Australia

"there don't seem to be many jobs either"

There aren't - anywhere. OK technically there might be, but you have 50+ people applying for every one.

North East Scotland and Inverness. Bit more than an hour from Brighton, but....

Brighton is uber trendy so a bit more expensive. Eastbourne (don't laugh) just up the coast is where a lot of wannabe Brightonites go now. Quite a bit cheaper, quick train to Brighton, actually a really nice little town and you've got Beachy Head for a bit of open space on your doorstep.

All the jobs are in China

millions of willing provincial workers

with a BETTER work ethic than the west

Who think 50p/hour is a great wage...

Health professions and other service professions

and IT jobs are growing if u have skills there

Check the Fianacial Times web site.

Singapore is the new Switzerland to China

That is where the current growth is.

Also your age is against you. Over 40s find it very difficult to get a job, either because employers think you are over-qualified or have to pay you much larger salary than someone half your age doing the same work. Your lack of recent UK experience will be another negative.

If you can find some kind of intra-company transfer, you have advantage over US staff in that you don't need a visa to work in UK. If you network among your existing contacts, something may show up. This is the best route for relocatng to UK.

Brighton has UK HQ of American Express, the new football stadium there is sponsored by them and is one of the city's largest employers.

Thanks - some good suggestions except for Australia and Scotland! I haven't worked for a while so no networking/transfer opportunities. I did live just a few minutes from the Amex building in Brighton in my teenage years and was going to give them a shot. I know I have my work cut out for me - age & lack of recent work experience is most definately an issue.
Nona1 .. I always thought Eastbourne was a bit of a retirement town - am I wrong? Also, any promising towns along the Brighton-London rail line?
What's the current unemployment rate in Britain?

Gosh 1travelseeker I wish you luck! You are certainly returning to the UK in very troubling times with the proposed massive cuts to services due to the austerity measures etc.

As reported on The Guardian’s website - www Guardian.co.uk - today, the official UK Labour Market statistics (Sept 2011) show the unemployment rate is 7.9%

Jobless total rises to 2.51m
• Unemployment rate at 7.9%
• Public sector employment falls by 111,000
• Claimant count rises by 20,300 in August
•Youth unemployment increases to 972,000

“Public sector job cuts imposed as part of the government's austerity drive have sent unemployment back through the 2.5m barrier, according to official figures released on Wednesday.
The Office for National Statistics said the number of people out of work rose by 80,000 in the three months to July, reaching 2.51m, mainly due to a sharp rise in youth unemployment.
Despite ministerial hopes that the private sector will be able to compensate for the squeeze on the public sector, the ONS said the May to July period had seen the sharpest rise in unemployment in two years.”


[According to the National Bureau of Statistics for Australia, unemployment rate in Australia is 5.3% (end Aug 2011)]

Ask on this forum you may get better idea of what is involved
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=61

Take a look at the train routes from Brighton. Loads of towns along the Brighton-London train route and within the hour or so from Brighton you specify - Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, Crawley, Gatwick Airport, Redhill, East Croydon, Clapham Junction and London itself. Crawley and Gatwick Airport are major employers although that doesn't mean there are suitable vacancies.

Lewes and Eastbourne going East.

Worthing, Chichester and even Portsmouth going West.

travelseeker - that's why I said don't laugh. It still has that reputation but in reality now it's filling up with priced-out young professionals. I have several friends living there.

your time in America might help if you can work for an american country. Danaher has a small plant there

Amex is the largest private employer in Brighton - perhaps you could look for work in their call centre?

lots of jobs in Canada and North Dakota.

Have a look at Horsham.

Thanks for your suggestions everyone. I will check out that expats site. Unemployment in the US is between 9-10% so the UK at 8% is about the same. I'm aware of the towns along the Brighton-London route but I was curious if any of them might have more available jobs than Brighton. So I was really just looking for positive and helpful ideas from people already there.

As a specific reply to janisj's "You don't have professional qualifications/connections, haven't worked 'for a while', are being picky about the exact town, haven't lived there for more than 20 years, and think you'll try AMEX simply because you lived nearby as a child???
Doesn't sound at all promising. Maybe you should stay where you are since you have survived there for 24 years."

What's the judgement for? I have qualifications and previous work experience. However for about 5 years I've been recovering from a serious illness and waiting for the time that I could be self-sufficient and return home. I'm divorced and no longer have ties here so I won't take your suggestion and just stay where I am because I survived here for 24 years. I'm looking for a better quality of life than survival. Also, I'm not "being picky." The theme of my post was to find an alternate town to have a better chance of finding work as Brighton doesn't seem to have many job postings. I don't "think [I'll] try AMEX simply because [I] lived nearby as a child???" With that reasoning I would get a job at the launderette. I was just saying I knew the location of the Amex building because I'd practically lived next door and knew they employed many people. "Doesn't sound at all promising." Precisely! That's why I'm seeking out information to increase my odds.

Janisjs

Does one really have to have professional qualifications/connections to be able to find work???

It sounds so snobby.

Um, if it's anything like the US the call center is in Lagos or someplace in Pakistan. They don't want topay first world salaries for call centers.

It sounds so snobby.

Why would ANYONE hire someone who didn't have the qualifications for the work involved?

Another answer: it IS the UK, after all

Dukey, you don't need a degree to work in clerical, or customer service. The poster has already said she has experience in this field and of course any prospective employer wants someone with relevant work experience. Janisjs quotes 'you don't have professional qualifications' which reads to me - unless you have a degree, your chances of finding work is slim. Total bollocks.

OK -- first no one mentioned anything about a call centre until after I posted. Second - I said she doesn't have professional qualifications OR connections. Which apparently she doesn't. I didn't say one needs 'professional qualifications' to work in a call centre. But even jobs in call centres are hard to nail down since there are many applicants for every opening.

When Eastbourne was suggested her response was "I always thought Eastbourne was a bit of a retirement town", and she has rejected Scotland out of hand - even though folks are hiring there. Does sound pickier than one might want to be . . .

Um, Nytraveler, the Amex call centre is in Brighton and services the whole of Europe. Presumably you've never rung Amex customer service?

One suggestion is to look online at all the large companies you can think of, many of them advertise jobs on their websites but not elsewhere so you have less competition. You will still find it tough but keep persisting, stay as positive as possible, improve your interview and CV skills as you go along and you will get something.


Expect to apply for lots of jobs and get no response at all. It's discouraging but happens to everyone. Agencies (in my experience) waste your time and only very occasionally deliver. There are loads of places to try but here are some ideas - BBC, Diageo, GlaxoSmithKline, Buckingham Palace, government departments etc. Start a list and check online regularly.

Good luck
Kay

Of all the places one might recommend a newly arrived job seeker to lookm at, Buckingham Palace has to be one of the bizarre suggestions to date.

Further along the south coast is IBM. A friend of mine moved back to the UK after her divorce a few years ago, and with very few job skills she managed to get work there and she now travels the world for them.

You need to check some of the jobsites. A few years since I was last job hunting so my information not very up to date, but try reed.co.uk.

suggest you look at www.reed.co.uk
www.monster.co.uk
www.michaelpage.co.uk
and the telegraph, times and Guardian job pages

Stick a CV up on each and set up an email tracking service (all free)

also the jobcentre+ has moved on a long way since you may have walked passed one years ago look at

http://jobseekers.direct.gov.uk/homepage.aspx?sessionid=18f220a3-cf4c-4990-8cf2-670c55ff7589&pid=3

hetismij, if this is the IBM at Chandlers's Ford, my CIL (?) was one of a large number of people made redundant there last year.

IBM used to have a large presence in both Portsmouth and Southampton (Chandlers Ford), but as Caroline has mentioned, the company has been shedding staff over the last few years.

I may have seemed overly flippant earlier, but I stick by my point. Jobs are scarce, it is a buyers market and many people are going for nearly every position. To quote from the list above, which I am sure was posted in good faith:
BBC - have to save in the order of 20% of budget - redundancies almost certain

Government departments: As above , many posts frozen

GSK - Have severely cut back on funding of research recently , also have a huge potential pool of employees since Pfizer shut down in Kent earlier this year.

I'm glad I posted as you've all given me some good ideas, reinforced things I had planned to do and suggested some websites/companies I wouldn't have known about. I'm just going to be positive and go at it like an attack dog!
In retrospect I agree that brushing Eastbourne aside is a bit picky. I just checked the British Rail website and found out that it's only 40-45 minutes by train(1 hour, 5 mins by bus)to Brighton - I didn't realise it was so close. And online flat lettings show that rents are at least 100+ pounds less. So it's actually a good option. Let's be serious - I have to rule Scotland out as much as it's beautiful and I'd love to live there. All my family is along the south coast, I don't know a sole north of London and I need some moral and practical support.
I don't care if I get an entry level position and work my way up again - I just want to work and pay the bills! Thanks all and wish me luck!

correction - soul, not sole, the fish!

I don't see why Buckingham Palace is bizarre. They have jobs and advertise on their website. It's a job, it pays money. I'm not suggesting she go trawler fishing for a living.

I found this website pretty good, lots of agencies as well as private companies use it.
www.secsinthecity.co.uk

Kay

1travelseeker, Would you consider retail? Coming up to Christmas M&S, Tesco, Saninbury's etc hire seasonal staff. The pay is little more than minimum wage but once you get a foot in the door and if you prove to be a good worker, they will put your name in a bank to cover sickness holidays etc.

I have a friend who took early retirement but then her company went into administration and her pension was slashed. She got a job Nov, Dec, part of Jan in M&S. She was laid off at the end but her name was banked and they keep phoning her up to do stints in various locations. Eventually a job came up, she applied and got it. She has since moved up to supervisor of the furniture department.

There are many stores along the south coast.

Have rung AmEx custoer service numerous times from the US - and it's always in some far distant land. Perhaps the UK has rules about this - but in the US typcially customer service is locatd elsewhere due to salaries that are so much lower, no need for benefits etc.

cambe - yes I would do seasonal work or any temporary work which would give me an opportunity to show my stuff! My plan is to get my foot in the door, even if it means making minimum wage, and work my way up. (But I don't arrive until mid-January 2012 so the Xmas season will be over.)

Regarding Amex, I've called them frequently from the US and it seems the time of day determines whether you reach a US rep or a (typically) Indian rep. Depending on the US time zone you call from, India is aprox 9 1/2 to 13 1/2 hours ahead, so our night is generally their day. I think it's sad that US/UK jobs go overseas but I can't blame the employees in India for taking the jobs. The poverty I've seen in India over 3 or 4 trips is hard to witness and I'm sure much, much harder to endure.

I should perhaps have mentioned that my CIL who lives near the south coast & was made redundant from IBM hasn't had a 'proper' job in the c.18 months since - when we visited the family the other week, he had a trial as a hotel breakfast waiter...

I always thought this was a travel website not a relocation website................ what an idiot i have been.

i guess it's all in the title

It's not quite the area but Saga have these jobs on their website ...

http://ig29.i-grasp.com/fe/tpl_sagagroup01.asp?KEY=73589145&C=024765463412&PAGESTAMP=seeetmqhdrltylpaik&nexts=INIT_JOBLISTSTART&nextss=&mode=1&newQuery=yes&searchrefno=&searchregion=0&searchlocation=0&searchjobgenerallist9id=0&searchtext=&formsubmit4=Search+and+Apply

@janisj on Oct 2, 11 at 10:54pm: It isn't necessary to be rude when someone asks for suggestions, about anything.


@1travelseeker : Good luck! (<:

@unclegus on Oct 7, 11 at 2:46am: When people relocate, they travel.

Now we are talking about Eastbourne here which to anyone based in Britain is (wrongly) nothing but god's waiting room.

Despite that I have worked there in a hi-tech business so there are opportunities.

"@unclegus on Oct 7, 11 at 2:46am: When people relocate, they travel."

I imagine the point that unglegus was subtly trying to make, is that a lot of travel forums don't allow relocation questions (such as Tripadvisor), but after trawling through Fordors T&C's (and almost losing the will to live), I personally can't find anything that says you can't post on such a topic, it's unusual though.

Fordors? Is that the Middle Earth's version of this forum

To be fair to the OP I suggested Eastbourne and I knew what reaction it would get - that's why I said 'don't laugh, but' and came back with a bit more info, which 1travelseeker has now looked into. It wasn't really being picky to find it an odd suggestion initially. As bilboburgler said, you have to be British to understand its reputation. The town where people go to die. But that's no longer true.

"Fordors? Is that the Middle Earth's version of this forum "

Yes, I think Smeagol is a destination expert for Mordor

Welcome to Fodors Jezzebbell. If you'll re-read what I wrote you will see that I was not rude. I merely noted that things don't look very promising for the OP since she apparently has little/no recent work experience, hasn't lived in the UK for 20+ years, and needs to live in a very specific area.

It appears to be a case of beggars can't be choosers. Just MHO . . .

As I am soon to be redundant, along with 138 other Engineers.
I have been contacted by a few companies and loads of agencies. I agree 100% with Kay, agencies are a waste of time. They get bonusses for adding you to their list of candidates, then forget you ever existed, they fail to match your skills to jobs and one actually forgot to send my workmates CV on despite calling him to ask his permission to do so.
I read somewhere that only 8% of jobs come through agencies and 44% through networking, with about 20 odd% from direct approaches to organisations. I think the rest is made up of luck and begging.

It is quite clear to me that any positions are around the Bristol area. Wales has officially closed for business.

(by the way, I can't wait for the boot. Got loads of travelling to do lol)

Muck

"I agree 100% with Kay, agencies are a waste of time. They get bonusses for adding you to their list of candidates, then forget you ever existed, they fail to match your skills to jobs and one actually forgot to send my workmates CV on despite calling him to ask his permission to do so."

Couldn't have put it better myself.

I had a quick look at the goverment website I proposed for Brighton and found 60 opportunities for clerical work. Travel seeker go for it.

Hi Mucky - fancy that ! We are both losing are jobs in the next few months and can't wait to leave the sinking ship which is HMS Britannia

It's already sunk Caroline, I have my lifejacket on

But onwards and upwards !!!

It'll be fine.
I have my guitar and a cap. What more do I need!



Good luck with your travelling too.

Muck

Hope it all goes well for you Caroline. If you do go, I await reports eagerly as I have been thinking exactly the same thought.

If it all goes pear shaped, and I lose my job next year (possible), then I have thought Sicily might be nice - not quite sure how.

Thanks guys !

Willit, I noticed a TEFL job advertised in Siracusa the other day...

Caroline and Mucky - I admire your upbeat positive attitudes.

Enjoy your travels but don't forget the trip reports, we need to travel vicariously through you and know where you settle.

We moved to the US in 2001 and don't regret it at all.

Thanks Alya,
Gis a job


Muck

Auf Weidersehen, Pet

AH no! That was Boys "from the Blackstuff" wasn't it.

Duh

Thanks for your support, alya - it's now or never !

Us expat here, now living in London. I found a job pretty quick last year.There may be lots of talk of recession, but the jobs are still out there in my experience. Try gumtree.co.uk", jobisjob.co.uk or earn.co.uk they are pretty good for entry level positions

The OP has just joined Fodors and made only two posts - this one and a similar one on another jobs thread. Weird.

FWIW, a few years ago, I was offered jobs in the London and Oxford areas for about 40k GBP per year. Those were considered fairly decent offers for my profession but after taxes and commuting costs, there wouldn't be much left over, esp considering the high cost of housing. Fortunately, at the time of the last job offer near Oxford (which I nearly accepted), I was offered a much more interesting and better paying position in Switzerland. And, knock wood, my job-hunting days are over - I hope to stay with my Swiss employer until retirement.

The ONLY reason I (a U.S. citizen) was able to seek and/or accept work in the UK was that my husband has Right to Abode and I had an Indefinite Leave to Remain visa. There's no way I could have waltzed into the country and started job hunting without it. The OP's advice here is highly misleading and I wonder about his motive for posting.

"The OP has just joined Fodors and made only two posts - this one and a similar one on another jobs thread. Weird. " True - except I don't think you meant the "OP" (Original Poster), but alexyarm who registered and posted yesterday.

. . . The OP also only posted a couple of times and moved on . . .