Questions from a Canadian moving to London

Hi there,

I'm moving to London at the end of January with a 5 year UK ancestry Visa and I had a couple key questions.

I realize there are other forums with answers to these but I was hoping that someone that has been through this might be able to help me a bit more specifically.

Also I have money to support myself for about 3 months without a job.

Firstly, my main concern is finding employment once I reach London. I have been looking at jobs and have applied to hundreds, but I feel like no one really wants to hire someone that isn't in the country yet, so I was wondering if there are any easy ways to find employment over there right off the bat, or if there is any agency that takes your resume and helps you find a job?

The way it's set up here is that agencies will set you up with a job and just take a cut of your paycheck every week, and that's what I was hoping to find.

Secondly, I was wondering if it is possible to get a social insurance number from Britain before actually going over there?

Thirdly, just wondering if it's better to get a pay as you go phone when you get over there, or bring a phone from Canada and try to set it up with a uk company

Lastly, anybody have a hookup to some cheaper single rooms available in London for short term rent like dormitory style where I can spend a month or two for under 500 pounds. I have friends to stay with initially but I don't want to be a burden for them for too long


Thanks in advance for any help it's really appreciated!

Hi Scarbroad!

Best of luck with the move - it may be tough at first, but you'll grow to love it!

Hopefully I can hep a little with some of your questions... And what kind of work are you hoping to do?

Finding employment can be tricky - but it's not impossible. I guess it really comes down to the type of work you want to do as there seemed to be plenty of live-out work opportunities in the hospitality/retail industries while I was over there (Jan. 2010 - Dec. 2011). For most professional roles, a recruitment agency may be your best bet. They won't charge you anything up front - but as you mentioned, they take a cut of your hourly rate. My girlfriend is a Social Worker (for instance) and found work quite quickly with the help of a recruiter. As a temporary worker, her hourly rate was higher than the permanent staff - but on the other hand, she received no benefits or holiday pay. If I recall - her recruiter was taking about 5 pounds per hour of her wage - and she was considered an employee of the recruitment company, as they hold the contract for the position. Obviously, this would vary with with the industry and recruitment company as well. In her situation, they worked on her behalf to arrange interviews one she had arrived - from there, it was up to her to be successful in the interview.

There are companies (like the one I work for) that can arrange hospitality jobs with accommodation include before you've arrived - but our service and others like it require a one time fee to be paid up front - so it really depends on what kind of work you are looking for and whether you want to have a position secured pre-departure. Outside of hospitality though, I am not sure there is any way to secure a position without attending an interview in person after you've arrived.

The equivalent of the SIN in the UK is the National Insurance Number. It's easy to get - but it does require that you are working before you apply. Once you have a job secured - you will call need to contact Job Centre Plus and they will then send you an application form in the mail (they don't tend to do this until you have a job, as they require some employment information with your application). Once you submit your application - they send out a letter of approval and your NIN will follow in the mail shortly after. Once you have this in place - you are also eligible for health cover under NHS, which is great! You just need to register with a GP in the area where you are living.

Phones: Pay as you go is cheap over there and you can pick up a basic handset from 10 pounds (though, it really depends on how fancy a phone you want/need) - on 02, I was topping up no more than 20 pounds per month - and that also got me bolt-ons with unlimited text, free incoming calls, and unlimited data. It really depends how many calls you make though!

I can send you in the right direction for accommodation in London too if you like - they will set you up in a share house in London's zone 3 - likely sharing a room with another person. The houses themselves are great though - I've been to several of them. Their rates are between 11 and 15 per night last I was told - so expect to pay between 75 and 110 a week, or 300-450 per month. It varies with the house, how many other's live there, area, etc. Happy to send you some more information on this if you like!

Hope this information helps - feel free to fire any other questions my way!

-Greg Dion