You may well have a job lined up in London before you even get here. If so, great! If you don’t, how you go about finding a job will depend a lot on the kind of work you’re looking for.
If you’re looking for casual work, you could just walk into the restaurant, coffee shop, shop, etc. you would like to work in and enquire, or look on their company website. Caterer.com is a good site for hospitality jobs. My students also often use sites aimed at their own communities. It can be easier to get your first job that way, but bear in mind that, if you’re surrounded by people from your own country, you’re unlikely to speak much English. You could also try employment agencies. Reed is an agency on whose site lots of other agencies advertise, so it’s a convenient starting point.
For more skilled work, LinkedIn is probably the best place to look. It’s a good idea to keep a well-written and up-to-date profile on there. I can help you with this, if you want. There’re tons of job sites out there, but Indeed acts as a kind of search engine allowing you to search across them and you’ll come across others through Google Jobs. It’s also very common to use recruiters. These are industry specific, so you’ll have to do a bit of research. Recruiters are used to seeing jobseekers at all levels and will at the very least be able to give you some advice.
Based on my students’ experiences, I would say it can sometimes be a bit difficult to find your first professional job in London, but once you get your foot in the door, there’re a lot of opportunities for progression. You may need to do some volunteering, an internship or an entry level job for a short time to have some UK-based experience to put on your CV and go from there. Some sites for volunteering to check out are Team London run by the Mayor of London, Do-it and CharityJob.
You’ll need a National Insurance Number before you can start work. If you’re an employee, income tax and national insurance will be deducted for you under the PAYE system but, if you’re classed as self-employed, then this is more complicated and you’ll have to keep various records and receipts yourself, and fill in a tax return every year. See the HMRC site for more information. You’ll also obviously need a bank account for your wages/salary to be paid into. HSBC and Barclays are two of the biggest banks, but there are others. You’ll need proof of address to open an account, so it can be easier to at least start off with the online bank Monzo which only requires ID.
You’ll of course need to think about how you’re going to get to and from work, and this will most likely mean public transport. You’ll find all the information you need on the TfL (Transport for London) site. Aside from Google Maps, I would also recommend a transport app called Citymapper.
You’re unlikely to be taking too many taxis to work but, if you do, I would avoid black cabs which are horrendously expensive and use Uber. Having a car in London is likely to be a lot of hassle – think congestion charge, ULEZ charge, parking, etc. If you can avoid it but would still like the occasional use of a car, you could join a car sharing club like Zipcar.
If you have any questions about working in London, just let me know. If you want, I can help you with your CV and covering letter, and preparing for interviews. It can sometimes take a bit of time to find the right job. Don’t look at unsuccessful interviews as ‘failures’. They’re good practice and learning experiences. Each time you’ll get a bit better and become a bit more confident.
Read on for my quick guide to studying and going out in London.