Hi, since there are a decent amount of people from the UK on these forums, I thought I'd ask a question about wroking in London. The thing is I've ran out of patience, regarding my home coutry's labour market. In short: I just can't find a job in my or at least related to my profession (accounancy & finance) although I've finished a master's degree, damn it. But that's ok, the economy sucks here, so I'm prepared to do anything from now on, but not here in Hungary. So I thought I would try London, or the cities nearby it. The question is, I don't know much about the current situation out there, regarding work, and earning money. How is the situation out there? What kind of job possibilites are there for foreigners? I have a tertiary degree (though it's not recognized in the UK at all), I'm fluent in english and german. I also would like to study something on the side in London, but I don't know how costy it is, or are there free-of charge, or very cheapy courses, which still give you a better chance for finding a job, than being without them. I'm intersted in IT, programming, physics, and of course my profession: accountancy & finance, but any other courses are welcome (if they are not expensive).
There migh be better places on the internet to ask this, but I'm not familiar with those places

Economic situation is not great here at the moment; papers have stopped reporting it, but basically we're still in a recession and unemployment is at an all time high. Accountancy I don't know about, but for my job field (IT/video games) it's really not looking good.

That said, there are job opportunities, but you'll have to be prepared to search hard and maybe take a short term job (food / retail) in the meantime.

Can't help you with courses, but must warn you; London is one of the most expensive cities in the world, when it comes to rent, travel and food. You will be shocked, seriously..! But to counter that, there is tons of stuff to do (theatre, movies, gigs), plus a huge Japanese community..if you want to meet Japanese people and other learners, you'll be set..

The good news (which I guess you already know) is that since Hungary's in the EEA you don't need a visa or anything to live or work in the UK, you can just come and start looking. Hungary is one of the countries whose citizens have to register under the Worker Registration Scheme but I think this is just legally mandated statistics gathering.

My impression is that especially in IT there is no particular difficulty with being employed as a foreigner provided that you (a) are an EU citizen and so have permission to legally work here (b) speak good English © can do the job and (d) come across well at interview. We've been hiring at work and the applicants have included a spread of people from across the EU. (For outside the EU I think there's a requirement that the employer sponsor the visa, so I don't know if that's a bureaucratic faff that might put employers off.)

(I'm not sure what you mean by your degree "not being recognised in the UK at all".)

The UK economy at the moment is not in great shape and we're about to have some painful public spending cuts which are likely to increase the unemployment rate. However some places are still hiring and if you're good there are probably jobs to be found (for instance the company I work for is now hiring significantly, because our business is more closely linked with the global economy than the UK one.)

PS: London is about the most expensive part of the UK to live in...

pm215 Wrote:PS: London is about the most expensive part of the UK to live in...

It sure is. I was back in London last week, after less than a year in Japan, and I'd forgotten what a rip-off it is. Everybody kept telling me that I must be finding it really cheap what with the exchange rate; it doesn't matter about the exchange rate when it costs £11 for a 30 minute train journey into London (a 30 minute train journey into Tokyo, in cleaner, more punctual trains costs 200 yen), and £80 for a couple of kebabs, some hummus, and a bottle of house red (today I ate out at an equivalentish restaurant for 2000 yen).

£200 a month rent in London??! Seriously, HOW? No way is that possible, that's like £40 a week..guess you could live that by a sharing a room with another person, but you still have to pay the same again in bills..

£80 is crazy price to pay for a meal though, total rip-off..

Other posters are right; assuming the rest of Europe is also in recession, this is a good place to find jobs right now I guess; you have a better chance here than Hungary anyway!

You won't believe this, but...I'm a Camelot Property guardian

My place is in C.London, old office block, I've been here over a year now. Doing this is the only way I could afford to go back to uni to do my Masters and live away from my parents (funny thing is, my folks live about 20mins from my uni, while I now live an hour away..oh well).

Rent is £280 per month, but my room is HUGE and prime location, so can't complain.

Anyway guess with Camelot or Adhoc (their rivals) £200pm is possible, but it's not realistic for someone coming to UK; I'm only able to do it cos i can dump my stuff back at my parents or sisters and crash at friends if/when i have to move..if I had no base here, would be tricky (I argued your rent price above cos I assumed nobody knew about these schemes..!)

But heh, I'm still laughing that you posted that; what a coincidence

I go to Goldsmiths, but live really close to your old uni!

Yeh Camelot is awesome, and yes you can get some super-cheap places (< £200) if you're prepared to live in places that are hard to get to or really run down (no electricity etc!). Also I guess moving isn't a problem if you just bring a suitcase or two of stuff..