Things to do before I go?

I'll be moving to the UK in April on a Working Holidaymaker's visa. My plan is to travel around Europe/UK for about a month and then settle down in ?London? to find a job.

I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on things to get done in Canada before I leave. I've read some of the posts and it seems pretty important to get a letter of introduction from my bank. Anything else?

Also, I'm hoping to get a permament job once I get there. Are my odds better if I sign up with an agency? I have several years experience as an Analyst in the Retail/IT industry.

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks,

I'd say you'd be well advised to sign up with an agency in London. Many agencies specialise in placing people in your situation from Canada, Aus/NZ and South Africa, and most of these agencies advertise in a free magazine called TNT - pick it up on the street.

The magazine has a website, http://www.tntmagazine.com/uk
though by the look of it the agencies only advertise in the paper version!

Don't know what province you are from, but if you are living out of the country, you may have to wait 3 months to be covered by your provinces health plan (this is the case in Ontario). You can however, go to the ministry and tell them you are leaving. YOu can be gone for up to 5 years without a disruption in coverage, so no waiting. (this is Ontario). Worth looking into as well I returned from living in the states, I had to wait for 3 months and purchase my own insurance.

I don't know if a letter of introduction from your bank at home is going to help you. But hope you have better luck with this than I did! What a nightmare!

Good luck!

I keep hearing stories about people's difficulty obtaining a bank account over here. I got a letter of introduction from my bank in Vancouver, and when I presented it at HSBC, they looked at me strangely. As I recall all they really needed was some money to deposit and proof of my address in the UK. I was lucky with the stable address part, as I was staying at my boyfriend's parents' place. I think all I used was a piece of mail from the local gym that was posted to that address.

My problem- though I had £2500 to deposit (!!!) was that I had no bills in my name. All my bills, including council taxes are covered in my rent. I finally got Lloyd's to agree to take my tenancy contract as proof. If you are able to prove your address, its a piece of cake, it's getting that proof when you first arrive that's hard!

Some banks will allow you to open an international account. We opened out account in Scotland while living in the US. We transfered money to it by Western Union so that it was all set when we got here. We did initially go into the bank when here to check it out before moving however it would be worth checking online or on the phone about opening an account from overseas. The bank we used was Royal Bank of Scotland.