Anybody worked or working in London?

[WillG]

Michael,

Sounds like classic symptoms of the 'seven year itch' virus.

Just remember that change is good but the grass itn't always greener (bring on the cliche's).

I was working as an electronics enginner for 7 years before switching to IT (7 years ago). Just changed job within the same organisation to focus on time with the family (no more work travel). I now only travel for holidays.

Good luck

 

[sue78]

Michael,

You can definately travel Europe yet still be able to save $$ if you are willing torough it a little

well, you probably don't need to if you are on 80k though!

Flights with discount airlines Ryanair, GO, Easyjet start at
1p!! +10 quid each way for tax. Hostels cost on ave 12 to 20 Euro a night and there are some ok ones. What I loved about Hostels was that you get to meet loads of people in the common room/bar but then there are for reasons to hate than love.

 

[DavidMc]

Hi Micheal,

I've worked in London, Belfast and Dublin and they were good experiences. All work was assignments through the Software Consulting company I worked for so I cannot recommend any recruiters.

Personally, I just couldn't stand the winter. Get up and leave to go to work - dark, leave work to come home - dark. Add rain and snow.

I wasn't a fan of the food either. The pub culture is great though (as it is in Ireland as well). Proximity to other exciting destinations was also a bonus.


Best of luck with whatever you do!

David.

 

[alexlee]

Yes, the winters are crap. I got a bit depressed during the winter in London.

I disagree about the food, though. London now has so many asian and european influences that the (non british) food is actually quite good. Chinese and Italian, especially. The new high-class pubs are nice, too. Produce in the supermarkets is good because they are willing to import it from everywhere.
Alex

 

[geoffw]

I have worked in England (not London) though about 18 years ago. Many things may obviously have changed.

I arrived in England as a newlywed, with stars in my eyes about the high rates of pay available to an IT person (contracting). And I was in Bournemoth, not London, so I assumed that accomodation would not be a great cost. And we were newlyweds.

As it turned out, as an experience, it was wonderful. MrsW, who is Mexican, had lived in England before, so our marriage started out on a much more even keel than if we had been in Oz, Mexico or the US.

But financially it was a struggle for quite a while. We bought a house (with minimal deposit) only because interest rates in 1988 where a lot less than in Oz. And interest payments on a PPOR were tax effective- 25% of mortgage interest payments for a PPOR in the UK could (at that time) be taken away from your tax bill. Not just reducing taxable income- taken away from tax.

But that didn't help in the short term. Living expenses (apart from house) were huge compared to Oz. We went shopping in those days to find the cheapest potatoes and the cheapest liver. Red meat was a super luxury. So was alcohol.

If you are setting up house in a new place, there are a lot of new expenses. That was a big part of our expenses. Furniture, clothes for the climate, kitchen stuff. And unexpected stuff likeTV licence.

Some supermarket food was cheaper. Generally it was a lot more.

When I returned Aldi supermarkets were making an impact. A lot of things seemed cheaper.

But I don't know how things are going now.

 

[alexlee]

Food and shopping are much better, though costs are still very high. If you work in London you're probably ok. Having said that, the average wage is something like £25 or £30k a year. That'd be like living on $40k or so in Sydney. Possible but tough.

Initial set-up costs are pretty bad. A month, maybe, to find a job, during which you have to pay for accomodation, food etc. Deposit for a flat is 6 weeks rent, which can make a big dent.
Alex

 

[Oscar]

Michael, why not really test your comfort zone and come closer my way to the people's republic. As an executive you can get between AUD$250-300K package. Then on top of that new, good quality housing is usually thrown in. If you're lucky you can get free vacation "R&R" trips as well. China is still considered a hardship location by many western companies so the jobs come with many perks that put cash in your pocket. The cost of living for food, clothes etc is also much less than Europe/US. On top of that you get to experience a whole new culture...

OK, it's not for eveyone I know, but fortune favours the brave.

 

[MichaelW]

Michael, why not really test your comfort zone and come closer my way to the people's republic.

Oscar,

I'd do it in the blink of an eye if I spoke Mandarin! I love the PRC and have already done project stints in Hong Kong as well as Shanghai. I used to be the Commercial Business Analyst for the Asia/Pacific region for Akzo Nobel Chemicals so travelled all through Asia doing ERP implementations and audits. I got to see the whole region and fell in love with it and the people. I have no fear whatsoever about working in China, and would gladly do so if I could just get past that language barrier and then find a job that would have me.

Might be a bit harder to convince my wife to come along though. She had a nasty experience in Hong Kong with a lot of the locals physically bumping into her and jostling her on purpose when she was strolling the streets in Causeway Bay. I think it was just post-handover so there was some animosity floating around. She felt VERY uncomfortable and would not like to work anywhere in China again. That's a real shame...

Cheers,
Michael.

 

[geoffw]

She had a nasty experience in Hong Kong with a lot of the locals physically bumping into her and jostling her on purpose when she was strolling the streets in Causeway Bay. I think it was just post-handover so there was some animosity floating around. She felt VERY uncomfortable and would not like to work anywhere in China again.

I had that jostling myself many years before handover.

And about 6 months before handover, I went with my 7yo daughter. She had a couple of incidents of pushing aside which left her in tears. I had a few other not nice incidents.

It's interesting to see racial attitudes in action, and to be the subject of the bad treatment.

 

[Chilli]

She had a nasty experience in Hong Kong with a lot of the locals physically bumping into her and jostling her on purpose

Sad to say that my sister just had that happened to her a couple of weeks ago right here in Brisbane, West End to be exact (my sister is tiny, she was nearly knocked over)

 

[agent 86]

Sad to say that my sister just had that happened to her a couple of weeks ago right here in Brisbane, West End to be exact (my sister is tiny, she was nearly knocked over)

salsa,

One of my sisters is also small and complains that some larger ladies do that quite often to her with shopping trollys. So it may not be just a race thing.

Attack of the shopping trollys!
I thought she may be imagining it, until I was with her one day and witnessed it first hand. Maybe its a human asserting dominance thing.

 

[doreilly]

Interesting....

I find this thread very interesting, being a Londoner living/migrating to Melbourne for the last 2 years.

London is great, one of the best cities in the world to live. But note, I say live, generally working there sucks. Long hours, high stress, bad management, dreary daily drudge.

Melbourne/Australia as a whole has the balance much better.

I suppose your experience will ultimately depend on finding a good set of friends (not easy in central London) and a good job (relatively easy with the relevant skills, attitude and experience - which you appear to have).

I think you are aiming at the right positions, but do not be surprised if you don't make that, 100k salary is high even in most large firms - bonuses and benefits (pension, company car, private healthcare, kids education) however can be substantial in exec positions.

Best uk job site IMO is www.jobserve.com

I am probably going back this year myself for a 6-12 month stint - I'm a mercenary... sorry IT contractor so is easy - to earn some pounds, do some EU travel and visit the rellys, but I will be returning to Mel.

p.s. I'm not scared of hard or long work, I've worked 12-14 hour days in investment banking.

 

[geoffw]

Thanks doreilly.

To add to your viewpoint. I heard about somebody who worked in th UK for an international company doing after hours on call support. He was being paid a lot of overtime rates for supporting systems during overnight batch processing- and was being called in just about every night.

He convinced his superiors to send him to Austrlia- where he did the same job, but working at a Sydney branch of the company during daylight hours here.

He earnt a lot less than he would have in England- but had a ball. The lifestyle was wonderful- and, as a young person who had missed out on a lot of night life, painted the town red.

It used to be the case (and I don't know if it still is) that the Aussies who worked in England did it for money, but the Poms who worked in Oz did it for lifestyle.

 

[Oscar]

That's a real shame regarding the bumping/jostling stories. It goes completely against my experience in China and HK these past 3.5 years. I do encounter a lot of jostling but find this is just harmless attempts to get service or to get from A to B. In China there is no sense of personal space and no cocept of queueing or waiting in line to get service. If you don't do a bit of pushing and shoving here and there you will literally get nowhere. I find I need to do it myself also....it becomes a bit of fun over time, though it did take a while to get used to it....

 

[DavidMc]

Might be a bit harder to convince my wife to come along though. She had a nasty experience in Hong Kong with a lot of the locals physically bumping into her and jostling her on purpose when she was strolling the streets in Causeway Bay. I think it was just post-handover so there was some animosity floating around.

It's a small world. I used to live opposite Times Square in Causeway Bay.

I had a ball during my 6 months in HK. Very busy and stressful place though.

Personally, it was the drips of water from air-conditioners (each one set to 11, no doubt) that peeved me the most!

 

[alexlee]

www.rightmove.co.uk

www.findaproperty.com

Going back on topic for a moment: above are two popular sites for property in the UK, if anyone wants to check out rents, etc. It's mainly post code based (for London).
Alex