Moved to London - Looking for work!

[Filip]

I would consider this a 'life' project.

 

So I started therapy about 4 months ago, which really set things in motion for me, for the first time in my life. Long story short, I deFOO-d and left Romania altogether and moved to London in what felt like both the scariest and most exciting adventure, having arrived three weeks ago.

 

Everything went smoothly(house, bank account etc.) but I'm having a bit of trouble finding work. I've been sending CVs around vigorously, but there's not much bite. I got offers from McDonalds( kept looking) and some admin work, which however turned out to be a surprisingly (openly) abusive environment.

 

Now I could do fast food or similar stuff, and will if need be, but I am still trying to find something more appropriate - I enjoy working somewhere where I can give my fullest, so the idea of having a job where I am actively trying to find something different doesn't sound like a great experience.

 

I am very keen to get into anything IT related (especially web development). I'm generally handy with computers, however I've started learning Python and web tehnologies quite recently, so have little experience (one website almost finished) and no serious certification in it (though plan to get it). I'm very confident that in the right environment I would catch up quite rapidly, especially since its something I want very strongly. I am also learning it on my own every day, but my waning reserves add a real sense of urgency to it.

 

I do have some experience in (and consider myself reasonably good at) simpler admin stuff like working with the Office suite, Google Docs and forms, databases (as an end user), web content management and the likes, which could float the boat (maybe even enjoyably) if I need to postpone IT. I studied business management formally, high school and an unfinished bachelor's.

 

I am also philosophically minded (I'm here!), and try to live with virtue, honesty and courage. Also, will continue therapy once cash flow stabilises. Working with similarly minded (Stef: or just minded) people would be absolutely dreamy - perhaps even more important than the kind of work I'm actually doing.

 

So, I was wondering: do you know of any opportunities along these lines? Or even just some meaningful other jobs working with virtuous people? I would greatly appreciate it - even part time would be OK, I might string different jobs and a bit of freelancing together to make a living.

 

I live in Northern London but also have the internet for remote work.

[stMarkus]

Holy shit, good luck! I might be moving to the UK too in the near future.

 

Hope you find some great friends and a great job.

[Filip]

Thanks! It's quite amazing how fast things can move sometimes... I said let's do it, 3 weeks later I was here.

[Somewhere]

You sound fairly new to IT, in which case there are a couple of perennial ways in that you could consider:

• Look for software testing jobs. For somebody with aptitude and enthusiasm, these can lead on to other things. Don't let recruitment agents discourage you if you go this route as somebody with not a lot of experience. It can be done.
• Do something with Excel. If you do this right then it could pay relatively well quite quickly, particularly if you can learn VBA. Not very exciting, perhaps, although it's a start and it can lead on to other things.

There are two essential sites if you're looking for IT jobs in London:

• http://www.jobserve.com for, um, jobs
• http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk for salary ranges, number of open positions and their trends over time

If you would like a chat or a mock interview, let me know. I've interviewed a lot of people for IT jobs. The main thing in IT is not to bluff.