What do you need to take in consideration when you are applying or (happily) moving to London for an international internship?
London is an amazing city, not only for living but as well for working here. All creative people adore it due to number of events and design stuff that are happening in the city all the time. You can’t see everything, and at some point you get used to the fact that you are missing out on important events, because an even more interesting and more creative event is happening on the other side of town. In most cases, creative interns love it. what do you need to know before moving here?
- London is expensive. There is a price to pay for all those amazing events and design trades that are going on every day basis, and this price is called the living costs. If you are already live in a big city, you are probably aware of the monthly pass costs and rent and eating out. If you are living in smaller town, those prices may surprise you. If you want to fully enjoy the city, take in consideration all the museum exhibitions tickets and concerts that you want to attend. After all, being in London is all about enjoying the cultural and art scene here.
2. Accommodation is tricky. and it’s not only due to price! The process of finding a room is quiet challenging, you have to be fast and decide quickly.There are few things you need to take in consideration:
- Area – not only in terms of the safety, and number of lovely coffee shops, but most importantly, the distance between your new home and workplace. The shorter, the better – obviously. But keep in mind, that during the peak hour the traffic can be horrible, so living in city centre is not always the best idea. Commuting between two stops in centre can take the same time, as the train form zone 4 – just keep that in mind.
- Deposit/references – In cities as big as London, finding a room from a private landlord is quiet rare. In most cases, the room finding process goes through agency, which will charge you a fee for that, and also may require a deposit or 3-6 months rent in advance, so keep that in mind when budgeting for your internship. There are long term hostel opportunities or intern/young professional houses that offer accommodation on weekly/monthly bases, which may make it a little bit easier at the beginning.
Sometimes, the easiest way is to ask your potential employer or any of your friends who live/lived here for any tips, as they may know some secret facebook groups.
3.Traveling. London is a great place to travel to pretty much any other city in Europe, just name it. With trains to Brussels and Paris, and flights to Rome and Prague and so many others, you can spend all the weekends aways, if you only wish to do so. There are several good buses connections which offer a bit lower price and quiet an interesting selection of routes.
4. Free Stuff! Even though London is quiet expensive ( see point 1) as major cultural capital, it offers tons of things for free! all the museums with permanent exhibitions are free, and you are ok todo some touristic sight seeing over there pretty much any time you want. If you are an intern at Kia designs, you will be attending a lot of design and art events for trade, which are usually very inspirational and quiet interesting, starting form design fairs and furniture trades up to design talks and lectures, you can definitely learn a lot from that!
London is an amazing city to do your internship, just plan it and be aware of your budget. With an amazing cultural and art scene, and very tons of creative events, you will definitely enjoy it!