1 - How to get started?

[Torsten]

So, you have made the decision to leave your country and find a job in the UK. What are your first steps? You should use the Internet to establish your first contacts with potential employers. Use your creativity and try to view your job hunting activities as part of your new career. If you go to Google and search for "uk jobs" you will find dozens of data bases with open positions.
Here are some of them:

http://www.totaljobs.com/jobseekers/totaljobs.asp
http://www.topjobs.co.uk/net/HomePage.aspx
http://www.jobs.co.uk/
http://www.livein-jobs.co.uk/
http://www.jobserve.com/
http://www.workgateways.com/
http://www.jobsite.co.uk/
http://www.jobsin.co.uk/
http://www.gisajob.com/
http://www.uknetguide.co.uk/Employment/Job_Search/

Now those 10 addresses are really just a starting point - you will find at least 35 more places on the Internet that offer jobs in the UK. Before you access a job site you should be clear about the following questions:

- What industry do I want to work in?
- Am I looking for permanent employment or would I be willing to work freelance too?
- What do I have to offer to a potential employer?
- How much do I want to earn in my new job?

Also, make sure your CV is up-to-date and available both as an MS Word as well as a PDF file. Another essential ingredient to your successful job hunting campaign is a functional email address. It's best if you use a web based email account which you can access from any place in the world through a web browser.
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[Guest]

Hi Torsten,

I live in Scotland and S1Jobs is a very good site. I also get headhunted a lot via Jobsite that you have mentioned.

Nelly

[Guest]

Hi,

I thought it my be interesting to share my experience. I moved to Edinburgh in October 2003. Before chosing Edinburgh, I had spent quite a long time on the internet looking at job opportunities, using websites of local temp agencies, which gives you an idea of what is available and what salary you can expect. Edinburgh is a financial capital with thus lots of admin jobs in various financials institutions as well as in the public sector.
Having been a bilingual PA in France for a few years (although my English was not that good now that I think about it, and my accent particularly awful) I decided to make the step. 2 weeks before my moving date, I sent electronic copies of my CV to various temp agencies, so that they have my CV in mind when I would go and register. I actually got a couple of replies, asking me to contact them once in Edinburgh. What I did, and also prospected lots of other agencies. In one week, I had a 3 months contract with a correct salary (I don't mean very good but correct for a start: ?7.75 p/hour) in one of the biggest banks of the UK. Having had this experience as a team administrator, keeping references, it was then easy to move from contract to contract, my salary slowly increasing.
I am now about to finish a contract as a PA and hopefully shall I have good news soon to start another contract straight after my current one. And I can tell you I now excell at interviews in English (particurlarly the competencies ones that scared me so much at the beginning).
To summarise, study the market, go ahead, don't be scared, push the doors of temp agencies smile, keep references (they ALWAYS check). Not that you gonna get the job of your dreams but enough to make a decent living. And please keep the fingers crossed for me for my possible new job!

Hope this helps.

N

[Lang Vij Man]

:shock 7.5 p/h , I don't know what to tell, but probably u determined yourself what you deserve and how much enough to survive. Doubt about that at the bank ( Apparantly Barclays or Lloyds) they have overtime work, to make some extra money. I know lots of job opportunities which remind me yours, but point is, does anyone want to get low paid job in the bank ( data entry level), instead of Security in the strip club? I guess that is major problem of unemployment, ppl are looking for job as a clerk (for instance) but they don't agree to work almost for free, and guy from forigner country doesn't mind to work for salary like that in hope of getting better salary after certain period of time. That is like in my chilhood I wanted to be an astronaut and even didn't think about how much I'm going to earn :