It all depends on how you land and I don't mean how well the pilot puts the plane down on the runway at Heathrow, I mean how quickly you find your feet in this crazy wonderful city. Like myself, I imagine you have spent weeks and months day dreaming of the possibilities London may hold for you, its all yours for the taking and it is … but you have to fight for it.
Like anywhere in the world, if you are starting out somewhere new you need money, mullah, cash, the green stuff. Don't think that you can waltz out of Heathrow with the sum total of 20 quid in your back pocket and hope that the doors of the city will slide effortlessly open before you. This would only be true if you have managed the impossible, securing a job before you even depart your home shores and in tandem you have a friend's or family member's blessing to doss on their couch or , luxuriously, in their spare room, or you have a dodgy flat share lined up and waiting for you. These two things are the Holy Grail and to be honest all bound up in luck, very little you can do, perched in front of your computer back home that can secure you these two priceless life lines. My advice, just wing it … but with some money in your back pocket.
When you first plan on moving to London, give yourself the best possible start by making sure you have enough money for accommodation and to live for at least, at the bare minimum, one month and this is only if you are willing to take whatever job is flung at you i.e. you are prepared to be a bar hand, telesales person in a dungeon somewhere or shop floor assistant at TK Max. If you want to give yourself more time to find "the right job", maybe something to do with that degree you studied hard for, then make sure you have more money, which will give you more time to search endlessly on Monster.com, Totaljobs.com etc. London is vibrant, diverse and fast paced, spend too much time online sending your carefully crafted CV out willy nilly and you may be without a job for a very long time. Going through recruitment agencies is also tricky, but in my experience far quicker at getting you out and working. There are agencies for everything, from sandwich delivery jobs up to high flying executive posh spots. Bear in mind that you do not need to crack the career enhancing job first time round and if you are just starting out in the working world, London truly offers a smorgasbord or, shall we say, ploughman's platter of career paths for you to sample.
The first three major expenses for anyone starting out (you will accumulate more avenues of expenses as the months wear on), are rent, travel and food. If you are planning to live in a flat share, which is the one of most common and hassle free options available, make sure you have enough cash upfront for 6 weeks deposit and one weeks rent. You will get your deposit back, provided you don't burn the place down or default on your rent. This will set you back about £1200.00. After this, you then need to get around London at the drop of a hat for any interviews or, in fact, for any sightseeing you may wish to do and also feed yourself. Budgeting £2000.00 for your first month would be the safest bet, if you have less than this, it is still doable, if you have forgiving generous friends and are willing to do, well, anything!
I love London, the problem is, London is not a very forgiving place, one or two ill thought out decisions could place you back at square one, problem two is that there is not much time to make any well thought out decisions, its all on the fly at the end of the day and hopefully, you will land well.
