“If I’m not going to do it now, I never am!” - Kelly's story

Get to know me

My name is Kelly, I’m originally from South Africa and I'm currently working at Specsavers Woking as an Audiologist and Clinical Lead. I’d always wanted to work in some kind of clinical or medical field. I explored a few options and didn’t know much about audiology to be honest before landing on it - It’s not much of a cute story but here I am and I’m so glad I made the choice I did!

Thinking about relocating to the UK

It was around 3 years after qualifying that I first became aware of Specsavers having opportunities to move to the UK or Ireland. A few of my audiologist friends had moved over already – I think about 3 at that point.

When I was younger I’d never considered moving away to study let alone work. I’m not someone who gets easily scared by things and do really enjoy change, not letting things get stagnant. I told my mum there was this opportunity and just went for it – head first! I ended up moving over to the UK in January 2023.

The process of moving

Getting started, it’s no secret that the process does take some time. There’s a lot of steps to go through, you’ll need registrations and visas for example but there was no rush from my side, nor Specsavers, and for the most part, a lot of parts are out of your control, so you just need to let them unfold.

Specsavers support

In any situation, moving countries is tricky – it’s the unknown. I was grateful to have the support of the International Recruitment team at Specsavers who were on hand to help with any questions I had. They were super quick with replies and feedback so it very reassuring.

My store directors were also super helpful in sorting my accommodation taking another thing off my plate as there’s a lot to think about when you’re moving you know, have I got this with me, have I got that with me so anything off your plate is welcomed.

Why did I make the move?

Getting to learn a new culture, yes, it's similar, but just everything feels new. It's a new challenge. It's a fresh start. You get to travel! I mean, people are going on trips to Europe on the weekend - back home it’s 12 hours to go anywhere.

Helping to feel like home

My experience working as an Audiologist in South Africa was mainly in private practises meaning from a professional perspective there wasn’t much change in the day-to-day of clinics. Another big selling point is that if you are going to consider relocating, I love my country so it’s nice to have a slice of home here - there’s a big South African community. I think that's also what helped me quite a bit because I did come over on my own.

A word to anyone considering

I don’t think before moving I’d truly appreciated the size of Specsavers in the UK. I hadn’t appreciated the scale or the stores, how many businesses are running and then things like PAC (Professional Advancement Conference) where you can go and meet other audiologists from across Specsavers and beyond, and that’s when you realise, yeah, this is big and you can see the impact.