Moving to Edinburgh

judgefudge

Hey guys,

Just wondering if anyone has experience with moving to Edinburgh and if you'd have any advice for me. I'm just finished a research masters and have a BSc under my belt but without industry experience it's impossible to get anything here without turning to jobbridge. And very few suitable ones are within commuting distance.

I've a friend in Glasgow and I've heard Edinburgh is great so was thinking of moving over. In general when moving to the UK have people found that you have to move first and then sort out a job or can you sort out a job before moving?

I would have to sell my car in order to have the funds to go over and I'm a bit worried of ending up there for a couple months unable to get work and returning even worse off.

Any advice or previous experience will be greatly appreciated! I'm travelling there for a weekend to see my friend in a month anyway so maybe I'll be able to find out then what the story is.

Thanks

kelledy

Hey I moved to edinburgh from Dublin about 2 years ago. Basically I just brought as much cash as I could , I sold pretty much everything and just came and started again. I was moving for a girl so I had a place to sleep for a bit , but I'd come first then apply for jobs.
The only thing you need is an NI number which isn't as difficult as it's made out , I panicked sorting proof of address etc and in the end the woman only looked at my passport.
I'm here a while now and I know nobody on the dole, there is jobs here if you put minimal effort into trying to get one.

razorblunt

Once you commit to moving, research some companies, send the CV in (find someone to send them to) advising when you'll be in town should they want a chat with you.

There's a whole thread here of people asking similar questions.

One point to note, rent wise you'd need to pay council tax on top of your rent which varies depending on the apartment value.
Also some ask for a month a half rent deposit, others can be 3 without UK references (happened to me but someone else on the older thread said they'd avoided that).

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057181285&page=3

Have a scroll through pages 2 and 3 of all the other threads you'd probably find answers to alot of other questions you'd have at the moment too.

OneColdHand

Hey,

I moved here in February and it's a great city. I sorted out work from Dublin before moving over. Didn't want to be paying rent without an income. Also with the cheap Ryanair flights these days it's not too expensive to fly back and forth.

Best of luck with the move.

zweton

is there much work there, i work in i.t

OneColdHand

zweton wrote: »

is there much work there, i work in i.t

No idea about IT! Sorry - I work in a different industry.

But I'd imagine there are some jobs to be had!

zweton

no bother thanks all the same, guys would 40k pounds be a decent salary for edinburgh? I know it depends on what i want to do over there but generally keeping it low key looking to save some money, just not sure if its possible on this salary.

OneColdHand

zweton wrote: »

no bother thanks all the same, guys would 40k pounds be a decent salary for edinburgh? I know it depends on what i want to do over there but generally keeping it low key looking to save some money, just not sure if its possible on this salary.

As you say, it depends on what you want to do, but yes, 40k is absolutely loads! Rent is almost literally half of what it is in London for example (I know this, cos I was considering moving to London). Myself and my fiancée pay £725 for a nice-ish 2 bed place in a nice part of the city. (There's council tax on top of that - about £160 a month, I think).

You also shouldn't have much transport cost, as it's such a small city. In fact there's a good chance you'll be able to walk or cycle to work.

As I said we were considering moving to London. But one of the reason we chose edinburgh was that, despite our salaries being a bit lower, we could actually save a LOT more in Edinburgh due to much lower rent and transport costs.

razorblunt

zweton wrote: »

no bother thanks all the same, guys would 40k pounds be a decent salary for edinburgh? I know it depends on what i want to do over there but generally keeping it low key looking to save some money, just not sure if its possible on this salary.

40k is more than enough. Average starting graduate salary is 22-24k I believe.

Regarding IT jobs, it depends on what type, coding etc? looking for the likes of Oracle? But there's plenty of investment firms and other industries with buoyant IT divisions. Contract market if quite lucrative too.

zweton

Ah ok thats good to hear, actually i have been trying to decide between edinburgh and london also but i believe edinburgh would be much more relaxed and people actually have time for you unlike london its quite serious for want of a better word. What areas are nice in edinburgh, i read leith but are there any others? Any nice places over looking water
Something that doesnt quite have that city feeling but yet very close.
I was in edinburgh a few years ago for a visit and its very nice.

OneColdHand

zweton wrote: »

Ah ok thats good to hear, actually i have been trying to decide between edinburgh and london also but i believe edinburgh would be much more relaxed and people actually have time for you unlike london its quite serious for want of a better word. What areas are nice in edinburgh, i read leith but are there any others? Any nice places over looking water
Something that doesnt quite have that city feeling but yet very close.
I was in edinburgh a few years ago for a visit and its very nice.

I live in the Bruntsfield area. Anywhere in Bruntsfield/Morningside/Marchmont will be very close to the meadows, which is a great spot, especially on sunny days like today! The meadows are just on the edge of the city too.

I don't know the Leith area that well yet, but yeah, apparently it's a grand area. Broughton St is over that side of the city and that has lots of pubs and restaurants.

zweton

razorblunt wrote: »

40k is more than enough. Average starting graduate salary is 22-24k I believe.

Regarding IT jobs, it depends on what type, coding etc? looking for the likes of Oracle? But there's plenty of investment firms and other industries with buoyant IT divisions. Contract market if quite lucrative too.

systems/network support roles. Not sure if there would be much in the line of contracting for this area. But i could be wrong.

razorblunt

zweton wrote: »

systems/network support roles. Not sure if there would be much in the line of contracting for this area. But i could be wrong.

You should be ok. Have a look at the likes of Head, Core Asset and IT people as recruitment agencies.
Not a huge fan of Leith myself but that's probably personal choice, as suggested Broughton Street area is nice, I think the area aroun Easter Road down to Salamander Street might be a bit dodgy.

zweton

cheers, are you working in i.t yourself.

razorblunt

zweton wrote: »

cheers, are you working in i.t yourself.

Kind of, I'm a business analyst. But I'd be familiar with IT teams alright as work regularly with them.

zweton

i spoke with a recruiter the other day and he said things were quite busy i.t wise there so thats good to hear.