25 Year old Erin from Australia
25 year old Erin from County Victoria in Australia arrived in the UK this summer on a Working Holidaymaker visa. Heading to the UK for her overseas experience was a long held ambition and Erin started planning her trip well in advance.
From listening to friends who were already in the UK or who had just come back 25 year old Erin knew that it wasn’t a good idea to leave things to the last minute or to underestimate the costs involved. Her advice to others planning their UK trip now is the same;
Save, Save Save ! Make sure you over estimate how much money you need, as it goes very quickly until you start earning pounds. Also having a bit of money put away reduces the stress levels and means you can afford to start enjoying yourself as soon as you arrive.
To help her get everything organised Erin bought the FastrackUK starter pack, which meant her UK Bank Account, National Insurance Number and UK phone number were all taken care of.
I thought FastrackUK offered a great service. They took the headache out of organising everything myself. When I arrived I activated my Sim card the moment I got off the plane, I picked up my bank cards within a few days and had my NI number within a week. They also helped land me my job.
Erin’s experience in the recruitment industry at home helped her secure a job with a London company straight away.
It was great, I had some concerns about how long it would take me to find a job given the impact of the credit crunch, but I got an interview almost immediately and luckily was offered the job. I love it!
Given Erin's experience in recruitment we asked her what advice she would give to Australians, South Africans and New Zealanders currently considering coming over to the UK
Without a doubt it is a harder to find employment than say a couple of years ago when you could literally step off the plane and have your pick of jobs, however there is still work out there. Be pro-active. Approach different agencies, don’t restrict yourself to just one job position and as we're approaching Christmas, look at Christmas casual work to get you through the holiday period. Getting your foot through the door is the key!
As well as finding her feet professionally Erin has found it easy to settle in socially
The hardest part has been finding long term comfortable accommodation. As for my social life - it's full. I met some people when I was travelling before arriving in London and everyone has been really friendly. My advice is always be willing to go out and meet people – always say yes to an invitation.
On her way to London Erin took the opportunity to explore much of Europe which she says was a fantastic experience, especially seeing the beautiful cities in Spain such as San Sebastian. She intends to travel as much as possible over the next 18 months.
I'm currently on a Working Holiday Visa, so it's difficult to plan too much ahead. All I know is that I want to stay in the UK as long as possible.
27 year old Chartered Accountant, Chris Lovell from Adelaide
Chartered Accountant, Chris Lovell had a successful career ahead of him back home. He was recruited by International Finance firm, KPMG, when he was just 20 years old and quickly promoted to Tax Manager. But Chris wasn’t ready to settle down,
I decided to head to the UK because I needed a change and was getting worried that I had pigeon–holed myself into a career from quite a young age. I had always wanted to make the move into banking and in Adelaide this was difficult. So the choices were Sydney or London and with London I got the chance to see the rest of the world
Arranging his trip to the UK, Chris chose FastrackUK to place his resume with recruitment agencies, obtain a UK Sim card and set up a UK Bank Account.
I found the overall service to be exceptional. The staff in Australia were extremely helpful. Because they had sent out my CV to recruitment agents well in advance I was able to set up 4 job interviews as soon as I’d landed.
Within a few weeks of arriving in the UK, Chris had started a new job in the product control division of world leading bank, Goldman Sachs.
Chris came over to the UK on a Working Holiday Visa but now feels this was a short sighted decision because he wants to extend his stay in the UK and will now need to apply for a HSMP which will involve a long trip home. His advice to others like him is;
Talk to as many people as possible about Visas. Think about your career and what you want from your stay in London and if you do think you may want to have a career then seriously consider going for the HSMP because it’s going to save you a lot of time and effort in the long run
Although he’s only been here a few months, Chris already has a hectic social life;
Life is definitely faster paced than back home – but hey! I am from Adelaide. I have to make sure that I get a night or two at home now and again, just so that I can get to the gym or get an early night. The only tough thing to get used to was the cold and the dark, but now it’s summer, things have turned around nicely.
In terms of travelling, so far I’ve seen Dublin, Normandy and Brittany in France and Amsterdam. I was getting so desperate for a surf, I bought myself a surfboard and wetsuit, took a week off and headed for the waves in Portugal.
Chris’s Top Tips
Work Wise - if you want to work as soon as you arrive in the UK , plan in advance. Before I left home FTUK had distributed my CV to several recruitment agencies and I was lucky to find a job quickly. There are lots of jobs out here for professionals so you can be picky but I would advise people that sometimes it might be better to take a job for the short term just to get some money in , start having a good time and start looking for other jobs. Remember as a contractor you only need to give one week notice before you move to another
Socially - Whilst it’s nice to live with Aussies, I would advise you to get out of your comfort zone. I’m just about to move into a house with 3 Italians and 3 French people and am having a fantastic time socially meeting people and getting to know about cultures I’ve never come across before.
All Chris has to do now is sort out his HSMP and he hopes to be able to stay in the UK for at least another few years.
Vilaseri Tuicolo , 27 year old rugby fanatic from Brisbane, Australia
Before I moved to the UK, I was running my own business. I have always been in recruitment, and covered generalist areas such as legal, construction, energy, IT, & banking.
I’ve been in London now for almost 6 months. I was offered a general management role with MGMS, part of the Barkers group, which has a £190 million turnover and 800 staff all around the world. Our head office is in Leeds, and I was taken on to head up the London office and grow it in line with our Leeds business.
FastrackUK really helped me get organised for my UK trip; setting me up with my bank account, my SIM card, a money transfer facility and offering to arrange my NI interview. The service was great, I actually went into their office in Bondi and was helped by one of the girls. She made sure all my forms were filled out correctly. From that point the rest was seamless and I received my bank account details well before I took off to London. I wish I had considered sending boxes etc through them as I waited for over 3 months for my stuff to arrive.
If I was to share what I’ve learnt with others heading to the UK, I would say be prepared for a much more aggressive market place in London than Australia. On the plus side there are also a lot more opportunities in London and I have seen a lot of Australians do very well here with very big companies, opportunities we just don’t get back home.
On the social front, if you’re new to London, get yourself on the London Eye; it’s a great way to get an overview of London.
My top tips:
- Get out of London and visit Oxford; it’s an inspirational place and a beautiful city.
- Go to Camden markets on the weekend.
- See a show during the week (cheaper) and look for lunchtime specials.
- Take a walk to the top of Primrose Hill, you’ll love the view.
- Take a run through Kensington Park on the weekend and watch the football champions of tomorrow play.
- If you love to shop, there is no better place than Selfridges on Oxford Street
- One of the best places to eat is Charlotte Street (nearest tube is Tottenham Court Road), it looks expensive and can be but there are some gems in amongst the restaurants that offer mains for about £6.
I am planning to stay in the UK for quite sometime. Part of my job is to get the business ready for a potential sale, so that could be anywhere between 3 – 5 years so it looks like London will be home for a little while yet.
As well as loving my job the highlight of my trip has been meeting so many new friends. For some reason, every one wants to look after you when you first move to London. Make sure you pass on the favour when you get settled!
Agosthino Manhao, 41 year old recruitment General Manager from Sydney, Australia
I came over the UK in the summer 2006. I had lived in England as a young child and always wanted to come back. In Brisbane everyone looks to the UK as the place to go to have fun and get a great job and that’s what I wanted to do too.I was working in Sales and Marketing in Australia and wanted to broaden my horizons career wise and knew that I could do that in the UK.
There are quite a few relocation agencies in Australia but most of them only seem to be able to help you once you are in the UK. They say ‘contact us once you land’. FastrackUK on the other hand started helping me while I was still in Australia. They had offices in both Sydney and London and I was impressed by that because I had people in both countries helping me out.
The FastrackUK team were great to deal with, really friendly and easy to get along with. Having people from the Southern Hemisphere in the London office was also really reassuring. These people had done just what I was doing and their help and advice was spot on.
I used FastrackUK to get my National Insurance number which went very smoothly and they were great when it came to getting me a job. Several weeks before I left Brisbane, my FastrackUK consultant was talking to me on the phone about possible openings. She had earmarked a job that she thought would be great for me and within two weeks of landing in London I had an interview and started work. It was fantastic.
My first UK job was in compliance and business development. It was a short term contract but it paid well and gave me invaluable UK work experience. After the contract ended I moved into the UK property market where I’m working now. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and I’m loving it.
My girlfriend and I will stay in the UK until next June and then plan to do a big block of travelling before going home. When it comes to getting a job back home my work experience here should really help. As they say, if you can sell real estate in London you can do it anywhere.
Being in the UK has also opened my mind to my own capabilities. As much as I love being here I am also very excited about my eventual return home to work in property. I would definitely recommend FastrackUK. They were a lot less complicated then some others I dealt with and they worked for me.