New Beginnings..!!

Yay, tomorrow I start my new job in London!

I'll be working as a HR Resourcer - Team Assistant for the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). I'm looking forward to it! Now, gotta do some clothes shopping as I have no work wear to wear lol!

I currently live in Beckton (Zone 3) and the building is suited in Liverpool Street (Zone 2) (yep! that's the name of the station!) so all in all it will take me roughly 20 mins to and fro..it's a 3-6 months contract with growing potential also (bonus!)

So how did I get this job? I looked at a cool webiste, http://www.gumtree.com/ for HR jobs in London and registered with Joslin Rowe - they cater for banking and financial companies. After registering with them, they contacted me for an interview and went from there, so yeh, I'm pretty stoked!

Some handy hints/tips that you may find useful:

- As soon as you land in London, contact JobCentre Plus to arrange for a NI number (tax purposes). Just remember that you need to bring your passport, a letter from your friend or landlord stating the address that you are living or otherwise a letter from your bank showing your address, ( I showed a letter from HSBC when I registered with them) proof that you are looking for work - this could be an email from an agency confirming your scheduled appointment etc or an employment contract if you have found work.
After 3-4 weeks it will be sent to you via mail....easy!!

- I recommend you go through 1st contact to organise bank account etc. I haven't had any problems and the information that they provide at the orientation is very useful. You will need to pay a fee (I paid $75). It's worth it, trust me!

- When looking for a place to live, make sure you write a series of questions to ask the landlord, ie how many people will I be sharing?, what's their sex? does the bill include everything? water, electricity, council tax, etc, how long is the contract for? and when you see the apartment, ask whether you have your own cupboard to store your food or is this shared, check the water pressure in the shower and whether hot water is 24/7, ask about your flatmates - are they working professionals or students. Be sure to check the location and the security also. Is it close to shops and public transport. If you are happy with the place, they would normally ask for 1 month's bond and 1 month's rent upfront.

-If you wanna save when buying groceries, head to Ardas (like Franklins), they are the cheapest food chain in London

That's it so far...I'll let you guys know how my first day goes tomorrow...!

Wish me luck!

p/s - If you want to know more about the contiki trip or have any questions, just email me..