Graphic designer, looking for a job in london

laura1990

hey everyone! im 21 and have just finished college and am making the move to london. Im a graphic designer, so im looking for employment in that area. Ive already decided that im going to have a job sorted before I make the move.

Id like to live in an irish populated area, so im just wondering could I get a few names of places where there's a few irish. Its possible ill be making the move on my own, so it'd be nice to live in an irish community;)

Also how did people go about sorting out jobs before they went over, My plan is to google design companies in london and give them a call, or Im going to google them and fly over for a week with my portfolio and do the job hunting in person.

Any help is appreciated
laura

djpbarry

laura1990 wrote: »

Id like to live in an irish populated area, so im just wondering could I get a few names of places where there's a few irish.

It’s virtually impossible to avoid Irish people no matter where you are in London – I don’t think you need to specifically plant yourself in any particular area. I would advise that you wait until you find a job and then see where would be convenient commute-wise, rather than tying yourself into the idea of living in an “Irish area”.

laura1990 wrote: »

Also how did people go about sorting out jobs before they went over...

Searched for jobs online (I couldn’t recommend a website for graphic design jobs I’m afraid), lined up some interviews, flew over and stayed with a family member for about a month until I got a job. Flying back and forth is very expensive and time-consuming. I would recommend you do some legwork at home searching for jobs, then when you get a call to meet someone in person, you should aim to base yourself in London for a few weeks so you’re available at short notice to anyone else who might want to meet you.

laura1990

From what i gather theres plenty of irish in london alright, but your right i would base where i live around my job and not where there is the most irish

I'd be staying in hotels and trying to keep my job at home while i fly over and back to london so I dont think id be staying over for a month, but I understand job hunting would be far easier if i was over there.

I know rent/living will be expensive over there, but I coped in america with a hugh rent bill and no job (and no furniture :rolleyes:) but is it hard to get a month to month lease? I had an idea in my head too that ill be living outside london in a commuter town and taking the tube in, but I was going to bring my car from ireland to do a bit of travelling around when i have time off work, would a car parking space set me back a good few bob even though im outside london a fair bit.

LadyMayBelle

laura1990 wrote: »

From what i gather theres plenty of irish in london alright, but your right i would base where i live around my job and not where there is the most irish

I'd be staying in hotels and trying to keep my job at home while i fly over and back to london so I dont think id be staying over for a month, but I understand job hunting would be far easier if i was over there.

I know rent/living will be expensive over there, but I coped in america with a hugh rent bill and no job (and no furniture :rolleyes:) but is it hard to get a month to month lease? I had an idea in my head too that ill be living outside london in a commuter town and taking the tube in, but I was going to bring my car from ireland to do a bit of travelling around when i have time off work, would a car parking space set me back a good few bob even though im outside london a fair bit.

I had thought about bringing my car over when i first came, but glad i didn't..it is so hard to get parking etc, and anyways the public transport brings your everywhere. On my street where there is parking ( zone 4!), many commuters from further afield park there cars here and commute into central london...so i would really think twice about it unless you really, really need it.

Back in Ireland, I would be lost and almost unemployable without a car but over here it's taken as given you'll use public transport..

djpbarry

laura1990 wrote: »

I had an idea in my head too that ill be living outside london in a commuter town and taking the tube in...

That will most likely leave you with a very substantial commute - I'd think long and hard about that if I were you. Rents will unquestionably be lower if you move out to zone 6+, but that may well leave you away from the action - not something you want as a 21-year-old, I'm guessing.

laura1990 wrote: »

...but I was going to bring my car from ireland to do a bit of travelling around when i have time off work, would a car parking space set me back a good few bob even though im outside london a fair bit.

To be honest, I think it would make a lot more sense for you to just rent a car when you need one.

laura1990

Forgive my stupidity but is this zone 4 and 6 thing like Dublin 1, 2 etc. So id be closer to the heart of the city in zone 4 than 6 right?
By no means is the car essential, just at the weekends id love to take off and go for trips around the country (I love cars, and driving and roadtrips )

However you are right, the closer to the city I can get cheaply the better, (not just for work for the social aspect too).

Since i'll probably be on my own (at the most there will be two of us) ill be looking to move into a house with strangers. rent wise what will a room in a house/apartment in a relatively ok area, where I dont have a hugh commute but am still not in the heart of the city, cost me.
In my head ive picked a ball park figure of £100 a week utilities included.....am I about right or is it wayyyyy ,more

LadyMayBelle

This thread will give you some of your answers I think:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056091959

Look at the Tube/rail map on Transport for London and you will get an idea of the zones: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/standard-tube-map.pdf

It's also a good side www.tfl.gov.uk to find out distances and how to get places..

The car thing tho is going to be choice at the end of the day but there is so much to do in London, the transport links are great and the cost of keeping a car here...esp if you want to be somewhere central..think it through well!

djpbarry

laura1990 wrote: »

Forgive my stupidity but is this zone 4 and 6 thing like Dublin 1, 2 etc.

Not exactly – have a look at a tube map and you’ll see the zones marked in the background. The fare you pay on public transport is based on the zone number you are travelling to/from – travelling into zone 1 from outer zones can be very expensive, even with an oyster card.

laura1990 wrote: »

By no means is the car essential, just at the weekends id love to take off and go for trips around the country (I love cars, and driving and roadtrips )

If that’s all you need it for, then I would suggest you consider getting rid of your car and just renting when you need one – it’ll probably work out far cheaper.

laura1990 wrote: »

In my head ive picked a ball park figure of £100 a week utilities included.....am I about right or is it wayyyyy ,more

It really depends on where you want to live – sharing a 2-bed flat in a relatively central area will cost a lot more than that. You can get an idea of how much you’ll be paying in rent by having a look at sites like http://www.rightmove.co.uk. If you’re looking for flatmates, try http://www.spareroom.co.uk.

laura1990

Cheers for the links everyone making things alot easier! Have decided to let my job dictate the car situation, so ill get a job, then a place a live close enough to my job, and if I can have a car i will, if not it'll stay in ireland .

Am just back from england today, really liked some places in whales might look for a job there too

aoifecliff2

Just moved to London and goggle-eyed from trawling the internet for jobs related to either law and/or German. Any ideas?
Cheers!

exiledelbows

aoifecliff2 wrote: »

Just moved to London and goggle-eyed from trawling the internet for jobs related to either law and/or German. Any ideas?
Cheers!

Hi aoife, if you're looking for a job even slightly law related the legal publishing company I work for is hiring. It's based in Notting Hill and it's a good place to work, details here http://www.lbresearch.com/careers.html. I'm not an adbot, just saw your post and thought I'd give you a helping hand, and legal background and a language are always useful here.

Sorry OP we've got all the graphic designers we need at the moment but if something comes up I'll let you know

laura1990

Just thought id bump this up! Just home from london, went over for a couple of days to see the place and catch up with a friend. Cant believe how easy it is to get around! From my little trip ive decided 110% the car is staying at home and that all the action is zones 1,2 and 3. So im going to focus my job/flat hunt around zones 3/4 (i dont think i could afford zones 1 & 2) . We stayed around hyde park near queensway station bt there ws no other irish around there at all! Infact except for my friends that I met up with I didnt see another irish person....

djpbarry

laura1990 wrote: »

We stayed around hyde park near queensway station bt there ws no other irish around there at all!

They're there, believe me - I used to live no too far from there. But anyways, I think you're focusing on the Irish thing a little too much.

laura1990

djpbarry wrote: »

They're there, believe me - I used to live no too far from there. But anyways, I think you're focusing on the Irish thing a little too much.

Maybe, its important to me, always will be cause im moving on my own

duffarama

why would you go out of your way to be around other Irish people??

I'm quite happy living in an area with very few Irishers as every time I go out in Clapham/Brixton/Islington it's full of them!

BraziliaNZ

duffarama wrote: »

why would you go out of your way to be around other Irish people??

I'm quite happy living in an area with very few Irishers as every time I go out in Clapham/Brixton/Islington it's full of them!

Some people like to stick to their own! I bet you don't berate Chinatown because they all stick together?
Anyway yeah Brix has a lot of Irish, it's where I live, but sure we're great gas!

djpbarry

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Some people like to stick to their own!

I think the point is it's impossible to avoid Irish people in London, so there's no real need to actively seek them out. Besides, if you take an overly Irish-centric approach to your time in London (not you personally), you're really not going to get the most of the city at all.

laura1990

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Some people like to stick to their own! I bet you don't berate Chinatown because they all stick together?
Anyway yeah Brix has a lot of Irish, it's where I live, but sure we're great gas!

Exactly! I just would like a bit of craic with a few irish! Im not going to go out of my way to be amoung irish people but its a factor along with getting a job, commuting distance and rent/living costs!

duffarama

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Some people like to stick to their own! I bet you don't berate Chinatown because they all stick together?
Anyway yeah Brix has a lot of Irish, it's where I live, but sure we're great gas!

I'm not far away from Brixton at all, I live in West Dulwich and to show that I'm not some kind of self hating Irishman can heartily recommend the "Irish shop" in East Dulwich, if you're looking for Barry's tea (or Lyon's if you're that way inclined) it's not far from Brixton by bus.

As for "having the craic" I find that as often as my jokes may fall on their arse around English people that they can be just as good craic as Irish folks.

There really is no need to seek out other Irish people, you'll bump into us!! All the time!

BraziliaNZ

duffarama wrote: »

I'm not far away from Brixton at all, I live in West Dulwich and to show that I'm not some kind of self hating Irishman can heartily recommend the "Irish shop" in East Dulwich, if you're looking for Barry's tea (or Lyon's if you're that way inclined) it's not far from Brixton by bus.

As for "having the craic" I find that as often as my jokes may fall on their arse around English people that they can be just as good craic as Irish folks.

There really is no need to seek out other Irish people, you'll bump into us!! All the time!

I might check it out, although I don't drink tea or crisps, the only thing I miss from Dublin is good Guinness and Kearn's sausages, which I'm probably better off without anyway!
Yup I'm a 10 min walk from Herne Hill so East Dulwich is just down road from there. There are so many Irish here you'd wonder how there are any left in Ireland at all!

djpbarry

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

I might check it out, although I don't drink tea or crisps...

Drinking crisps is probably not to be recommended.

laura1990

Right little update.
My friend is living with family in st albans in north london so thats where im going to go (north london somewhere near st albans)
Have been looking up flats and some are expensive, some arent. Has anybody lived around there? looked up reviews seems like a posh nice kinda place. 20mins to the centre of london I hear.
Oh and am looking for lifeguard job now, more so than the graphic design one at the mo

Country lane

I think it is supposed to be nice around St Albans. I know its where Steve Collins (boxer) now lives

djpbarry

laura1990 wrote: »

Right little update.
My friend is living with family in st albans in north london...

St. Albans is in Herts - it's about 35km north of central London. I think it's pushing it to be referring to it as "North London".

laura1990 wrote: »

so thats where im going to go (north london somewhere near st albans)
Have been looking up flats and some are expensive, some arent. Has anybody lived around there? looked up reviews seems like a posh nice kinda place.

I don't know much about it, but I do know it has some of the highest property prices in the UK.

laura1990 wrote: »

20mins to the centre of london I hear.

About that, but the trains are very expensive.

Jack B. Badd

laura1990 wrote: »

Right little update.
My friend is living with family in st albans in north london so thats where im going to go (north london somewhere near st albans)
Have been looking up flats and some are expensive, some arent. Has anybody lived around there? looked up reviews seems like a posh nice kinda place. 20mins to the centre of london I hear.
Oh and am looking for lifeguard job now, more so than the graphic design one at the mo

From what I've seen, St Albans is lovely. It's also ridiculously expensive (djpbarry is right about it having some of the highest property prices in the UK and this will likely be reflected in rent).

It's on the Thameslink route so it's pretty quick to get into the city (depending on where you define the city centre) but I'm not sure about 20 mins. I would have thought it was 30 mins & upward - my work station (Elstree & Borehamwood) is a few stops closer to London on the line & it takes approx. 20 mins for me to get there from West Hampstead train station. Maybe if you're getting a service from St Albans to Kings Cross/St Pancras that doesn't involve many stops it'll be closer to 20 mins but most of the services stop all the stations in between.

djpbarry

Jack B. Badd wrote: »

Maybe if you're getting a service from St Albans to Kings Cross/St Pancras that doesn't involve many stops it'll be closer to 20 mins but most of the services stop all the stations in between.

It's probably about 20 minutes to St. Pancras at peak times, but yeah, in all likelihood, an onward connection would be required.

laura1990

djpbarry wrote: »

St. Albans is in Herts - it's about 35km north of central London. I think it's pushing it to be referring to it as "North London".
I don't know much about it, but I do know it has some of the highest property prices in the UK.
About that, but the trains are very expensive.

Yes your right it is quite expensive, the flats i were looking at were further out again away from st.albans (the "cheaper" ones).

your right about the trains too, my friend has already warned me, she dosent go into london that often anymore coz it was costing her a small fortune!

laura1990

Just thought Id finish this thread off

Many thanks for all your help. I got some responses for graphic design jobs and an over whelming response for the lifeguard positions I applied for. I left my job in march with the intention of making the move, however life has this funny little way of throwing a spanner into the works and I have actually spent the past 7 months living in Toronto!