How Could I Approach Moving to London to Work?

watwatwat on 03/07/2016 - 13:19

I'm looking to move to London at the end of the year with my partner on the 2 year mobility visa. We had thought it would be nice to travel for up to a month once we got there, before settling in to jobs. But it seems quite hard to apply for and arrange a job before leaving and I doubt employers would be willing to wait much more than a month for a candidate to start, once they've provided an offer (or we could try asking for longer).

Our current roles require 1 month notice. So if we managed to get an offer after interviewing from aus online, the lead time to start would be at least 1 month plus the time to fly over there and settle accommodation, plus any potential vacation time. If we didn't do any vacation, we could probably make it work. Fly over there after a month, maybe take a week living in a hostel to organise an apartment and start work the week after or something. But it would feel pretty rushed and not exactly the ideal way to begin a new journey in a fresh country.

The other option would be to quit our current jobs with 1 month notice. Then fly out and head around Europe for a month before heading back to London, arrange an apartment and start looking for a job. Obviously this is more risky and could result in either of us unable to find a job for a while. I would personally feel a bit uncomfortable/anxious with this option.

I currently work in tech support and will be seeking a support or sysadmin job over there. I am pretty unfamiliar with the job market over there albeit I hypothesise it is better than here.

Any thoughts on how we may like to approach this?

Education & Work

Comments

  • spackbace on 03/07/2016 - 13:36

    I am pretty unfamiliar with the job market

    Up till that point I thought this was a well-researched idea :/

    • watwatwat on 03/07/2016 - 13:59

      I know the industry is better than aus. I've looked at uk job dues etc.

      So maybe it was my poor phrasing. I just meant I've never tried applying for jobs first hand nor worked there.

  • thatonethere on 03/07/2016 - 16:18
    +1

    London is super expensive so best to go if you have a job lined up. You will need to find accommodation outside of London.

    If you have certifications for your IT career you should have a reasonably good chance.

    Post Brexit however the London economy is probably either going to tank - or there will be heaps of work having to setup systems previously abandoned when they became part of the EU.

  • kywst on 03/07/2016 - 17:23
    +1

    Lived in London for 3.5 years as an expat brat in my younger days. Good times. You won't be enjoying yourself nearly as much as you think because you straight up won't be able to afford it. Be prepared to earn approx. 400 GBP per week in a sysadmin/support role … You'll scrape by but don't think you'll be travelling EU every other weekend on that sort of money given the rental prices unless you're living out near Heathrow type of distance from town. As far as I'm concerned London stops at the outer edge of zone 2 on the tube and the rest is "Greater London". If I were you I'd be lining a role up prior to committing as while there may be positions available there is also a lot of competition.

  • RockyRaccoon on 03/07/2016 - 17:53
    +1

    albeit I hypothesise it is better than here.

    Its always greener on the other side!!

  • spacemansam on 03/07/2016 - 21:05
    +5

    Hey, I moved to London just under 2 years ago. Can I ask why you are choosing to go via the Tier 2 (sponsored) visa rather than the Tier 5 visa? I'm on the Tier 5 Visa and because there is no requirement to have a job there's no pressure to get one quickly. When we first arrived we initially wanted to travel first but after quickly realising how expensive everything is, we decided to work for a few months to save then travel and have been fortunate enough to take big trips every 3 months.

    Have a look at http://www.indeed.co.uk/ and see what the job market is like. I have a few friends from Oz who work in IT as contractors in London and they've taken between 1-2 months to find work which they say isn't too bad.

    I've written a guide for Australians moving to London which you may find useful
    https://thethriftytravellers.com/2016/04/20/the-ultimate-gui…

    London is such a great city and a fantastic place to base yourself to travel. Don't worry if you can't travel straight away, there will be plenty of opportunity to do so if you plan to stay for a few years. Also keep in mind if you are coming at the end of the year, the weather around Europe probably doesn't make it the most enjoyable to travel during that time, so that might be something to factor in too.

    Good luck with it all!

    • [Deactivated] on 04/07/2016 - 12:39

      Useful guide. Well done.

  • dasher86 on 04/07/2016 - 09:22

    It took me quite a while to line up work whilst in London.
    I think I was jobless for about 1-2 months and living in a hostel.
    I still lived in a hostel for a while even when i was working full time.

    What i found to be priceless was actually getting in contact with recruitment agencies.
    As soon as I managed to get a network things changed pretty quick for me.

    This may not seem ozb of me but i paid a relocation company while i was actually living there. I had heard some good things and decided it was worth a punt as I was struggling to even get an interview.

    The company sent my resume around to their networks and pretty much landed a job within a week after that. First interview.
    My struggle was to get my resume read because of the sheer amount of applicants these recruiters get.
    I had an in with the relocation company.

    After that work came to me any time i wanted it.

    London to me was pretty cheap relative to my wage I was earning in a day what some of my housies were earning in half a week and towards the end of my time there what they were earning in a week.

    I won't mention which agency i paid as i don;t want to seem like i am plugging them but i definitely got my moneys worth from them with the expat nights and trips they organised as well. Free booze at their parties definitely paid off the initial fee i paid them and I still have friends I met through the company until this day.

    I need to mention I had a lot of savings so wasn't concerned with finding work immediately but would've had to come home after six months if i didn't find work.

    I think I was living pretty bare in a hostel I paid 8-12 GBP a night and switched depending on pricing and room availability. I used topcashback and hostelbookers to find the cheapest hostels. on top of the money i paid for a room I probably spent nearly that again on instant meals from Tesco, sainsbury a day. So overall at the start i think i was living on 25GBP a day excluding transport and entertainment.

    • Icecold5000 on 05/07/2016 - 14:22

      What kind of job/industry were you in?

      • dasher86 on 05/07/2016 - 14:31

        I was working an accountant.
        Industry High end Fashion/Retail and also Leisure and Hospitality (boutique).

        I had a company payment structure and was paying very little tax as i was able to deduct all my living expenses and able to claim VAT.

        • Icecold5000 on 11/07/2016 - 21:13

          Thanks mate, for a professional services role is about 40 to 45k achievable in London? This brexit thing has messed up my plans a lot.

        • dasher86 on 11/07/2016 - 22:18

          @Icecold5000:
          GBP or AUD?

        • Icecold5000 on 11/07/2016 - 23:49

          @dasher86

          GBP

        • dasher86 on 12/07/2016 - 08:21

          @Icecold5000:
          Really depends where in your career you are at.
          40-45k sounds managerial level.

        • Icecold5000 on 12/07/2016 - 10:55

          @dasher86:

          Cheers, I get the feeling we're quite overpaid in Sydney so will have to adjust my expectations accordingly. I think the median wage in London is around 21 GBP which is not a whole lot.

        • dasher86 on 12/07/2016 - 11:26

          @Icecold5000:
          I think it's all relative.
          Cost of living equivalent to the GBP I would say is most likely cheaper in Sydney. If you're able to manage you're rental cost to around a third of your income you're doing okay.
          It's sometimes hard to do that in London with rental for a 1 bedroom in a share house roughly being 110GBP-140GBP per week
          And if you're earning minimum which is around 250GBP it doesn't take much to erode your disposable income.
          I would say groceries and alcohol were a lot cheaper over there.

  • [Deactivated] on 05/07/2016 - 17:02
    +1

    I had a mate move from WA to London and he tried for three years to get a job. He was skilled and well respected in his job but there was nothing for him in London.
    He returned to WA and continued to be a shepherd.

    • kywst on 06/07/2016 - 18:00

      He must have felt a little sheepish …

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