Moving to England

DUX · 08-10-2003 3:07pm

I have been working for a well known IT company in Dublin for the last 3 years and I was very confident to find a good job in London over the internet very easily but........... I am still here after 3 months of search, this is really pissing me off!!!

x_dancegal · 15-10-2003 6:47pm

oh and one more thing .. i am currently on the dole in Ireland .. i have the money put straight into my bank in Ireland ..
what i'm tryin 2 say is .. although hopefully i will get a job in London ,, do you get more money on the dole here or there ?

PalerPaul · 04-11-2003 3:48pm

The easiest way to get a bank account is if you know someone here and you go in with them. Its an unofficial gurantee to the bank. Halifax will give you an account. I had no drivers licence, no bank statements from Ireland and an out of date passport. The bigger banks give you loads of hassle. Dont even attempt Barclays. Dont touch Irish banks over here, out of sentimental links. They rip you off and they charge about 50 % more for things. They also, although forgiven for thinking so, dont offer benefits because you are with them in ireland, like transfers, they offer the same to everyone. They are more geared up here for busineess accounts, evident on their sites.

NI numbers are straightforward, but can take up to 6 weeks. If you need one, go to benefit office and say you have a job lined up and need one. They have the power to push it forward. Under no circumstances should you be called to the home office. I was, by mistake as they thought Irish and immigrant get treated the same. It was the quickest interview ever, "Hi", "Hi", "Are you Irish?", "Yes", "what are you doing here". It will be in a local benefit office and takes no more than ten minutes, routine and shouldnt be a grilling.

If you need help, the london Irish centre has enormous power and is well funded. The one in Camden I think is the biggest. They can sort you on the right track.

PalerPaul · 04-11-2003 3:55pm

Also, if you are submitting CVs, convert your leaving cert into UCAS points. They are lazy over here and dont bother unless its right in front of them. There are conversion tables on the net. On CV, replace republic of ireland with just Ireland too. If you went to an institute of technology, replace it with university of whatever. People over here dont understand the small differences between the different countries, like the above and they dont bother trying, fair enough when theres so many out there suitable, cant blame them.

PalerPaul · 04-11-2003 5:02pm

Here is the website for the Irish Centre

http://www.irishcentre.org/

Very helpful.

p.pete · 04-11-2003 6:04pm

Cheers PalerPaul, had tried Barclys and was a bit miffed by their service. Will try halifax...

p.pete · 11-11-2003 12:16pm

Getting a bank account is a complete pain in the arse unless you can proove who you are and where you are living. One bank (Lloyds I think) was going to accept my Dublin address but I would have had to make an appointment to go back, I'm sure it would have been a different story by the time I returned (as was the case with Halifax).

I had a letter from my company saying that I am in gainful employment, that I plan to stay several years and my current address. If you have a tennancy agreement or a bill with your address on it or something like that then that will do as proof of address. If like me you are staying with a relation and you aren't on any bills yet then things become tricky. Generally the letter I had from my company wasn't worth anything.

I had to go around five banks (Natwest, Nationwide, Barclays, Llyods and finally HSBC) on Saturday before I found one that would give me an account. I find the whole situation hilarious. I'm earning decent money and I want a bank to take this money from me and hopefully build up deaths with and generally owe money to and they aren't interested.

eth0_ · 11-11-2003 12:24pm

Originally posted by p.pete
Getting a bank account is a complete pain in the arse unless you can proove who you are and where you are living.

I just moved to Belfast a month ago and I had no problems opening a bank account with Halifax.
Here's a tip, if you have an MBNA credit card, you can ask them to change your address to your new UK one, means you get proof of address quickly.

Also, Cahoot.com are easy to open an account with, (and they give a min £250 overdraft on all accounts). Just lie and say you've been at your address 3 years.

pebble · 14-11-2003 4:17pm

Originally posted by eth0_
I just moved to Belfast a month ago and I had no problems opening a bank account with Halifax.
Here's a tip, if you have an MBNA credit card, you can ask them to change your address to your new UK one, means you get proof of address quickly.

Also, Cahoot.com are easy to open an account with, (and they give a min £250 overdraft on all accounts). Just lie and say you've been at your address 3 years.

Could be difficult if you dont have the utility Bills or some other proof of address to back it up.

halcyon · 27-05-2004 11:03am

Sorry to drag up such an old post....

I am planning on moving over to the uk soon. All the apartments i have looked for so far you have to pay by standing order. But you cant get a bank account without the uk address!!! I am so confused arhg! How did you all get past this?

p.pete · 27-05-2004 11:07am

It's tricky alright - I managed to pay my first month and deposit by cash (they made an exception) and just about managed to get a bank account after that.

It really was a pain in the arse - I'll try give you any other information when I get a chance if I can think of any...

halcyon · 27-05-2004 8:10pm

Thanks! I am starting to get worried about it now for sure. The few places I have checked out will only accept standing orders. Oh i hope I come accross some kind landlord :-) Cya

Halcyon

Lump · 27-05-2004 11:41pm

Just an update on the National insurance issue. I applied for mine about 3 weeks ago. It took an hour, I was told what documents to bring and the nice lady in the office filled out the form while asking me the relevant questions.

I was told that I would get a comfirmation letter in a couple of days, and that it may take up to 9 months to process the application.... I got a bit worried but she assued me it was fine to work with the temporary number and if any employers had a problem to show them the letter saying that I had applied for a permenant number.

So I went home and recieved the confirmation letter a couple of says after (nice one), then about 2 weeks later I recieved a letter with my national insurance printed on it. I was informed that my card would follow soon after, which it did, today actually.

I assume they say it'll take 9 months incase you turn out to be an illegal emmigrant.

I know that if I want to claim benefit I need to have been contributing to my National insurance.

John

roguetrader · 30-05-2004 9:44pm

Growler - yeah i know wot u mean about the City I've only started this week in my position as a currency trader in the City, the next 3 months r gonna b very slow, most traders will be in their spanish villas for the summer. (lol)

colincarnate · 05-08-2004 1:03am

Hi i'd like some questions about moving to London answered if ya have a sec', cheers

1) When you get an apartment, what's the usual deposit/initial payment for the rented flat?

2) What's the IT situation like over there, especially for recent graduates?

squeeze · 05-08-2004 1:40am

Am moving to London on 29th with my girlie
Seriously dificult to find a rent a vehicle company who will allow you to pick up in Dublin and drop of in the UK (have just trawled the web)

Failing this option, the golden pages turns up very little in the ball park I'm looking for.. looking to bring a couple of standard moving boxes and a telly/video either manually,with An Post/SDS or some private company to London

Any tips/links advice would be greatly appreciated

Just got an online quote from HERTZ - €1147.37 for a Ford Ka for 24 hrs!

p.pete · 05-08-2004 7:29am

When I was looking for a flat in Reading most agencies looked for 1 and 1/2 months rent deposit - which is quite steep. If you manage to avoid the agencies then there could be a different story.

I think I heard that there is the most graduate positions this year for a number of years, although that wasn't an IT specific report. Things seem a bit better then they have been but your best bet is to trawl the jobs websites and see if there is many things that you feel you could go for.

colincarnate · 05-08-2004 9:03am

cheers pete, my jaw drops at jobserve.co.uk, so many jobs there up on it like, but i'm always wondering are they real jobs like i.e. they're not just up there for the craic and some grad jobs are mad for Red-Brick and A-Levels - and they seem weird and scarey to me.
I'm also afraid that they'll only know one college in Ireland and it'll be Trinity - which i didn't go to :eek:

My plan though is to go over with my friend, live in a hostel for a few days and use the days to get a place then a job.

also this guy said that there's IT jobs on the outskirts of London like Hertfordshire and Surrey, what are we talking about in distance to those places in terms of: would hertfordshire be like Leixlip distance or Carlow or some mad place? thanks again

The Brigadier · 12-08-2004 2:19pm

Herts is about 1 hour on the train from Central London.

I have just got a job in Horley which is in surrey (just) beside Gatwick Airport. 45Mins on Train to Central London

p.pete · 12-08-2004 2:53pm

I'm in reading and I can (but rarely do) get into London in 35-40 mins. Quite a few tech jobs out this way too.

A lot of places like jobserve have the jobs entered in by agencies - several agency can advertise the same job all trying to get the business. And I suppose there's the few Red Herrings trying to get a hold of your details to put on file...

Darren · 12-08-2004 3:05pm

Lads,
I work in IT in West london for one of the big airlines. The IT graduate and generally the whole grad recruitment situation in London is pretty grim. Forget about the number of jobs advertised in Jobserve, you'll find that a hell of a lot of them are duplicates and a lot of them are just fishing for CVs.

I've worked in london for years both permie positions and contracting. One piece of advice is to try and get a job located on the same side of London that you are on. For example Reading to London is easily commutable as long as your job is in the Paddington region, same story that if you live in Surrey, Victoria and Waterloo are easily commutable. The problem with commuting is when you have to cross the city. I once travelled from Ealing to 'The City', the nearest tube station was Aldgate. Getting to Paddington was a 15 minute journey on the train, it then used to regularly take me anything up to an hour on the tube to travel from Paddington to Aldgate which is a lot less distance than from Ealing to Paddington.

pebble · 12-08-2004 4:04pm

Well, I'm in Windsor, and it's not that bad.
25 minutes to London. But good advice with regards to the job onthe same side of London as you arrive.
There is no fun in getting a 30 minutes train to Waterloo, only to add on another 25 minutes for a bus or tube to get somewhere else.

Apart from that, plenty of jobs around!

Sajan · 16-08-2004 3:31pm

Is there anywhere that is reasonably priced and in a niceish area around London to live. Or on the other hand. Is there places that you wouldn't recommend to live.

grumpytrousers · 16-08-2004 3:38pm

Is there anywhere that is reasonably priced and in a niceish area around London to live. Or on the other hand. Is there places that you wouldn't recommend to live.

Everywhere is expensive in London, just that some places are less expensive than others - and it's all subjective, depending on how much you're earning, how much you spend on travel and what your general 'needs' for a good quality of life are.

For instance, I lived down in Barnes in SW13. Expensive-ish, but I didn't have to commute to work as I was within walking distance (around 2 miles, but the train/bus was no quicker!) and so money saved on gym membership and public transport meant that paying £450 a month didn't seem that bad...

Traditionally, North of the River is cheaper and the further out from the city centre you go, as well. Loot is good for finding places to live, and there's loads of other ones as well. However, as you'll have gathered, if you live on the extreme North East and you're working in the South East the hassle of the tube, the time, the sweatiness etc may wipe out the benefits of having that few bob extra. Not to mention the inconvenice of not really being able to go out to the local with your work colleagues of a Friday night!

Darren · 16-08-2004 3:48pm

Public transport is so unreliable and expensive that if you are moving here it would be best to move near to where you work.

I live in West London and it's not too bad. I like areas like Uxbridge and Ruislip but even looking at a tube map you can see that they are a good bit out. For a good indication of housing costs in West London take a look at www.ealinghomes.co.uk and www.uxbridgehomes.co.uk

The Brigadier · 16-08-2004 3:51pm

Can I recommend you have a look at

www.findaproperty.co.uk to get an idea of what is available...

My big piece of advice though is live near to work....

pebble · 17-08-2004 1:24pm

Darren wrote:

Public transport is so unreliable and expensive that if you are moving here it would be best to move near to where you work.

I live in West London and it's not too bad. I like areas like Uxbridge and Ruislip but even looking at a tube map you can see that they are a good bit out. For a good indication of housing costs in West London take a look at www.ealinghomes.co.uk and www.uxbridgehomes.co.uk

To be fair, I think the British transport system is very much maligned. Comparing it to the Irish transport system, I think most people will agree that it is far superiour. Yes, it is more expensive, but then again, you get what you pay for...

With regards Uxbridge, I think he mentioned living *in* London. Both Ruislip and UXbridge may be inside the M25, but so is Esher!

All in all, where ever you work, live near it. it will save you a fortune in travel money, and you can get cheapish accomodation where ever you are. By the way, Rental prices are on the way down over here.
Too many buy-to-let flats and houses on the market at the moment.

Darren · 17-08-2004 2:06pm

pebble wrote:

To be fair, I think the British transport system is very much maligned. Comparing it to the Irish transport system, I think most people will agree that it is far superiour. Yes, it is more expensive, but then again, you get what you pay for...

With regards Uxbridge, I think he mentioned living *in* London. Both Ruislip and UXbridge may be inside the M25, but so is Esher!

All in all, where ever you work, live near it. it will save you a fortune in travel money, and you can get cheapish accomodation where ever you are. By the way, Rental prices are on the way down over here.
Too many buy-to-let flats and houses on the market at the moment.

The British transportation system is rubbish. I should know, I've been using it daily for the past 31 years. Uxbridge and Ruislip are both in the LONDON borough of Hilliingdon. I know, I lived there.

grumpytrousers · 17-08-2004 2:56pm

The British transportation system is rubbish. I should know, I've been using it daily for the past 31 years.

Pisses all over the Irish one, mind....you've obviously not had the 'pleasure' of the Dublin-Westport train on any given Friday, the cold Sligo-Dublin one, the joys of going down to Killarney by Irish rail....

Darren · 17-08-2004 3:33pm

grumpytrousers wrote:

Pisses all over the Irish one, mind....you've obviously not had the 'pleasure' of the Dublin-Westport train on any given Friday, the cold Sligo-Dublin one, the joys of going down to Killarney by Irish rail....

larnroad Eirann - Dublin - Kilkenny - Dublin many, many times on the Irish Railway. The only thing that gets me down is that the last train leaves Dublin so early. If I leave work on Friday evening to visit the family, catch a flight and get to Dublin I can't get the train to Kilkenny because they have all gone. I have also noticed that the price seems to have risen quite a bit over the past few years.

The British Railways have mastered the art of putting shareholder's pockets before their customer's safety. Seriously, using the British Railway everyday is putting people under massive strain both emotionally and financially. Nearly every non third world country I have ever been to has a far superior public transport system to the one in the UK.

Have a look at www.nationalrail.co.uk
The price for a midweek return from London to Birmingham a trip of 119 miles in each direction leaving at 9.15 am is 97GBP.

According to the larnroad Eirann website, a day return Dublin - Waterford (a distance of about 100ish miles) is 26 euros.

Moving to England

Comments