Monday, January 19, 2009

Job Hunting is fun!....NOT

So the job hunt has commenced. Starting up in London is much harder than I ever gave it credit for! It seems as though obtaining anything you need to live here is a Catch 22. Everytime you try to get ahead while you're starting up, it's like being in a maze, and everywhere you turn there's a brick wall infront of you. You need a few things to live and work in London. A flat (somewhere to live), a job (living in one of the most expensive cities in the world, you'll need to be making money while you're spending it), a National Insurance number (if you don't get one of these, you'll be taxed much more than if you do have one, visit Jobcentre Plus to find out how to get yours), and a Bank Account (you obviously need one of these to put money into when you get your job, for more info on opening up a Bank Account in the UK for Canadians visit CanuckAbroad.com). The problem is...when you start to try to get any of these things you need, you'll realize that you need one or more of another one of them in order to get the one you're trying for. It's SO frustrating!

So we have a flat, Thank God. This is one of the hardest to obtain since nobody would like to rent to a couple without jobs. So luckily we got a flat with my friend, Franco (from high school). He's been out here for the last 3 years studying Law. We've tried to obtain our National Insurance number and Bank Accounts but they've been both difficult to obtain without a proof of address. We moved into our flat on the 15th of January. Today we phoned the Gas/Electricity company and put our names on the account. They're going to send us a welcome package with our names on it, so please please please cross your fingers with us and hope that that's enough for us both to get Bank Accounts and National Insurance numbers. As for jobs, we've both been applying a lot on the internet. I've got two interviews with recruitment agencies who both want to place me in Assistant Manager positions. Oh how fun! I can be in Management again!! You know how much I love managing, don't you?! If not, scroll down, there's a nice post that explains exactly how I feel about it. But I need a job, and I need money so I really can't be picky about what comes my way. I'll keep you posted on what becomes of it. But for now, let me depart you with some wisdom. DON'T move to London...it is MUCH to hard to survive here, just don't do it!!!

That's all...will keep you updated on the magnificent lives we have found ourselves with :P

Lauren

ROOMIES!! Franco, Trevor, and Lauren

London's newest Bobby

Me in the London Underground


Good 'ol Big Ben....he sure is big...

1 comment:

nathan said...

Hey GUYS!!!

I finally read your WHOLE blog.

wow posting a comment is hard.Hope this works! Now I can bug you all the time. Sorry you keep getting ripped off... :(

take care,

nathan

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