Bare Necesseties - A guide to starting off

If you are an individual looking to come work i will provide some basic guidelines:

• Looking for a place to stay
• Knowing where you are
• Searching for jobs
• Going places
• Opening a bank account
• Applying for a NI Number

1. Looking for a place to stay - i would imagine you to have made at least temporary arrangements before you arrive for a place to stay. Once you in the saddle and you wish to look for a more permanent place a good place to start is to visit http://www.gumtree.co.uk which is a good classified for flat/house shares or rentals available and other services. Check also http://www.tntmagazine.co.uk.

2. Knowing where you are - take some time to learn the area in which you staying, make a mental note of internet cafes, job agencies, buses, shops, a vital piece of information is knowing your post code (its like your passport so don't forget it).

3. Searching for jobs - there are heaps of websites available for job vancancies (briefly browse through the list below to get an idea of what jobs are available), browse the jobs section of newspapers, magazines such as TNT and others, prepare your CV/Resume and then register with job agencies, hand your CV to friends who can pass it on to their companies.

Some useful job sites: (registration required on some sites)
http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/
http://www.jobserve.co.uk/ - good site for IT jobs
http://www.totaljobs.co.uk
http://www.gumtree.co.uk
http://www.workthing.co.uk
http://www.tntmagazine.co.uk

4. Going places - you might have an interview already that you need to go for, you just wish to travel or any other reason, whichever it is remember your postcode and when possible note down the postcode you going to, visit http://www.tfl.gov.uk which will give you the best possible route to get to your destination regardless of the means, buy a mini map book of London, grab yourself a copy of the London Underground Tube map, complete an application for an Oyster card, make a mental note of bus stops and bus route numbers nearest to you.

5. Opening a bank account - more details to come soon (in the meantime visit http://www.1stcontact.co.uk for details and other services including Limited Companies)

6. Applying for a NI Number - more details to come soon (in the meantime visit http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/ for details and other services)