I HAVE A REAL JOB!!!!

If there is one thing that I have been completely down on myself about since moving here and has caused me endless amounts of stress, anxiety, and some hysterical phone calls home,  it has been the frustration of finding employment in London. I can honestly say I was very naive when it came to my job search and thought because I came from an administrative background with over 10 years of experience, and everyone needs administrative staff, there would be thousands of jobs to choose from! And there are thousands of jobs to choose from; however; there are TENS of thousands of people applying to these jobs!  Before I had landed my first temp job I was extremely discouraged and quickly losing confidence.

But FINALLY, after 3.5 months of what felt like an exhausting and endless string of non-stop job applications, interviews, and 2nd interviews with no luck I am so excited to say I have finally landed a permanent job that starts on Tuesday!! 🙂 And it’s really reinforced that things do happen for a reason and when the timing is right. Because the position I accepted was exactly what I was looking for and starts just as my temporary contract ends. And because the Universe always likes to throw me curve balls (thanks Universe!) I had two job offers in one day!!  Ugh!!  Not an easy decision as both jobs were AMAZING but I went with my gut and chose what I think will be best for me long term!

Looking back on my past interviews, I would make it to the 2nd interview each time BUT there was always that little nagging voice in the back of my head going “this isn’t what I want”. I knew if I had taken those jobs I would either be settling for a job simply because it was a job and an income; or it was an interesting sounding job but for companies and/ or people I didn’t necessarily want to work for, and for a lot less money than what the requirements of the job entailed. Seeing as I’m not exactly good at faking enthusiasm for a job that isn’t quite right or hiding how I feel; I’m sure this came across in the interview and ultimately resulted in me not getting these jobs.   But with each 2nd interview that didn’t result in an offer, the more and more discouraged I became and the less confident I was that I was actually good at what I do.

My advice for those of you moving to London and trying to land your first job:

1. Get yourself set up with recruitment agencies.. LOTS OF THEM!
2. Know what sort of job you want and don’t settle!
3. Be patient.. the process seems to be much slower in London.. go figure?
4. Don’t get discouraged!! It will happen! 🙂 

1. RECRUITMENT AGENCIES

I have a love/hate relationship with recruitment agencies.  I love them because they are working for YOU to get YOU a job and this is ultimately how I ended up finding a job.  I hate them because you have a false sense of security that they will find one for you right way. However this isn’t their fault, it was my self-imposed expectations.  When I met with my first recruitment agency they left me feeling like I was SuperWoman and that I’d be working for Jamie Oliver within a week! I thought here we go! Not only will I have a job but it’ll be with some glamorous company and next thing you know i’ll be bumping into celebrities at the studio, marrying Benedict Cumberbach and living happily ever after… Hey! A girl can dream 😉

Anyhow, back to recruitment agencies.  First, do your research and find out which recruitment agencies are specific to the types of jobs you are looking for; whether it is administration, technology,  teaching, medical, etc.  Contact all of them and meet with as many as you can!  You do not want to put all your eggs in one basket and rely on one agency to find you a job. The more you get your name out there, the more you expand the types of positions and industries you can work for 🙂 By the end of my search I had met with and registered with 5 different agencies after naively relying on just one in the beginning.   The 3rd agency I applied to was the one that I felt was doing the most for me and was the agency that found me my new job! They also found me the temp position that held me over until this new job came along! What was great about them is not only did they know exactly what I wanted, they also were able to tell which companies would be the best fit for me.

2. KNOW WHAT YOU WANT! DON’T SETTLE!

It’s very easy when  you’ve been looking at jobs for awhile with no success, to go for a job that isn’t quite what you are looking for, is for less money than you can afford to live on, or is a hellish commute from where you live.  I think if you have to take more than 2 modes of transportation to get to work everyday it’s not worth the effort!

Know what you’re worth and know what type of job you want! Be very specific with your recruiters and tell them exactly what positions and roles are most suitable for you and what roles you are not interested in. I learned this the hard way and because I was so eager to be working I told the recruiters I really wasn’t going to be picky about what type of administrative job I wanted. So I was sent to interviews for jobs that I really had no interest in, in environments that did NOT fit my personality.  One potential job provided business suits for their staff which to me shouted “you are not encouraged to stand out from the crowd”. I refused to be a minion in a sterile office!

3. BE PATIENT

For a fast paced and bustling city like London, it was surprising to me just how long it took for people to get back to you about jobs and interviews.  If someone tells you they are going to call you tomorrow, they really mean the day after tomorrow!  If you are told that a decision will be made in the next two days; don’t be surprised if you don’t hear from them until the next week. It’s just how things work and it’s understandable considering they are literally sifting through hundreds of resumes for every job and narrowing it down to those they want to interview and those that get tossed in the bin.  I’ve also realized that everyone seems to be so busy doing their jobs that taking time out of their busy schedules to make decisions about potential employees sometimes gets pushed to the back burner.

It’s also important to be patient while waiting for your ideal job to come along.  There are hot months and cold months when looking for employment. I was looking for a job in the months leading up to Christmas and looking back now, realize that this was when everyone slows down and generally, people don’t really like to leave their jobs when they are in Christmas mode!  The New Year generally brings a lot of resolutions to change careers and jobs. As soon as January started I was getting 4 calls a day from different recruiters with different jobs they wanted to set me up with. It was great and definitely lifted my spirits!! Although a little difficult to juggle a temp job and scheduling interviews at the same time it was worth the exhaustion and running from one part of the city to another to attend interviews. Luckily the company i worked for was AMAZING and completely supportive of me taking time off for interviews!  I also managed to use every tube line and the overground without getting lost or going the wrong way! THANK YOU GOOGLE MAPS! 🙂

4. DON’T GET DISCOURAGED!!! 

This is probably the hardest but most important step in finding a job.  It’s really easy to be down and want to give up after months of trying to land that job and have income coming in when your savings are quickly diminishing!  I would constantly go through a roller coaster ride of up days and down days. Some days I felt like I would never get a job and other days I would convince myself that the right job was out there; the timing just wasn’t right yet.  It was extremely stressful and emotionally exhausting.  I’m hoping that by writing out what my mistakes were, it will help some people feel less stressed or discouraged and know that it is normal!  What really helped me was having a great support system of friends and family rooting for me and keeping my spirits up when I was quickly losing confidence in myself and finding a job.

One thing that I would have done differently if I had to do it over is to not set high expectations of myself.  Don’t give yourself a time frame! If it takes 1 month, 2 months, 3 months or more, it will take as long as it’s meant to take for you to find your job. Putting pressure on yourself will not help the situation; it will only help you be more upset about the situation and that will show through in interviews.

Also, take time to enjoy the sights and all that London has to offer while you are looking for work! it’ll be the only time that you can go to the museums during the week when they aren’t as busy. And they’re FREE so you don’t have to worry about spending money while you aren’t  making money! I also found going for really long walks really helpful!!! It gets you away from the computer, out in the fresh air and really appreciating why it is you came to London! For me, it’s being able to walk past Big Ben whenever I feel like, and getting lost amongst all the historic buildings and neighbourhoods 🙂 You never know when that dream job will come along.. but until it does stay positive and enjoy the process!!!

Thanks for reading! 🙂

-Kristal

Welcome to my blog eh! ;)

Thanks for visiting my first attempt at being a blogger! 🙂 We’ll see how this shapes up. This may be my only post (i hope not) or it may be the first of thousands! My main motivation for starting this blog was to write about my experiences (good and bad) in moving to a new country. More specifically, moving from Vancouver, Canada to London, UK.   Originally I wanted to start this blog while I was still in Vancouver and be able to journal the steps along the way that got me to where I am now but unfortunately I am a HUGE procrastinator so 3.5 months into my move, I am FINALLY starting a blog 🙂 better late than never right?

I`m hoping this can be a one stop shop for friends and family who want to know what I`m up to that is a little more in depth than a facebook status update or random instagram pic. I`m also hoping that it can be a source of information for people who, like me, want to move to a different country but don`t quite no how to go about getting it done!  There`s a lot that people don`t tell you and that you don`t even think you need to know before you move and hopefully I can take away some of the guesswork!

Before moving to London I had thought i had done more than enough research about overseas moves and reading other blogs about people who had moved from different parts of Canada to London. I would spend my Skytrain rides (Yay Vancouver!) to and from work constantly looking at job sites, flat share sites, anything and everything that I thought would help me be as informed as possible and try to lessen the stress and culture shock for when I finally got over here.

Yes it seemed difficult but doable! Everyone seemed to get on fairly quickly and adjust to their London life without much stress or culture shock.  I would see pictures of people I had never met living in London, walking in Hyde Park, travelling all throughout Europe, with new friends that seemed to appear in their life as soon as they stepped off the plane. It seemed so glamorous and exciting! And when you first arrive all bright eyed and full of optimism it`s hard to not get caught up in just how exciting it all is and forget about the reality that you`ve just made a complete life change and it does and will catch up with you.

My aim for this blog is not to discourage anyone from moving because London is a FANTASTIC city to live in. I just think it’s important to also be realistic when moving to a new city. From the amazing bits, to the scary bits, to the “oh my god have i just made a huge mistake” bits.  From what you should get done before you leave home, what you need to do when you get here, what people don’t tell you about moving, what people do tell you (and you should listen), and how annoying it is to constantly be asked “Why would you want to move here?” (YOU WILL GET ASKED THIS A LOT!)

So here I am, 3.5 months into my new life in London!

Amazing? YES.
Hard? YES
Have I wanted to give up? YES
Do I regret it? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

So like I said, this is only the first post. I will write posts on the VISA process, what you should hopefully try and get done before you leave home (bank accounts, what to pack, what to send), what you have to do once you get here, and all the fun stuff in between!! stay tuned 🙂 and if you have any questions… or comments on how i can improve this mishmash of jibberish.. please let me know! 🙂 As I said, this is my first blog so I’m still learning 🙂

Thanks for reading!

Krismas 🙂