Moving to London, advice please

In similar situation, pm me

still in my top 5 movies of all time

"I don't like leaving my own country, Doug, and I especially don't like leaving it for anything less than warm sandy beaches and cocktails with little straw hats."

"Well, we've got sandy beaches"

"So, who the fuck wants to see em'?"

I don't think you will impress anyone, as a second language is almost a requirement (exception for some UK students). You won't get any credit for doing your masters in two years, the only thing you can get credit for is the extra work experience you can obtain by prolonging your studies.

And welcome to the site!

Hey,

Congrats on getting an offer! London is a really nice place - it'll definitely be an adjustment for you, but it's a cool place and there is lots to do for everyone really (all interests are served pretty well).

To start this off, I'll give you as much advice on your above questions as possible [I'm not at a bank there, so I can't help on the culture front much].

First things first: Rent/Places to live. I would highly recommend you live as close to where you work as possible (if it is somewhere in the city. Canary Wharf isn't super exciting on weekends/evenings, but maybe you'd prefer somewhere quiet). It's a lot nicer & easier to just be able to walk to work especially if you're putting in pretty tough hours. If you're in the city, it's nice to live there as well, as there is a ton to do and you just have to walk for 5 minutes to be in a brand new area. This all depends on how much you can afford to rent/what type of flat [called flats in London, not apartments] you're looking for (1b, studio, sharing with others, etc-). Your price point will determine a lot of things about where you can live.

I would recommend checking out spareroom.co.uk or rightmove.co.uk to check prices of various areas and get an idea of how much you're looking at. Be aware that London is split up into different boroughs and each borough has different rules, but more importantly - different council tax rates (amount of money you have to pay to the council on your flat/house/whatever). Some landlords charge the tenant, some don't - be sure to check what bills are included when you start to rent.

Also, be sure to visit the place first (if renting off of the above) as you want to actually see the place and see if it's nice before you settle on it. If you can afford to rent from a specific renting agency (like a condo-type of deal) then it may be different and you may know that the flat is nice/clean/whatever, but I don't have experience with that. I'd also recommend asking anyone in your office about their living situation and who else has moved over/how they found places to live - I'm sure there must be at least one other person in the office who has moved to the UK from abroad.

Postal codes also give a good idea of how London is spread out. For instance, NW3 is North West 3. Up in the North West of London [I don't know much about the numbers other than they get higher the further out you are]. EC1 is East City 1 - City denotes the City of London, which is a tiny little pocket right in the center of London. So WC or EC mean that they are actually in the "City of London". Here is a heat map of the postal codes & rent within them.

Banking Depending on your bank at home, they may have a 'sister' in the UK/Europe that they can set you up with (always worth it to ask - pretty sure Citigold can help with this, not 100% sure). If not, it gets slightly complicated. The biggest retail banks are: HSBC, Lloyds, rbs.co.uk/personal.ashx">Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, & Standard Chartered. All banks are going to ask you to prove that you live there, so the easiest thing to do is just go in person to one of the branches with all your identification documents and ideally an offer letter/something from your office that confirms that you work where you say you work & live where you say you live. It may be easier to use your work address first (if that's possible) until you've found the place you're going to live in full time.

I found Lloyds to be the easiest to set up without having a real history here and to have decent customer service. I've heard that HSBC was pretty tough unless you were a client already. Barclays was also a bit tough, but they are generally pretty good if you are earning a decent amount of money. Not sure on the other two.

Grocery/retail stores also have banking arms here, but I haven't heard anything about them so I would probably avoid them as they wouldn't really be international recognized in case you go abroad or something like that.

For the most part, all banks do the same job here. All ATMs are free for the most part (including competitors), so you don't have to worry about fees on ATMs or anything like that. Some banks offer better pricing on transferring money, but they all offer basically the same thing. Check around on their websites to see if they offer something that looks good to you (maybe you want a dollar account or easy transfer to the US or someone with a presence in the US).

When you arrive in the UK, you're going to have to get a National Insurance number. This is the UK's version of a Social Security number. It will be required so that you pay taxes and all of that and is necessary to legally work in the UK. I would recommend talking to your bank about this specifically as they are the ones (I assume?) who are sponsoring you to work in the UK on a work Visa [unless you have EEA citizenship?]. You should have your Visa/work permit by the time you arrive in the UK, as they'll ask you at border patrol (I think) what you are doing in the UK and to prove you can legally work there.

Those are sort of the main two that you asked about and are important to know when moving. Feel free to ask or PM me with more questions.

Some extra resources to just browse around and learn more about London: http://www.reddit.com/r/london - very helpful for random things. Search for similar posts like yours and I'm sure you'll find more answers. http://www.timeout.com/london - Places to go & see in London

Most EB's are actually in Mayfair (Lazard, Greenhill, Evercore) with Rothschild & Moelis in the city. So depending which batch of those you are inn, living options should be either around the city (e.g. London Bridge, Angel, Old Street etc. could even be in Shoreditch) or in the westend (Notting Hill, Bayswater, Marylebone, Mayfair, South Ken, Knightsbridge) also nice is St Johns Wood or Hampstead if you like it a bit more quite

From my experience, I would not say the work culture is more formal. Firstly, there is much more of a drinking culture. You will learn all about the "liquid lunch". Also, given this summer is a World Cup year, you will see how crazy things get with football (aka soccer). This may help you ease into the new job and city, as the summer (especially August) tends to be fairly quiet in Europe for business.

I agree with the posts above re: living. Given you are arriving solo, I would suggest trying to find a cool flatshare (good location with chill flatmates). Spareroom is the biggest site for this. Good luck!

The tube is super reliable as long as you're not on the district line.

I am a huge fan of west London but its each to his own. My suggestion would be to get a short term (about 6m) contract for a flat close to work whilst you get used to the city. Each area has its own feel so its hard to give you a definite answer on where you want to live.

Feel free to pm if you have any questions about the city

Financial centre of Europe, arguably the world? Yea you can find a job here. Word of warning though, cost of living is astronomical compared to anywhere except perhaps Australia, Switzerland and NY.

Shoreditch is nice area - a bit hip with a lots of young crowd. You should manage to find a nice a 1 bed apartment within 350/400 budget. It's a also only a 10-15 mins walk from Liverpool Street station.

I would also recommend other areas to look in to - slightly more established like Angel, Farringdon, Old street. A lot of city workers live here so it's a got a decent amount of gyms, cafes, bars + again within 10 mins bus/tube to liverpool street.

For office clothing, suit with a tie (could vary depending on team) is a standard. For winters you would prob need a warm overcoat.. (acquascutum/burberry type).

NZH:

What are some of the brands I should look for to get a decent outerwear (such as trench coats)? Of course Burberry is an option, but wanted to know what are some of the other good brands out there.

You can give Uniqlo's waterproof parkas a try. They are lightweight- great to carry round and not busting the weight limit of your luggage that easily. However, they do not have that "corporate" feel that Burberry's trench coat exudes.

Otherwise depending on your budget, you can check out ASOS for cheaper coats and SSENSE for pricier ones.

Does the firm you currently work for happen to have an office in Europe? It is much harder to start in Europe from ground zero as opposed to being transferred there.

If they don't, I'd recommend a substantial amount of networking before you go to the UK, as it is extremely competitive at this point. Most of the Americans being hired are transferred and thus don't have to worry about any visa or immigration matters.

PM me if you're interested in a top level immigration firm that deals primarily with American, Russian, Arab clients. There are several ways of going about your visa situation, but I will say it has recently gotten harder as the UK is currently a floodgate for European immigration.

I LOVE Canary Wharf!!! When I was there it was very new and expensive. If I had a billion that would be my go too area as well Old Bank. The bus system is pretty easy use, there are Night buses too. From Clapham to Hammersmith it's about 30-45 during rush hour. When there is an accident prepare to be on the bus for hours... The Jubilee and DLR are the best lines, in my opinion. Much cleaner.

I moved the other way from Europe to Australia, and I can tell you that Europe is in better shape than it used to be but it is still not that great. Regarding Fx, as you are in Australia just go wiht Oz Forex they are very good and spread are OK and decrease with the size of the trade...

prepare for extreme depression, shite weather, no feeling of community and incessantly repetitive aussie jokes. pretend you've never heard of the ashes.

still finance hub of ze world, for now.

center of the finance world, great food, shitty weather. Two of my siblings live there so I tend to visit a lot.

I knew some American S&T buddies working at BB's there. The one thing that got to them was not the food, not even the cost of living - it was the weather, especially in the winter. They'd come in to the office early & not see the sun. At the end of the day, when going home, the sun had already long since set. Hence, they felt like they were on the vampire shift. Led to some pasty white skin too.

Prepare to live in the best city on EARTH

Always a good city to be in for a Finance job. No matter what it's still number 1 in Europe and top in the world for that.

Now about the LIFESTYLE there, it's really hit or miss depending on what you like. Lots of people love it, for me as a "continental European" I really disliked it when I was there. But to each his own.

PS: Yes the weather is bad. But nowhere as bad as continental Europe where the temperature gets even colder outside of Southern Europe. London is actually a pretty mild climate IMO.

Oh and one thing I have to mention: House prices. Completely out of control, even compared to similar towns (NY, Paris, etc). I've heard of traders making good money and still living in studios.

how competitive is it for internationals to get jobs oover there? I have two years experience in front office investment research at a boutique.

Also does anyone know if its difficult to get a VISA?

@euinvestor11

There's this saying that London is fogged up & gets a lot of rain. In reality, London has less rainy days than Paris & doesn't go thru the temperature extremes of continental Europe.

@UnclePanda

I would imagine it is VERY competitive in the job market. All things being equal, priority will go to EU nationals, so consider marrying your GF soon. (I kid here, but you get the point).

Depspite the weather, I would take it over NYC any day of the week!!! Have fun and do not sweat the Aussie jokes. IF they get to you, come to the US. You will probably be surprised on how well Austrailians fit into American culture. Many similarities.....

'Applying for a VISA/ how easy they are to get/ how much they cost'. - Apply for a VISA in Aus well in advance (two months is standard) as it takes you a while to get the documentation and you have to send your passport away. You can get a two year VISA as an Aussie make sure you check your start date as friends have gone traveling during summer then hit the UK and realize they just lost four months of their time what is crucial because.....

After that two year you can apply for sponsorship if your company or another company that's willing to. The general test is that no one can do the job in the UK but you, finance and law companies generally puff up roles to help the process. Some companies pay for the costs some don't. It's around £1000- £1800. It is transferable once you do get sponsored but there are specific rules.

You mentioned you've been with your GF 1.5 years and will continue to? Well you can apply for a defacto visa to stay in the country. I don't know the specifics you have to meet though but you would probably be OK on this front.

Transferring cash, I know not that best answer but is dependent on how much you have. Banks can offer great rates (cross rate plus X% bps upmark) if you have enough otherwise shop around.

Work- I can't comment specifically on your criteria but check out efinancialcareers, head hunters, contacts via Linkedin. Go out and meet people and improve your network/ CV and interviewing skills there are so many diverse roles here. Maybe look at technical/ behavioral guide, put your CV on WSO for feedback.

Other thing basically the weather sucks, you will get Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or at least I did by the second winter as everything including snow has its novelty. The thing to get your through though is summer holidays or small trips away. Living in London every area is different and it will take you time to explore to see where you like/ can afford etc. Skype, viber and whatsapp are lifesavers for contacting people at home. Get here get your house, bank account, phone contract (can be pay as you go until you get an income) and National Insurance number card and away you go. Aussie areas are Clapham/ Fulham/ Shepards Bush. Travel a lot while you're here. Lastly you obviously know the ebbs and flows of recruiting but March post bonus time and summer post summer are great hiring times. Good luck mate.

Who gives a shit about the weather? Srsly it is not that bad....maybe I'm used to it because I have lived there all my life. Anyway, London is a beaut city and I love it and always will, there is a quirkniss about that is irreplaceable.

Moved to London from NYC--COL is insane. I thought NYC was bad, and then I got here. If you don't know how to cook, learn. Fat American jokes aside, I feel like very few places give you a proper meal for the money. Live near a good grocery store (Waitrose comes to mind). The food here minus maybe Indian is nothing to write home about, but there are good places if you look hard enough.

I never thought I would miss NYC prices, but I do after moving here. In terms of getting a visa, I was an internal transfer within the firm (long story). I'll probably never be able to afford decent real estate here unless I am lucky enough to make MD/marry rich/there is a gigantic real estate crash.

London is very large, very clean compared to NYC, but very very expensive. It's a lot quieter than NYC if you know where to live, but people are bidding every neighborhood up to obscene levels.

I wish NYC subway and commuter trains were as nice as those in London. People talk about how crazy real estate prices are in NYC neighborhoods such as TriBeCa and West Village, but compare them to locations such as Kensington, Mayfair and Knightsbridge. It really is nuts there...

I also transferred internally with my company to London (from Washington, DC so the COL shock was even worse). Immigration is a hot topic over here with the government pledging to cut net migration in half by 2015. They can't stop EU citizens so they've been targeting other visa programs. Lucky Aussies get a free two-year visa.

Weather aside, the city's great and you meet lots of interesting people. I live with a Brit, an Aussie and a South African. I also live on a sizeable park, which you really can't get in a place like NYC unless you've got money. Eating out is insanely pricey compared to other cities, but it tends to be good quality and you can find pretty much any type you'd like.

I'd second using your bank to transfer money over. They have some of the best rates in my experience. You'll need proof employment and residence to open a bank account.

thanks for all the useful advice. From what I here, my two biggest challenges in moving across are:

1. VISA - I will have a working VISA but I think it will be difficult to gain meaningful employment with this type of VISA, especially in investment finance. Hopefully things get a little easier when I am on a defacto visa but it could be as much as 6 months (depending on when I leave) until I get onto this type of VISA. In this case, I could say that I travelled for 6 months hmmm not sure, any advice/ opinions on this?

2. Work experience - I will only have 2 years experience and no professional qualifications (even though I have a first class honours degree in finance). I have about 4 internships with big 4 accounting firms and a years experience tutoring and lecturing, so I hope this helps but who knows. I have 2 years solid front office exposure across all asset classes but primarily australian equities, so exposure to researching macroeconomics events as well. Any advice on how best to prepare over the next 1.5 years to maximise my chances at gaining employment. Also what is the current job market like for people in my position - ie. two years front office experience with a boutique?

Cheers

I moved to London from LA. Regarding the food, its good and bad. You can definitely find great food in London, but most of the time you'll have to pay a lot for it. The city distinctly lacks an abundance of good cheap eats. Also, London grocery stores are big into Just in Time inventory management, so the food tends to be very fresh, but its also not uncommon to to see empty shelves as they run out of items. Lastly, corn-fed beef is impossible to find unless you go to a high end steak restaurant or import it from the states. Sure, grassfed is healthier, but cornfed tastes so damn good.

Can you get a job on a visitor's visa? I dunno about that. The firm would have to definitely sponsor you.

London is a great city to live in. There is always something to do. I hated it for two reasons though:

1) Rent prices are ridiculous. I really wonder how people cope in London fi they aren't earning about 30,000GBP and up. Even at that income level, you'll still need room-mates.

2) Weather. The weather got to me bad! I hated it, absolutely hated it! Winter was just bad. You'd get like one sunny day in a month. Ugh!

I

A bit off-topic, but out of curiosity, for those living in London, where do people like to go for their getaway holidays? I would imagine soaking up some sun in Spain or Italy are among the top choices?

On a related note: Can anyone recommend a cheap prepaid card that I could purchase in London to use in my iPad? I will travel quite often to London in the next few months and don't want to pay a fortune on my data plan, so a Prepaid would be great. Any tips are greatly appreciated.

Easy access to the rest of Europe. Good for traveling. Stick with US expats community you'll have more fun. Weather is alright. Visa should probably be your main concern.

For transferring money internationally I would highly recommend transferwise, they only charge you 2.5 euros for an international transfer (and use spot FX rates). I used myself several times and never had an issue, you get your money within two business days.

https://transferwise.com

For living, I would recommend flat sharing as rent is just brutal here. These are two good websites for that

http://www.spareroom.co.uk/

http://www.gumtree.com/

cheers for the money changing ideas. Best we have here is a chinese bank that can set up a futures contract and it takes a 150 pip spread, which is pretty good as the banks over here take a 300 basis pip spread.

Also the gf says london is much cheaper than Australia. You guys pay 5.96 pounds for an eggs benedicts and 3 pounds for a pint of beer. Over here we are paying at minimum 12 dollars for an eggs benedict and 8-10 dollars for a pint of beer.

Cotton Eyed Joe:

1) Flat (don't worry about tube strikes, rarely happen and it will only mean waking up 30 mins earlier those days)

Given that you work in Liverpool st, you have some pretty food options if you are an associate at a BB.
-West London (Fulham, Chelsea, South Ken) - all around 30 min commute in tube. This is a fun area to go out in with tons of day drinking pubs and good restaurants. Look to spend ~1300 a month for a half decent 1BR(obviously sharing a flat is much better)
Shoreditch - fun area, lot's of young people and some good restaurants. Can get very loud sometimes, but you can easily walk (15 mins) or bike (5 mins) to Liverpool St. More space for the money than west london. Pretty cool 2BR lofts can range from 1200-1500 each.
-North London (Marylebone, Bond Street, Marble Arch): Not as easy as a commute since you are on the central line) which makes tons of stops between that and Liverpool St station.

2) Clothes
-Depends on the bank but everyone usually wears suit (tie or no tie depends on your preference) + Fall /Winter Coat.

3) Gym
-Sign up for a big chain and get whichever one is close to your office. Fitness First is good. Virgin Active also good. Hard to go wrong when you are working in banking and casually hitting the gym. I believe both have locations next to your office.

Best advice on this thread. You can ignore the idiots talking about Canary Wharf - that place is a fucking death hole, you go there if you have no interest in going out or living in London. It's shit. Pure shit. I am not sure if UBS has a gym inside the building or not. But there are plenty of gyms all around the city, if swimming is not one of your main concern than everything is cool. Somebody talked shit about the district line - it's a fucking amazing line, I am slightly claustrophobic and the district does not go very far down which I like. I've used it for 5 years and it's very reliable. I used to use the jubilee, I hate it. The Northern Line is by far the worst at peak time.

I'll add Notting Hill - it's nice and the commute to Liverpool street is straight on the red line. Although I fucking hate that line as it gets sweltering hot.