The email that informed me I got the internship caught me by surprise not only because I didn't think I wouldn't get it but also because I had no money at all. My bank account status was flashing "broke". I received the email one Wednesday and I was supposed to start working on Friday. It's not like I hadn't told the interviewer I lived in Spain, but he didn't believe me. Like I would joke about something like that. He said, "Yeah, but I mean where do you live in London. It's not like you are going to travel all the way from Spain for this interview". - "Well..."
My father helped me and gave me 500 euros. 120 euros went to the travelling expenses. Well, I was lucky enough to crash at a Spanish friend's house. My plan was to stay there for two days until I found a place. We looked on Gumtree for rooms to share because the funds were scarce. The internship was unpaid and it could last 2 to 4 weeks until I was lucky enough to get a paid job. The plan was to look for any other kind of job in the meantime so I could stay in London.
She gave me a great deal of good information:
1) Zone 2 is ideal to live in. It is fairly close to the central area, yet it is much cheaper. Besides, the travel card between zone 1 and 2 is 30 pounds a week, while it goes higher as you move father. For instance, if you live in zone 5 and you need to commute to zone 1 for work, you'd pay 50 pounds a week for your travel card, which is what? Around 220 pounds a month for transport! And you end up spending most of your time on a moving vehicle... Fun!
We looked for places in White City, which is near a huge shopping centre called Whiteleys. The plan was to be near the shopping centre to have access to jobs in stores and restaurants.
2) When you are trying to settle in, the best option is to share a room with someone else, preferably a friend. In Zone 2, you can share a room with someone in a flat from 60 to 100 pounds a week. Accommodation is a whole story in London. I will dedicate the next post only to accommodation. It is one of the most frustrating aspects about London.
3) Look for any kind of job. If there is something London boosts with is jobs... well, crappy jobs! But when you are settling in, trying to get things right, you cannot be that selective. London is an expensive city and you need to have some sort of income to keep you afloat. Otherwise, the city can become overwhelming and it all can go wrong, as you'll see in the next posts how quickly money can disappear from you bank account by just trying to survive.
So any kind of job will have to do. Give out CVs in stores, restaurants, look in places
Here are a few job sites:
http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk
http://www.gumtree.com/jobs/london
http://www.reed.co.uk/jobs/london
Some people go to a job agency, pay 10 pounds to get trained and then do temporary work. This is very useful for those who didn't come to London for a full time job and just need to stay afloat for a while or combine this kind of work with something else. When I find the number of the temp agencies, I will update this post.
4) IDEA: Some people come to London for two weeks. They stay in a hostel while giving out CVs. For a restaurant, they should be able to get a trial very soon. Once they have a job, they look for long-term accommodation. If not, they try until money wears thin and then they go back to their home countries. The thing with long-term accommodation is that they ask for a deposit (4 to 6 weeks of rent) and for a minimum stay (usually 6 months to 1 year), but remember that landlords are not institutions but normal people, so you can always negotiate.
5) IMPORTANT RULE: don't eat outside. Just because you are living in a hostel or have just arrived, it doesn't mean that you can be spending a lot of money on food. Be sensible about this. Buy bread and butter, and drink water from the tap. Ok, so you can eat cheaply without living on bread. I don't want to cause obesity in anyone. In Sainsbury's, you can find roasted turkey ready to eat for 1 pound. Salads are very expensive, though. Buy one mixed leaves salad and use it for a few days. Some people who live in hostels, keep their food in a plastic bag outside their windows. This is not efficient on the summer, but during the rest of the year, the weather will keep them naturally refrigerated. However, authorities do not recommend it for health reasons. I did it for three months and I'm still alive, but I guess time will tell...
My father helped me and gave me 500 euros. 120 euros went to the travelling expenses. Well, I was lucky enough to crash at a Spanish friend's house. My plan was to stay there for two days until I found a place. We looked on Gumtree for rooms to share because the funds were scarce. The internship was unpaid and it could last 2 to 4 weeks until I was lucky enough to get a paid job. The plan was to look for any other kind of job in the meantime so I could stay in London.
She gave me a great deal of good information:
1) Zone 2 is ideal to live in. It is fairly close to the central area, yet it is much cheaper. Besides, the travel card between zone 1 and 2 is 30 pounds a week, while it goes higher as you move father. For instance, if you live in zone 5 and you need to commute to zone 1 for work, you'd pay 50 pounds a week for your travel card, which is what? Around 220 pounds a month for transport! And you end up spending most of your time on a moving vehicle... Fun!
We looked for places in White City, which is near a huge shopping centre called Whiteleys. The plan was to be near the shopping centre to have access to jobs in stores and restaurants.
2) When you are trying to settle in, the best option is to share a room with someone else, preferably a friend. In Zone 2, you can share a room with someone in a flat from 60 to 100 pounds a week. Accommodation is a whole story in London. I will dedicate the next post only to accommodation. It is one of the most frustrating aspects about London.
3) Look for any kind of job. If there is something London boosts with is jobs... well, crappy jobs! But when you are settling in, trying to get things right, you cannot be that selective. London is an expensive city and you need to have some sort of income to keep you afloat. Otherwise, the city can become overwhelming and it all can go wrong, as you'll see in the next posts how quickly money can disappear from you bank account by just trying to survive.
So any kind of job will have to do. Give out CVs in stores, restaurants, look in places
Here are a few job sites:
http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk
http://www.gumtree.com/jobs/london
http://www.reed.co.uk/jobs/london
Some people go to a job agency, pay 10 pounds to get trained and then do temporary work. This is very useful for those who didn't come to London for a full time job and just need to stay afloat for a while or combine this kind of work with something else. When I find the number of the temp agencies, I will update this post.
4) IDEA: Some people come to London for two weeks. They stay in a hostel while giving out CVs. For a restaurant, they should be able to get a trial very soon. Once they have a job, they look for long-term accommodation. If not, they try until money wears thin and then they go back to their home countries. The thing with long-term accommodation is that they ask for a deposit (4 to 6 weeks of rent) and for a minimum stay (usually 6 months to 1 year), but remember that landlords are not institutions but normal people, so you can always negotiate.
5) IMPORTANT RULE: don't eat outside. Just because you are living in a hostel or have just arrived, it doesn't mean that you can be spending a lot of money on food. Be sensible about this. Buy bread and butter, and drink water from the tap. Ok, so you can eat cheaply without living on bread. I don't want to cause obesity in anyone. In Sainsbury's, you can find roasted turkey ready to eat for 1 pound. Salads are very expensive, though. Buy one mixed leaves salad and use it for a few days. Some people who live in hostels, keep their food in a plastic bag outside their windows. This is not efficient on the summer, but during the rest of the year, the weather will keep them naturally refrigerated. However, authorities do not recommend it for health reasons. I did it for three months and I'm still alive, but I guess time will tell...
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