Moving to Manchester

HavingCrack

Hi everyone,

It's looking increasingly likely I'll be moving to Manchester for a Postgrad in September and just trying to get a handle on the place. I'll be living in student accomodation (probably Oxford Road or Fallowfield areas) so that's that sorted but I'll need some part time work to tide me over.

So what's the job market like over there at the minute? I had a look at some jobs sites and there seems to be an awful lot of casual work around but it'd be handy for some boardsie advice

Any tips on public transport costs?
General cost of living?
What's the actual city like for living in-friendliness of the people etc.

Edit: What's the story with setting up a bank account there? I know London is tricky.

HavingCrack

No one ?

annie1001

I felt sorry for you having no-one replying so I decided to register to answer!

I'm living in Manchester at the moment, also doing a postgrad. I'm not working because I have funding, but from what I can see, there are a fair few jobs ads up in shop and restaurant windows, so I don't think that you'd have too much trouble. What kind of work are you looking for? If you're looking for retail work, the Arndale Centre in town and the Trafford Centre would be good places to start, but there are also a huge amount of shops, bars, restaurants etc a really short distance from the university.

Public transport is brilliant, but the costs are a bit less brilliant. Since you'll be on the Oxford Road corridor, the best thing for you to do would be to get a uni rider bus pass. It lasts from September to June and you can use it on the Stagecoach and Magic Bus services, which are the main ones that go down that route. It would take you into town, the university and most places around South Manchester, and covers some of the night buses. It cost me £185 at the beginning of the year, but will probably go up a bit next year.

Outside of that, the bus is fairly expensive, but there are a few different options for weekly and monthly passes depending how much you're going to be travelling. You'll also be eligible for a railcard as a student, which gets you a third off rails fares throughout the UK and is handy if you want to do a bit of travelling while you're here. There's quite a good tram system (compared to Dublin!) but it isn't too close to the university so you probably won't be using it too much.

I find the general cost of living pretty low, particularly with student discounts. Manchester is a big student city, so you can get discounts on clothes, food, drink and tickets nearly everywhere. I'm in a shared house rather than halls though, and while my rent is pretty low, the bills seem to be a lot higher than in Ireland. Car insurance is also crazy expensive, but it doesn't sound like you'll have to worry about that.

Setting up a bank account takes no time at all, and you can sort it out on your first day. When you register and collect your student card, you get a letter printed out from the university with your UK address, and that's all you need other than ID. It does get quite busy because there are thousands of new students trying to do the same thing, but if you went relatively early in the day, you'd have it sorted in 15 minutes.

Overall, I really like the city and there's so much to do here. I've found it quite hard to settle in and make friends because of the course and department that I'm in, but even with that I'm still having a good time.

I hope that helps a bit, let me know if there's anything else you want to know!

HavingCrack

annie1001 wrote: »

I felt sorry for you having no-one replying so I decided to register to answer!

I'm living in Manchester at the moment, also doing a postgrad. I'm not working because I have funding, but from what I can see, there are a fair few jobs ads up in shop and restaurant windows, so I don't think that you'd have too much trouble. What kind of work are you looking for? If you're looking for retail work, the Arndale Centre in town and the Trafford Centre would be good places to start, but there are also a huge amount of shops, bars, restaurants etc a really short distance from the university.

Public transport is brilliant, but the costs are a bit less brilliant. Since you'll be on the Oxford Road corridor, the best thing for you to do would be to get a uni rider bus pass. It lasts from September to June and you can use it on the Stagecoach and Magic Bus services, which are the main ones that go down that route. It would take you into town, the university and most places around South Manchester, and covers some of the night buses. It cost me £185 at the beginning of the year, but will probably go up a bit next year.

Outside of that, the bus is fairly expensive, but there are a few different options for weekly and monthly passes depending how much you're going to be travelling. You'll also be eligible for a railcard as a student, which gets you a third off rails fares throughout the UK and is handy if you want to do a bit of travelling while you're here. There's quite a good tram system (compared to Dublin!) but it isn't too close to the university so you probably won't be using it too much.

I find the general cost of living pretty low, particularly with student discounts. Manchester is a big student city, so you can get discounts on clothes, food, drink and tickets nearly everywhere. I'm in a shared house rather than halls though, and while my rent is pretty low, the bills seem to be a lot higher than in Ireland. Car insurance is also crazy expensive, but it doesn't sound like you'll have to worry about that.

Setting up a bank account takes no time at all, and you can sort it out on your first day. When you register and collect your student card, you get a letter printed out from the university with your UK address, and that's all you need other than ID. It does get quite busy because there are thousands of new students trying to do the same thing, but if you went relatively early in the day, you'd have it sorted in 15 minutes.

Overall, I really like the city and there's so much to do here. I've found it quite hard to settle in and make friends because of the course and department that I'm in, but even with that I'm still having a good time.

I hope that helps a bit, let me know if there's anything else you want to know!

Ah thanks for replying . I have some funding for fees but living expenses will have to be covered by me alone I'm afraid! So work is a neccessity. I'd aim for admin/office work preferably as that's where all my previous jobs have been. I've never worked in retail/bar before but beggars can't be choosers!

Apart from that you seem to have got most of my quereis covered! Thanks again

annie1001

You're welcome! The student room website and forums also have a lot of information that you might find useful, especially around student housing.