If you've jumped off the plane and into the midst of the city, as I did when I arrived, you're likely balancing finding a flat, figuring out the city, spending a bit of cash on various necessary accoutrements, and deciding what in the world you're going to do to earn a living.

Lots of people come to London from abroad in order to earn the UK Pound. Australians, South Africans, Canadians, New Zealanders, Americans, Indians, Pakistanis and a myriad of continental Europeans all rock up on UK soil for a variety of personal and professional reasons. Many are looking for high profile, white-collar jobs, and many are looking to earn some money while having a bit of fun.

While it seems a bit obvious, your first job as a Londoner is to decide which is your preference - to go for the gold, gain professional experience, or build your work around your other commitments. Here are some questions you can ask yourself, to decide:

• How badly do I need money?
• How often can I work?
• What responsibilities do I have, outside work (children, school, etc)?
• Do I have a professional qualification that I need to keep updated?
• How much do I need to earn to live in London?

Sure, they might seem like common-sense options, but if you take a pen and physically write down the answers, you can look back and discern your priorities - which is good thing to remember during every job application.

So, you've decided what kind of work you're looking for, and where you want to do it. Be it part-time, full-time or over-time, professional or just for kicks, we've collected some tips for figuring out how to get the work you want (in a brand new city, no less):


Keep an Eye Out: The best way to find out what jobs are out there is to keep a good eye on lookout. Newspapers, magazines, local bulletins and the internet are, of course, your main sources, but word of mouth and asking questions can give you some insight as well.


Visit Recruitment Agencies: Depending on what you're looking for, a good step in finding it is visiting a recruitment agency. They'll assess your skills, determine your interests and help hook you up with the kind of job you're looking for.


Send Out Your CV: Sometimes, when you have a special skill or are looking for something very specific, you might find more results just sending out as many CVs as humanly possible. Before you do, however, make sure they accept postal CVs, and that it is an accepted company practice. You don't want to step on any toes before they're even interested in you...

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