Move to London-Interviews arrangements

[Observer]

I am considering a move to London (I am EU national), but I do not know exactly how to organize the whole thing. I have read in several places that many positions in London are offered through recruiting agencies, and for this reason I think I will be concentrating mostly on them.

My plan would be the following: I would send the application documents to the recruiting agencies in the first week of September, and then I would go to London for the interviews on the second or third week of September. Once I have done the interviews, I would go back to London again in about 2-3 times to do new interviews or interviews related to the first stage of interviews . Of course if any interesting and urgent opportunity should arise in the meantime I would go to London earlier if necessary.

Would you agree with such a plan? or do you think that there is an smarter way of doing this?

Thanks!

[Bevdeforges]

Depends on what line of work you're in, but getting to the interview stage often takes longer than a week or two. Contact the recruitment agencies you're interested in and then see how interested they are in your CV. If they think they can place you, they may or may not want to see you directly - or they may simply ask about your availability for interviews with their clients.

But it isn't unusual for it to take weeks or months before a recruiter finds anything you may be suited for.
Cheers,
Bev

[Observer]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Depends on what line of work you're in, but getting to the interview stage often takes longer than a week or two. Contact the recruitment agencies you're interested in and then see how interested they are in your CV. If they think they can place you, they may or may not want to see you directly - or they may simply ask about your availability for interviews with their clients.

But it isn't unusual for it to take weeks or months before a recruiter finds anything you may be suited for.
Cheers,
Bev

Thanks for your feedback.

In London I will be looking for a Compliance position with a financial services company, although a legal position would also suit me. I have two years experience in this sector in the European headquarters of an American financial institution, so I do not know how good are going to be my chances in London.

Do you have any information about this sector, especially regarding suitable recuriters or job opportunities?

Thanks again for your help.

[Piyush]

Originally Posted by Observer

Thanks for your feedback.

In London I will be looking for a Compliance position with a financial services company, although a legal position would also suit me. I have two years experience in this sector in the European headquarters of an American financial institution, so I do not know how good are going to be my chances in London.

Do you have any information about this sector, especially regarding suitable recuriters or job opportunities?

Thanks again for your help.

The financial sector is the worst hit in the current economic scenario. Also, given that there are a lot of UK citizens on the dole themselves, it might be a little difficult to get a job soon. Generally, expect to wait atleast a month before you can get any calls. Till that time you will have to make job searching your full time job as if your whole life depends on it.
One more thing that I noticed is, if you do not have a UK address on your CV, your profile does not even make to the second round.
Given all this, I would suggest, pack your bags, come to UK and stay in some paying accommodation (you can find plenty of those in Gumtree.com: UK's No. 1 in classifieds - jobs, property, cars and more).
Register yourself in job center plus and also apply for jobs yourself. There are loads of UK recruitment agencies (You can google for UK Job portals). To keep yourself going financially, try to pick up some part time job to pay off your bills and day-to-day living expenses.

Hope that helps.

All the best in your job hunt.