big way - the most important thing I wanted to tell the employer about myself. A similar mini-pitch preceded the description of each past work: it was such an answer to the question of what you did there, in one sentence. Thus, the reader could quickly read the headlines, and then delve into the details where something interested him.

Your motivation plays a role

Your motivation and the employer's ability to meet your expectations are just as important in their decision making as your skills and experience. Companies spend quite a lot of resources on hiring specialists. They are interested in getting you for a long time in order to recoup these investments. In addition, it is no secret that a motivated employee is more productive and efficient. So, for the same salary, the employer will receive more result from a more motivated candidate and prefer him.

What did I do with it?

I did two sessions with a career coach. It helped me paint the proverbial picture of where I see myself in five years and understand what I need to get from work in the coming years in order to move in that direction. Also, talking about things that inspire and demotivate me with a coach helped me form a sincere and convincing statement about my expectations and needs.

Looking for a job at the right time

Another important point training turned out to pick the right timing. Already in January, I understood that the work needed to be changed. True, at that moment we had just begun to settle in London after moving: a new apartment, transport, climate, a different rhythm of life, no social ties. All this takes much more strength than my husband and I expected. And looking for a job is a full-time job, physically and emotionally costly, so I took a break until April to recover.

Finding a job is a full-time job in itself, so this was also an important plus. Keep in mind that the ‘notice period’ in the UK can be up to three months (in my case there was one).

As soon as they started actively scheduling interviews for me, I informed my current employer that I would be leaving. This removed the feeling of guilt in front of him for the fact that he constantly had to be distracted and ask for leave. It also reduced the expectations of the employer and, accordingly, the burden on me. As I said, job search is a full-time job in itself, so this was also an important plus. Keep in mind that the ‘notice period’ in the UK can be up to three months (in my case there was one). By the time I received a new offer, I wanted part of this period to have already passed, otherwise other candidates, again, could have a competitive advantage.

Finding a job takes an average of 3-6 months, and this creates a certain risk of being unemployed for a while. We had a small airbag, but to relieve one of the pressure factors, I quickly got a certificate in Swedish massage and decided that I would earn extra money if I did not manage to find a job before the money ran out. Fortunately, this did not happen, as I received a new offer 3 months and 10 days after the first interview.

And what this period consisted of, I will tell in the next article.

Read our other useful texts about work and career in a new country in the ZIMA Magazine telegram.

Great Britain, one of the leaders in world trade and financial center, is the third largest economy in Europe after Germany and France. Over the past two decades, the government has greatly reduced the share of state ownership in the country's economy and implemented welfare programs. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized and meets European standards, providing approximately 60% of the country's food needs with less than 2% of the labor force. The UK has large coal, natural gas and oil resources, but oil and natural gas reserves are declining and the UK became an oil and gas importer in 2005.

The service sector, especially banking, insurance and business services, is considered the largest component of UK GDP, while the share of industry continues to decline. Since recovering from the crisis in 1992, the British economy has grown for the longest period in history, and this growth has largely outstripped that of most Western Europe. In 2008, however, the global financial crisis hit the country's economy particularly hard, due to the importance of the country's financial sector. Sharply falling prices in the domestic market, large consumer debt and global economic crisis- basic british economic problems, which caused a decline in the UK in the second half of 2008.

The crisis prompted the then Bruna government to implement many economic stimulus measures and stabilize financial markets; they included partial nationalization of the banking sector, tax cuts, increased government spending and capital projects. Faced with an increase in the budget deficit and a high level of debt, the government of D. Cameron in 2010 began to implement a five-year program to reduce spending, which is aimed at reducing the country's budget deficit from 10% of GDP in 2010 to 1% by 2015. The Bank of England periodically coordinates steps to change the interest rate with the ECB, but the UK remains outside the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

Currently, the leading sector of the British economy is the service sector (74% of GDP), the growth rate of which in 2006 (3.6%) exceeded the growth rate of GDP as a whole (2.8%). The leading position in it is occupied by its financial component (27.7% of GDP), which determines the country's specialization in the system of international economic relations. In transport (7.8% of GDP), the growth was 2.9%. The second most important branch of the British economy is industry (18.6% of GDP, a decrease in output in 2006 by 0.1%) is represented by two sub-sectors: mining (2.2% of GDP, a decrease of 9.2%) and manufacturing industry (14.7% of GDP, an increase of 1.4%). Agriculture, which satisfies about two-thirds of domestic food needs, accounts for only 1% of GDP (output decreased by 1.8%), construction (6.1%, growth by 1.1%).

UK Natural Resources

Great Britain - is considered the world's second exporter of kaolin (white clay from which porcelain is made); other types of clay are also mined on a large scale for the ceramic industry. There are prospects for the extraction of tungsten, copper and gold from newly explored deposits.

Iron ore is mined in a relatively narrow belt that starts at Scunthorpe in Yorkshire in the north and runs through the East Midlands to Banbury in the south. The ore here is of low quality, siliceous and contains only 33% of the metal. The need for iron ore is covered by imports from Canada, Liberia and Mauritania.

In the British sector of the North Sea, 133 oil fields are known with proven reserves of 2 billion tons and recoverable reserves of 0.7 billion tons, which is about 1/3 of the shelf reserves. More than 80 gas fields have been discovered in the British zone of the North Sea with proven reserves of 2 trillion m3 and recoverable reserves of 0.8 trillion m3.

UK Industry

The UK industry (18.6% of GDP, a 0.1% decline in output in 2006) is represented by two sub-sectors: mining (2.2% of GDP, a decrease of 9.2%) and manufacturing (14, 7% of GDP, an increase of 1.4%).

The mining industry includes ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, oil and natural gas production. Oil production in the UK is carried out at fifty fields, of which the largest are Brent and Fortis. In 2003, it amounted to 106 million tons, of which more than half was exported - mainly to the USA, Germany, and the Netherlands. Large oil imports also remain (up to 50 million tons), which is associated with the predominance of light fractions in North Sea oil and the technological features of British refineries designed for heavier oil.

Growth rates of industrial production in Great Britain, % to the previous year

As for the British oil refining industry, it is still dependent on imports of crude oil and petroleum products. There are 9 refineries in the country with a total capacity of about 90 million tons per year (in 1999, the Shell refinery in Shell Haven with a capacity of 4.3 million tons per year was closed). They are located at the mouth of the Thames, at Foley near Southampton, in south Wales, at the Manchester Canal, in Teesside, Humberside and in Scotland (Grangemouth).

Gas production at them began in the mid-1960s, now 37 fields are being exploited, 1/2 of the production is produced by 7, among them - Lehman-Bank, Brent, Morkham. Production volume for 1990-2003 increased to 103 billion m3. Foreign gas trade is negligible; in 2003, its exports amounted to 15, and imports - 8 billion m3. The gas pipeline, laid on the bottom of the North Sea, reaches the east coast of the island of Great Britain in the area of ​​Easington and Yorkshire.

There has been great development ferrous metallurgy. By the beginning of the 70s, the volume of steel production amounted to about 30 million tons, later, with the introduction of quotas for ferrous metals in the EU, it decreased by more than 2 times - to 13.5 million tons in 2001 (Great Britain is not among the ten largest steel producers.) In the second half of the 1980s, the industry underwent a technical modernization, and at present 75% of steel is smelted by the BOF process.

Today, the UK ranks eighth in the world in iron and steel smelting. The state corporation British Steel produces almost all the steel for the country. It should be noted that the British metallurgy developed in favorable conditions. The country is rich in coal. Iron ore was often found in the coal seams themselves or was mined nearby. The third component necessary for metallurgy - limestones are found almost everywhere in the British Isles. Coal basins, near which metallurgical centers developed, are located relatively close to each other and from the largest seaports of the country, which facilitates the delivery of missing raw materials from other regions of the country and from foreign countries and the export of finished products. 4 metallurgical districts have survived, of which only one is located in the center of the country (Sheffield-Rotherham with its specialization in high-quality steel and electric steel), the rest are on the coast in ports (in South Wales - Port Talbot, Llanvern, in Humbersay de - Scunthorpe , in Teesside - Redcar).

The steel industry in the UK is increasingly using scrap metal as a raw material, so modern steel plants are usually "tied" to the main industrial centers as sources of raw materials and markets for finished products.

In turn, the British non-ferrous metallurgy is one of the largest in Europe. It works almost entirely on imported raw materials, so the smelting of non-ferrous metals gravitates towards port cities. With the almost complete absence of a resource base, the industry developed due to the high demand for non-ferrous metals and is represented mainly by the production of secondary metal. Of the primary metals, only aluminum and nickel are produced. The country's needs for tin, lead, and aluminum are almost completely met by domestic production; for copper and zinc by 1/2.

Non-ferrous metal exports far exceeded iron and steel exports in terms of value. Great Britain is also one of the main suppliers of metals such as uranium, zirconium, beryllium, niobium, germanium, etc., which are used in the nuclear industry, aircraft construction and electronics. The main buyers of British non-ferrous metals are the USA and Germany.

The West Midlands is the main area of ​​non-ferrous metallurgy, there are many small enterprises specializing in the production, rolling, casting and processing of non-ferrous metals. Other centers are South Wales, London and Tyneside. The three largest aluminum smelters are located on the island of England, near the city of Invengordon (Scotland) and in the northeast of England. They provide more than half of the industry's demand for primary aluminum. The aluminum production centers in Midland and South Wales are closely linked to US and Canadian aluminum companies.

In the structure of the manufacturing industry, the paper and printing industries (13.9%), food and tobacco (13.8%) have the largest share. The food and flavor industry over the past half century has become one of the main areas of concentration of British capital: of the 40 corporations in the country that are members of the "Club 500" of the largest firms in the world, this industry is represented by a dozen, led by Unilever, Diageo and Cadbury Schweppes. Food concentrates, confectionery, drinks (including tea, Scotch whiskey and London gin), and tobacco products are highly competitive on the world market. The placement of the largest enterprises is focused on markets, including external ones.

The engineering industry, the largest branch of British industry, employs 1/4 of all those employed in the manufacturing industry. The industry accounts for 40% of conditionally pure products of the manufacturing industry. If in the past it was characterized by the production of high-quality products, but of an average level of complexity, now technically complex, science-intensive products are gaining more and more weight. Transport engineering dominates. About 1/3 of the capital spent on the production of means of transport belongs to American companies that have established themselves in the British Isles after the Second World War. There are enterprises in this industry in almost all areas and in most cities in the UK.

The UK is the world's leading exporter of trucks. For example, a series of off-road vehicles of the Land Rover brand is widely known. The main buyers of English cars are the USA, New Zealand, Iran and South Africa.

Several of the largest automobile firms produce almost all serial cars and trucks. Such as British Leyland, factories of the international American company Chrysler U.K. and the American subsidiaries Vauxhall and Ford. Rolls-Royce (controlled by BMW) and Bentley, controlled by Volkswagen, maintain their positions as world leaders in the production of high-end cars. In 2002, 1.8 million cars were produced, including 1.5 million cars. Imports still exceed exports, but the latter is also very significant (about 1 million units). The first major automotive industry in the British Isles was the West Midlands, centered on Birmingham. The second region of the automotive industry was the south-east of England (with centers in Oxford, Luton and Dagenham), where there were an abundance of workers.

General engineering is now inferior in terms of growth to other sectors of the industry. In recent years, the positions of the machine tool industry have again strengthened (the country ranks sixth in the world in terms of production, but fourth in exports). industry international specialization is the tractor industry (first place in the world in the production of wheeled tractors).

More than 2/3 of the cost of products in the instrument-making industry is accounted for by scientific and industrial instruments, including a number of the latest types of instrumentation and diagnostic equipment. The production of watches and cameras is also developed.

Aircraft manufacturing is one of the fastest growing engineering industries in the UK. This industry is dominated by the state's largest firm, British Airspace. It specializes in the production of a wide range of various aircraft, helicopters, spacecraft, rockets. Helicopters are manufactured by another large firm, Westland Aircraft. Almost all the production of aircraft engines in the country is concentrated in the hands of the nationalized company Rolls-Royce, which has factories in Derby, Bristol, Coventry, and also in Scotland. Cooperation with Western European and American companies in the production of civil and military equipment is widely developed.

Latest productions chemical industry are also among the fastest growing industries. About 1/3 of the products of basic chemistry are inorganic chemicals - sulphuric acid, oxides of metals and non-metals. Among the many chemical industries large-scale production of synthetic fibers began to stand out, various kinds plastics, new dyes, pharmaceuticals and detergents. British chemistry is based on oil and gas raw materials and specializes in a rather limited number of chemical products that are highly science-intensive: these are pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, engineering plastics used in aircraft rocketry, microelectronics. The main areas of the chemical industry were formed on the basis of refineries near the sales markets. The main areas for the location of the chemical industry are the following: the South East of England, Lankshire and Cheshire.

The industries traditional for the British economy, such as the textile industry, are also developing. From industries light industry it has a special role in the industrial development of the country, in the spread of the machine mode of production throughout the world. Woolen fabrics are produced mainly in West Yorkshire, rayon production prevails in the Yorkshire city of Silesden, and cotton fabrics in Lancashire, in small textile towns north-east of Manchester. The production of woolen fabrics, products, yarn is the oldest in the British Isles. The woolen products of British textile workers are still highly valued in foreign markets today.

UK agriculture

Great Britain stands out in agriculture among European countries in that less than two percent of the population is employed in this sector of the economy. With commercial intensification of crops and high level mechanization in some positions, the volume of agro-industrial production exceeded the level of demand in the country. The level of employment in this area is gradually decreasing. In order to create alternative jobs for people in rural areas, the government is trying to divert labor to other industries. The area of ​​land used in agriculture (about three-quarters of the total area) is also decreasing, while land suitable for growing cereals is given over to pastures.

State policy towards agriculture involves increasing the level of productivity and living standards of people employed in the agro-industrial complex, while at the same time maintaining reasonable prices for goods. To achieve this, a system of minimum prices for domestic goods and duties on imports was created. Producers of beef and lamb are specially paid extra to make their product competitive on the European market. Recent measures include restrictions on milk production and compensation to farmers for unused land.

The most important cereals are wheat, oats, rye. A significant part of the cereals is used to feed livestock, but the rest goes to the production of bread, cereals, etc. In animal husbandry, cattle are the most important. In agriculture, they try to maintain a high level of self-sufficiency, with the exception of the production of sugar and cheese; which are imported.

The UK currently ranks sixth among EU member states in terms of agricultural production. On average, one full-time worker here produces products worth 25.7 thousand euros (in gross terms). Agricultural land in the UK is 18.5 million hectares, which is about 77% of the country.

Agriculture in the UK is currently one of the most productive and mechanized in the world. The share of employment in the industry is 2% of the total employment in the country. The total area of ​​agricultural land is 58.3 million hectares (76% of all land in the country). The structure of agricultural production is dominated by animal husbandry. Dairy and meat and dairy cattle breeding, pig breeding (bacon fattening), meat sheep breeding and poultry farming are also developed.

General dynamics of development Agriculture Great Britain in 2006, according to the cost of production of the main types of agricultural products in market prices, had the following indicators: wheat production increased by 16% and amounted to 1.2 billion pounds; barley - by 9.8% to 412 million pounds; rapeseed for production vegetable oil- by 17% to £307 million; sugar beets fell 37% to £168m; fresh vegetables increased by 9.1% to £986 million; plants and flowers decreased by 4.4% to 744 million pounds; potatoes increased by 24% to £625 million; fresh fruit fell 1.2% to £377m; pork increased by 1.3% to 687 million pounds; beef - by 13% to 1.6 billion pounds; mutton - by 2.7% to 702 million pounds; poultry meat - by 1% to £1.3 million; milk decreased by 3.6% to 2.5 million pounds; eggs increased by 2.0% to £357m.

UK service industry

The most remarkable phenomenon that characterizes the UK economy has been the growth of the service sector. It reflects the increase in real incomes of the population, as well as the ratio between spending on goods and services. Representatives of the financial sector and the entertainment and tourism sector especially benefited. Although some services, such as public transport, laundries and cinemas, have reduced their income levels due to a shift towards their own goods, such as cars, washing machines and televisions, this has helped develop service sectors that sell and repair these items. Other service sectors that have increased in demand include hotels, tourism, retail, finance and leisure. Numerous other sectors that previously held little or no market share have become much more significant. They include the production of computers and software, advertising, market research, exhibitions, presentations and conferences. Recently, the UK has also been actively developing the sector of teaching foreign languages, especially English, secondary and higher education by attracting international students.

Currently, the service sector in the UK accounts for about 2/3 of the country's GDP. In it, the main share (about 40%) is occupied by business and financial services. The share of public services accounts for 35%, trade - 19%. Hotel services occupy - 5% of the total services market. Turnover in the service sector of the UK in 2006 amounted to 221.5 billion pounds, its growth compared to the previous year - 8.4%. The UK external trade in services has a positive balance (17.2 billion pounds). In 2006, total exports of services amounted to £125.6 billion. and increased relative to 2005 by 9.8%. Financial services took the leading position in exports.

Currency, finance and banks of Great Britain

While the UK has traditionally maintained its position as the world's financial leader, the 1980s saw significant changes in the structure and regulation of financial institutions. They affected the banking system, the insurance system, the building societies, the stock exchange, and the consumer goods market. Some previously well-defined divisions of activity have become more blurred, for example, if earlier loans for the construction of a house were the exclusive prerogative of building societies, now these loans began to be issued both by banks and Insurance companies. There were two related changes: the transformation of building society affiliates into actual banks with their own cash reserves, and the expansion of all three types of organizations into the real estate market. Building societies are also involved to some extent in investment services, insurance and land services.

London continued to grow as a center for international financial transactions. Capital inflows have increased, as well as currency exchange and securities trading, thus a large number of foreign banks are present in London - Increased competition and technological development has accelerated the process of exchange and trading - The Stock Exchange has been reorganized and the traditional system of brokers and jobbers has been abolished. As a result, a number of companies were formed that became an intermediate link between British and foreign banks and former brokers and jobbers. In the late 1980s, laws were passed to regulate these new financial institutions. We even had to create new regulatory bodies that monitored the implementation of the letter of the law in this area of ​​activity.

All commercial banks are under the supervision of the Bank of England, which has the right to issue banknotes in England and Wales (the banks of Scotland and Northern Ireland have limited rights to issue money in their territories). The Bank of England licenses banks that mainly work with the population (like Sberbank), investment, mortgage and other British or foreign banks. The dividing lines in this sector / have also become less visible, while banks working with individuals, divided into mortgage banks, insurance banks; securities banks, etc. The Bank of England also controls the refinancing rate, which affects the structure and level of interest rates. He actively intervenes in foreign exchange markets, protecting the stability of the pound. The pound sterling is one of the main currencies of the world, and London is one of the most important shopping centers peace.

The savings of the population are invested in the development of the economy through a network of financial institutions. Examples include insurance companies, pension and investment funds. Other organizations specialize in particular areas of funding; thus, financial institutions provide money secured by real estate. There are also companies that finance equipment leasing and medium- and long-term capital markets, which also finance banks or the stock market, including the market for innovative technologies.

There are several organized financial markets in the UK. The securities markets consist of the International Stock Exchange, which deals in listed securities and shares (including government securities and options), the Unlisted Securities Market, for smaller companies, and the Third Market, for smaller companies whose securities are not listed. Actions in the foreign exchange market include trading in certificates of deposit, short-term deposits, etc. Other markets deal with the Euro, currency exchange, futures, etc.

The share of invisible trade (fees and fees for financial services, interest on deposits, profits and dividends) is constantly increasing from one-third to one-half of the total external income of the state. Gold and foreign exchange reserves (gross) of Great Britain as of the end of 2006 amounted to 84.0 billion dollars. (end of 2005 - 79.2 billion dollars), including government - 51.8 billion dollars. (48.1 billion dollars), the Bank of England - 32.2 billion dollars. (31.1 billion dollars).

The fluctuations in the exchange rate of the British pound that took place in 2006 against major currencies varied markedly. If the relative stability of the pound sterling against the common European currency reflects, first of all, the synchronization of economic processes in the UK and countries belonging to the euro area, then the significant strengthening against the dollar is partly the Bank of England maintaining its discount rate at a fairly high level, and partly - the acceleration of national economic growth.

Foreign relations and UK foreign trade

The UK retains an important role in the global economy. The country is one of the five most developed countries in the world and produces about 3% (2000 - 3.2%) of the world's GDP (according to the purchasing power parity of the national currency). In the export of goods and services, its share is 4.6% (2000 - 5.2%), in their import - 5.1% (5.6%). At the same time, there is a reduction in the share of the country in world trade. The macroeconomic situation in the UK has remained stable over the past decade. The growth of real GDP per capita was on average higher than in other G7 countries, unemployment and inflation were lower.

In 2006, the UK GDP growth increased to 2.8%, which corresponds to the level of economic growth in the G7 countries. At the same time, the inflation rate in the UK was lower (2.3% vs. 2.5%). Since the 2001/2002 financial year in the UK, the situation with the size of the state budget deficit has worsened, and in the 2004/2005 financial year its value reached 3.3% of GDP. However, in the 2006/2007 financial year, this figure fell to 2.8% of GDP.

The country continues to maintain a dominant position in the global financial services market. Three-fifths of world trade in international bonds (1st place in the world, primary market), two-fifths - foreign assets (1st place) and derivatives (1st place, the so-called "trading over the counter") are concentrated in the UK , a little less than a third of foreign exchange transactions (2nd place after the USA), a fifth of international borrowings (1st place). oh place). London also leads the way in wealth management for the world's wealthiest people.

The most important commodity and stock exchanges of the world are located in Great Britain: the London Stock Exchange, the London Metal Exchange, the International Petroleum Exchange, the Baltic Exchange.

The UK trade deficit in December 2010 set a record since 1980, when the measurement of the corresponding indicator began. The negative trade balance amounted to $14.5 billion, $1.9 billion more than in November, when an anti-record was also set.

Experts say that the main reason for the sharp increase in the deficit is the heavy snowfall that hit the country in the last month of last year. December 2010 was the coldest in 100 years, causing many UK airports to close. While imports grew by 3.5 percent in December, exports grew by only 1.5 percent.

In general, for the whole of 2010, the deficit amounted to 140.9 billion dollars - 14.8 billion more than a year earlier. The volume of exports amounted to 405.6 billion dollars, and the volume of imports - 546.5 billion dollars.

While the state and support institutions are investing significant resources in increasing the number of exporters among Russian small and medium-sized businesses, according to the Ministry of Economic Development, the share of SMEs in the total Russian export does not exceed 1%. In foreign countries, this figure reaches 20-30%. If you break it down by location, the figure will seem even sadder - the basis of Russian export statistics is made up of companies working with the CIS countries, less often with Asia.

Competitive markets such as the US and UK remain an unattainable dream for Russian small businesses. This is partly facilitated by the regulatory environment and the difficult foreign policy situation, and partly by the unpreparedness of the business itself for foreign markets.

Thus, the British, who have experience of working with Russian companies, note the frivolity of export ambitions, which entrepreneurs in our country traditionally demonstrate. Examples include the desire to “save” on certification and licensing, the unwillingness to invest in foreign market research and spend a lot of time searching for a foreign business partner, as well as the lack of even a minimal desire to adapt to a different business environment.

A partner in a British company that specializes in working with Russian businesses told the story of a manufacturer of healthy snacks for diabetics who was trying to arrange supplies to the United Kingdom. The head of the Russian company insisted on immediate meetings with potential buyers, not agreeing to invest in certification before signing the first contracts. According to the results of product trials initiated by the British partner, it turned out that, according to national standards, the snacks and bars produced are exactly the same thing that British doctors categorically forbid to use for British diabetics.

Cultural differences in doing business are also a serious barrier to which Russian entrepreneurs tend not to pay enough attention, thereby confirming the most ridiculous stereotypes of foreigners about "crazy Russians". So, in the presence of foreign partners, it is better not to voice your plans regarding the use of informal ways to solve the problems facing your joint business.

What needs to be done

Meanwhile, despite the seeming difficulty of working for export for a small business that does not have serious budgets, the process of entering a foreign market for the first time can be reduced to a few simple steps.

To assess the company's ability to work in the market of a particular country, as well as to build a strategy for its conquest, it is important to understand the characteristics of this market, so a future exporter cannot do without research. At the same time, among representatives of small and medium-sized businesses that demonstrate export potential, there are many who sincerely believe that in order to explore the market that the company seeks to enter, it is enough just to “google”. The particular absurdity of using this method becomes apparent when a small business begins to “google” any insiders, for example, about the British medical equipment market in Russian. Obviously, in such a situation, the company is unlikely to receive relevant information for making decisions on the start of foreign economic activity with a particular country.

If you want to understand the market, then you need to find out who are the main players in it - sellers and buyers. Depending on the industry and the specifics of the product / service, these can be corporations, small businesses, online companies or the state. Manufacturing companies also need an understanding of the assortment - what proportion of the market each product occupies. This will allow predicting demand and opening up new niches (sometimes these niches are obvious and banal, for example, it is still difficult to find buckwheat on the shelves of British chains, why not a business opportunity for Russian exporters?).

In order to predict the costs of implementing export ambitions, it is also important for a company at the research stage to assess the cost of logistics, warehousing services, as well as the costs of licensing and certification.

If the main sellers in your industry are represented by distributors, then certification issues can be solved by them - which is more reliable, convenient and usually cheaper. Indicators such as the price segment, the level of income of the population and the average check will help you generally understand the feasibility of trying to start selling to a particular country if you work in the B2C segment. To understand the average check and the price segment, it is important for correct pricing and calculation of payback.

When you start working in developed and competitive markets, you should not forget about the brand. Checking if you are eligible to use the brand you plan to go with is also a good idea during the research phase. Penalties for violations are serious, and supervision is strict - which can later turn into serious expenses.

Step 2. Support institutions

Russian entrepreneurs are lucky - the support institutions in our country pay serious attention to the export topic. In most regions, export support centers have been created and continue to open, where you can get both general information on the conduct of foreign economic activity and specific assistance in organizing business meetings and negotiations.

In addition, trade missions continue to exist in most countries, the main current task of which is to increase trade with other states.

Traditionally, trade missions actively communicate with foreign businesses, so at least they can be useful in finding suppliers. They can also tell about the markets and priority sectors of the country where they are represented.

At the research stage, it is there that small businesses need to contact in order to get the information you are interested in in Russian without any extra costs. Not so long ago, Dmitry Medvedev voiced the idea of ​​reforming the system of trade missions. It is supposed to transfer them under the wing of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, as well as to establish closer cooperation with the Russian Export Center (REC). For SMEs, this means that the focus of trade missions on supporting existing and potential exporters will be even more serious.

Step 3. Participation in business missions and exhibitions

Participation in industry-specific exhibitions and conferences remains one of the most effective ways to find first buyers and assess demand in a new country. The inspiring stories of Russian manufacturers that conquered international markets most often happened due to the active exhibition activities of companies.

Russian flagships such as SPLAT, a manufacturer of oral care products, and Natura Siberica, a manufacturer of organic cosmetics, supply their products to dozens of countries around the world. A huge part of their success in the UK market has been their regular presence at the key European trade show Natural Organic Products Europe in London.

Depending on the industry, exhibition costs may be subsidized by support institutions, even in difficult countries like the UK. Thus, the Skolkovo Innovation Center, together with the REC, is already helping the first Russian technology companies to enter the British market by subsidizing participation in TechWeek in London.

In addition, the embassies of other countries in Russia also seek to help companies enter the national markets of their states. Thus, the British Embassy has a division of the Department of International Trade, which not only organizes business visits to the country, but generally helps with consultations and contacts.

Step 4. Foreign countries support programs for foreign business

Each state (at least in words, but most often in deeds) cares about becoming an attractive place for doing business. In this regard, special support programs are being launched for foreign companies entering the national market. They can be either very targeted - for example, with a focus on attracting innovative businesses, or quite general - the main thing is that a foreign company creates jobs.

For example, the UK, positioning itself as one of the most best countries for doing business (in fact, this is the 7th place in the Doing Business ranking), has developed the state marketing program Britain is GREAT, where serious attention is paid to attracting foreign capital. All opportunities available for foreign business are associated with visa support.

So, in this regard, three options may seem interesting to small businesses.

• The first of these is Solo Representative - visa support for foreign companies seeking to try their hand at the British market. Foreign businesses with plans to scale into the UK market have the opportunity to send a representative to the country to assess the prospects and chances of success. It is important that the sent employee, in the event of his dismissal, will not have the right to remain in the country.
• Another opportunity to access UK opportunities is the Global Entrepreneur program. According to the terms, by raising an investment of £50,000 from one of the incubators or venture funds, an entrepreneur can register a company in the UK, raise financing (including banking) and obtain visas for employees, as well as have access to a team of 19 mentors.
• The third opportunity to scale your business to the UK is the start-up visa, which will be introduced in the spring of 2019. Aspiring entrepreneurs, developing companies in the field of high technologies will be able to obtain a visa.

Finishing the conversation about how to become an exporter, one cannot but mention the need to think globally. Thinking globally in the case of a small business means not only a certain attitude of the owner and his team, but also a certain set of business processes that reflect the company's readiness for constant scaling. As well as meeting the highest standards and the ability to exceed expectations - a British entrepreneur, if he complains, then about great competition. I am grateful to her, because it motivates even small companies to be the best version of themselves.

INTRODUCTION

Securities exist as a special commodity that must have its own market with its inherent organization and rules for working on it. However, the goods sold on the securities market are a special kind of commodity, since securities are only a title to property, documents that give the right to income, but not real capital. The isolation of the securities market is determined precisely by this quality, and the market is characterized for the most part by the free and easily accessible transfer of securities from one owner to another.

The accumulation of money capital plays an important role in a market economy. The very process of accumulation of money capital is preceded by the stage of its production. After the money-capital has been created or produced, it must be divided into parts, one of which is redirected into production, while the other is temporarily released. The latter, as a rule, is the summary cash enterprises and corporations accumulated in the loan capital market by credit and financial institutions and the securities market. All this explains the relevance of the chosen topic.

The purpose of this work is to consider a share as a type of securities.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks:

To study the foreign stock market on the example of the UK stock market;

Give the concept of action;

Describe the types of shares;

Analyze the main directions of development of the securities market in the Russian Federation.

Research methods: comparison method, relative and average values, tabular and graphical presentation of data, grouping, heuristic methods.

The methodological basis of the study for writing this work was legal documents, articles from periodicals, and educational literature.

The sources for writing this project were the works of Berdnikova T.B., Burenin A.N., Vavulsky I., Vidyapina V.I., Dobrynina A.I., Drobozina L.A. , Zhukova E.F., Kilyachkova A.A., Chaldaeva L.A. and etc.

UK STOCK MARKET

General characteristics of the UK stock market

The British stock market is the third largest in the world after the US and Japanese markets. Since the industrial revolution in Europe in early XIX century Great Britain has a long history of development of joint-stock companies. Despite this, only about 5° of the adult population are direct owners of securities, even after the series government programs privatization in the 1980s and 90s. However, the amount of savings held by insurance companies, private pension funds, and fund management groups has risen significantly as this conservative population has begun to use excess personal income to secure their long-term future.

Companies wishing to issue publicly traded shares must comply with the Companies Act and its financial reporting requirements, which are the responsibility of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and not the principal securities regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission. investment (SIB). There is only one “Listing Authority” (in the terminology of the EU Directive) in the UK market, namely the London Stock Exchange, which in turn sets strict initial and ongoing disclosure rules for such companies. As in the US, exchanges do not have a monopoly on transactions, but the volume of trading in the OTC market is not particularly large. Like many other countries, the UK has a second tier market for stocks that do not meet the strict requirements for listing on the Stock Exchange; such a market is called the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

Most trades are made over the phone between exchange members, but it should be noted that the UK system relies heavily on market makers and is therefore essentially a quote based system. A new exchange, Tradepoint, an electronic trading system backed by institutional investors, was created in the early 1990s, but accounts for less than 1% of trading volume. Unlike in the US market, brokers are not required to trade at the “best” price of all exchanges, but only those exchanges of which the broker is a member.

Market regulation is based on so-called self-regulation; the introduction of the new rules is preceded by a significant amount of consultation, although the conditions on it are still almost as strict as in the US markets. The most important aspects are the handling of client funds and the standards and quality of investment advice. Berdnikova T.B. Securities market and exchange business: Tutorial. - M.: INFRA-M, 2010. - p. 174-175