Not as exciting as days spent at Top Shop, but to have a successful laura.life.london I’m going to have to eventually get a job that somewhat supports my weekends in Paris/Bruges/Amsterdam, pints with friends, pies pies, more pies, and boutique shopping habits.
The thing with London is so many people are not from London – so everyone I’ve met has been a great resource on how to break into the job market and find that perfect job. So far the advice has been: Get your CV out there ASAP!
As an, ahem, Master of Immigration and Settlement Studies (shameless higher education plug) I know one of the biggest hurdles to finding a job in a new country is effectively translating your foreign credentials into ones that local employers will find relevant for the positions they are hiring for. I don’t have it too hard coming from Canada to the UK, but when my resume/CV is one of hundreds on a recruiters desk and it’s not in the right format or uses the wrong terms – I will be passed over. Even the smallest details can make a big difference. Example: I had used the term presenter to describe a talk I gave on the Pakistani diaspora at SFU, while in the UK the term I should be using is speaker. Same but different.
The best CV templates I have found are from @totaljobsUK and they help you place your experience and skills in a way so UK employers take notice.
Now that I have my CV ready to go, I’m posting it on any/all recruiting website. There are lots of recruiting agencies that target specialized fields and some of the good ones I’ve found for non-profit or charity based work are:
And there are a lot of general recruitment agencies that allow you to search for jobs in your specific field:
So that about as far as I’ve got in my London Job Search, but hopefully it’s a good start and the job offers will come flooding in. One last tip I’ve found useful is to use my social media tools for job searching. Following a lot of the companies I am interested in working for on Twitter, has lead to job postings, tips for interviews, and even personal conversations. Don’t be afraid to engage!
lifelauralondon 