Pros & Cons For Working In That There London Village

[Pogle]

Have worked in London, I used MondaytoFriday.com for accommodation and commuted weekly by train.
I was OK, i quite enjoyed it, but it was expensive ... too many nice shops
I also fiercely hate the tube and find it odd that strangers don't chat, you cant shut the buggers up on the buses in Manchester
Oh and if its still on, i recommend the CUK weekly meet at the ship & shovel
Good luck

[SimonMac]

Are you a sock puppet?

No, but I have one

[suityou01]

Had a telephone interview for a gig in London and am being invited for a face to face, but as I have never worked in London can someone give me the pro's and con's?

I assume the biggest pro is the higher rates, possibly looking at a 40% bump from what I am on at the moment, have family in Hants so would probably commute in on the train, would I be missing out on what London has to offer by not living there?

Are you a sock puppet?

[doodab]

London is also a magnet for people from all over the world, so there is lots of great food and good looking women compared to other parts of the UK.

[2BIT]

Pros: higher rate, juicy projects, exciting place to work

Cons: more expensive, commute can be hellish (packed trains, delayed or cancelled trains), london working hours can be a bit extreme

[Scrag Meister]

When I first moved to London in 2005, I rented a room in a houseshare, £500 pm.

Then my g/f moved up and we rented a 2 bed flat in Finsbury Park for £1300 pm.

Then we bought a house in North London, costs £1900 pm but it's on the way to being ours.

45 min commute, well managable with a good book, free newspaper, and/or an MP3 player.

Loads to do if you really want to get to know London.

I'd recommend starting in London within a 5 min walk of a tube station, main bus route etc, then if you hate it after a while move to Hants.

Food costs are not a huge amount different, beer and socialising does cost more, unless you know where to look.

Go for it!

[scooterscot]

Worked in London before but only accepted gigs that keep me within the circular line. Anything outside that I did not entertain, I hate commuting with a passion.

You'll be surprised what you can rent in and around the circular line, £800-£1000 per month is plenty for something decent. Even got the client to pay it once. Don't ask don't get!

[SueEllen]

I assume the biggest pro is the higher rates, possibly looking at a 40% bump from what I am on at the moment, have family in Hants so would probably commute in on the train, would I be missing out on what London has to offer by not living there?

DON'T commute in from Hants or the surroundings if you can help it.

Train services into London have a notorious habit of being late at least once a week.

So even though it can take you an hour on a good day to get in the same as your tube journey could take if you were in London, you have a bigger risk that on a bad day you would be stuck with a 3 hour journey to get in or out.

There as even if your tube line screws up and you are staying in London there is always other ways of getting home.

[amcdonald]

I've done the commuting thing from Dorset and it worked out cheaper to stay in London during the week than pay the extortionate train fairs for commuting

Plus there if its for any length of time, cutting down on travel time is good for your sanity if nothing else

[doodab]

Had a telephone interview for a gig in London and am being invited for a face to face, but as I have never worked in London can someone give me the pro's and con's?

I assume the biggest pro is the higher rates, possibly looking at a 40% bump from what I am on at the moment, have family in Hants so would probably commute in on the train, would I be missing out on what London has to offer by not living there?

You would be giving up a lot of time & quite probably not saving any money. I looked at rents & train fares for a few commuter towns recently (thinking about moving out) and although rents are lower when you add in the cost of commuting there wasn't a lot of money to be saved compared to living in London.

It really comes down to where you want to live and what you like to do. If you are young, free & single & enjoy going out then you will probably have more fun in London, if you're middle aged and enjoy fishing probably not.

[SimonMac]

Had a telephone interview for a gig in London and am being invited for a face to face, but as I have never worked in London can someone give me the pro's and con's?

I assume the biggest pro is the higher rates, possibly looking at a 40% bump from what I am on at the moment, have family in Hants so would probably commute in on the train, would I be missing out on what London has to offer by not living there?