Could I move to London or Oxford without a job
June 17, 2019 2:27 PM Subscribe
I've been looking for a book design job in London or Oxford for the past year and, while I've had around 12 interviews, I haven't had any offers. I'm currently freelancing while living with my parents in Dorset, and I feel like my life is on hold until I can move out.
I have around £4,000 saved up, no debt aside from student loans (which I don't have to pay back until I'm making £18,000), and I'm earning roughly £600 per month from remote freelance work. Would it be crazy to move to London or Oxford without finding a job first?
I have around £4,000 saved up, no debt aside from student loans (which I don't have to pay back until I'm making £18,000), and I'm earning roughly £600 per month from remote freelance work. Would it be crazy to move to London or Oxford without finding a job first?
Of course, as soon as I posted I came up with an alternative: move to London or Oxford and get any old day job to supplement your freelance income while you work on the dream book design job.
Could you do a call centre, pub or restaurant gig for a while?
posted by doornoise at 2:47 PM on June 17, 2019
Could you do a call centre, pub or restaurant gig for a while?
posted by doornoise at 2:47 PM on June 17, 2019
Response by poster: Yes, sorry, I should have given more details -- I was thinking that I could probably work temp admin jobs until I found a full-time book design job. There would also be a lot of in-house freelance opportunities which I don't have access to now.
I would love to move somewhere cheaper but most of the publishing jobs are in London and Oxford.
posted by Chenko at 3:19 PM on June 17, 2019
I would love to move somewhere cheaper but most of the publishing jobs are in London and Oxford.
posted by Chenko at 3:19 PM on June 17, 2019
Do you have any connections in either city that can help you out in some way? A friend who will let you stay for X months or anything like that? Offer to pay something in return and stick to hard deadline - don't abuse their generosity. Sometimes having a local address helps in job searches because companies don't want to foot the bill on moving expenses.
posted by acidnova at 3:20 PM on June 17, 2019
posted by acidnova at 3:20 PM on June 17, 2019
Response by poster: I have a brother in Oxford and a sister in London, but I couldn't stay with them for more than a few days.
posted by Chenko at 4:25 PM on June 17, 2019
posted by Chenko at 4:25 PM on June 17, 2019
I have a brother in Oxford and a sister in London, but I couldn't stay with them for more than a few days.
They might know someone who is looking to sublet or able to host someone for a little while. Could be worth a shot to ask them.
posted by acidnova at 4:33 PM on June 17, 2019
They might know someone who is looking to sublet or able to host someone for a little while. Could be worth a shot to ask them.
posted by acidnova at 4:33 PM on June 17, 2019
Best answer: I recently moved to a new city and had a feeling I needed to be in the city in order to get a job in the city. I booked an Airbnb for 6 weeks with the plan of moving back in with my parents if things didn't work out. I got a job offer on week 6. I would recommend lining up in person interviews before you go because waiting around for interviews can be a little boring. You can also use the opportunity to get a side job that will pay the bills and search for apartments. So my answer is yes, on a temporary basis. I wouldn't sign a lease until I had a stable job that paid me enough to stay.
posted by Penguin48 at 4:36 PM on June 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Penguin48 at 4:36 PM on June 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Hey fellow Dorset Dumpling!
Have a go! Stay with your siblings for as long as possible if you choose London, get the lay of the land, attempt to live off very little. If I were you I'd try somewhere near Oxford but cheaper, or Reading, where a commute to either city is possible.
I left the area for the same reason because the job market in the creative area is more than dire. You may also find you benefit from the rather less sleepy and geriatric ambience of the cities!
posted by low_horrible_immoral at 4:54 AM on June 18, 2019
Have a go! Stay with your siblings for as long as possible if you choose London, get the lay of the land, attempt to live off very little. If I were you I'd try somewhere near Oxford but cheaper, or Reading, where a commute to either city is possible.
I left the area for the same reason because the job market in the creative area is more than dire. You may also find you benefit from the rather less sleepy and geriatric ambience of the cities!
posted by low_horrible_immoral at 4:54 AM on June 18, 2019
Best answer: In your place I'd book an AirBnB like this one (the cheapest I can see that's actually in Oxford - but expect to spend more on buses or acquire a bicycle), treat job-getting like a full-time job for as long as it takes to land something, then look around for more stable house-shares once you can prove some kind of income.
London is trickier as it's that much bigger, and you'd be unlikely to be able to afford anywhere that's close to the main employers. But it may still be feasible. I'm assuming you're pretty young - this is a great time to try something like this. Good luck!
posted by altolinguistic at 5:32 AM on June 18, 2019
London is trickier as it's that much bigger, and you'd be unlikely to be able to afford anywhere that's close to the main employers. But it may still be feasible. I'm assuming you're pretty young - this is a great time to try something like this. Good luck!
posted by altolinguistic at 5:32 AM on June 18, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
London and Oxford are two of the most expensive places to live in the country and factoring in travel, moving expenses, deposit, rent (even of a single crappy room in a shared house) - you've only got enough from your savings and freelance bits and bobs to live on for three months max. If you've been looking for work for a year already, then that just doesn't add up to a comfortable time.
Can you expand your job search to other places or are you set on these two for a reason? If you can be more flexible with your job search you could get going much sooner in what is a very competitive field. Bag a job somewhere, get that experience, develop your portfolio, then set your sights on London and Oxford.
posted by doornoise at 2:44 PM on June 17, 2019 [1 favorite]