Living and working in London for the summer

Hey, does anyone have any experiences or advice on living and working in London during the summer. I'm a student in Ireland and do not want to stay here for the summer, I want to live in London and find a job there for the summer holidays (June - late September). I have applied to loads of places on-line, mainly shops, but I am making little progress with regards finding a job. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

LordSutch

1/ Take the Stena boat & train (or coach) down to london, that way you can get an 'open ticket' for one month, so if it all goes pear shaped you can return within that month, it also gives you a target date to work towards.

2/ Locate yourself just outside greater London, somewhere like Kingston, or Walton on Thames, or to the North if you prefer, (accommodation in inner London can be cheaper, but it can also be scummy), visit all the job centres in your area & you are sure to find something to suit you > British job centres are very good!

3/ Hook up with the Irish community if you like? (personally I wouldn't) but the choice is yours, enjoy your time, think positively, make new friends, have a blast, but be warned, when you do get a job, and if you get nice digs, there is a very good chance that you might stay for much longer than you planned to stay for

4/ Language; Never ask for a 'sliced pan', as English people will think you are looking for the hardware department (frying pan), never ask for scallions, English people only know them as 'spring onions', mind your language too, and take it easy on the F word, many shops & offices wont appreciate the F word in any form, even the word 'Feck' will get you into hot water (in some offices)! Never ever call Football 'Soccer', if you do, you will get a few odd looks & you will draw attention to yourself. Never say that you have 'slept it out', this means nothing to English people who will say to you 'What have you slept out' ??? just say that you have 'overslept'

Thats all the words of wisdom I can offer, enjoy your adventure, you wont forget it ................

Civilian_Target

Deoends what you want to do. I'd definitely recommend trying to find a houseshare on something like Craigslist, that way you start with friends already.

If you want to do a fair bit of partying, it's better to live close to the centre, otherwise you'll spend half the night trying to get home... that means you'll either have to pay more, or you'll be in crappy accommodation, but if it's only for a summer it might be the best thing.

Hey thanks for the replies! Camelot- would it that easy to get a job by going to a jobs centre? Thanks for the tips too! I'm finding it hard to look for temporary full time positions. To be honest I have absolutely no worries with regards accommodation and such it's just picking up a job that is worrying me. I'd work in retail, hospitality, banking, hospitals, etc. I finish my exams next week so I'm thinking of going to London just to suss it out and actually look for a job on the ground. Housing will follow then thanks for tips Civilian, I would probably prefer to live closer to city all right.

MiddleOne

If you're looking for a job in London - particularly for summer work - the best thing to do is go there and hit as many (reputable) job agencies as you can in person, and for shop jobs go shop to shop asking for applications forms etc. As long as you have accommodation and enough money to keep you going you'll be fine. London isn't the best place to run out of money and everything from travel cards and rent is really expensive.

Have fun.

RATM

I'd recommend staying in a hostel until such time as you've found work. That way you won't have paid a deposit out on a flat before you get a job and if things go pear shaped you can walk away easily. Some hostels might have discounted weekly rates too.

Looking for work (especially in retail/hospitality) is done much better on the ground than online/telephones. Concentrate on tourist areas/attractions where cafes/bars should be getting busy for the summer season and taking on additional staff.

A mate of mine got a summer job in Madame Tussads in London a few years back .His job was to skulk around the pitch black ghost train ride and scare kids by grabbing their arms as the carriages passed through. He said it was the best job ever