Day 1: Laying the Foundations

I've been living in London for 2 months odd, and so far I like it. People are usually nice, weather is okay and God there are so many things to see.
Too bad I didn't come here to see things and on that part, London fails miserably. I've arrived to get a job and work for a money that isn't humiliating, I came here to be treated like a human being and to see how laws can be taken seriously. I've had enough with my former life mainly due to stress and the need to constant struggling simply to stay alive.

I came to London to see the bright side of life, and I will.

I've been trying to get a job for 2 months, sending CVs and calling agencies at least 2-3 times a week, applying for a few fitting jobs at a time. That doesn't sound a lot, but trust me on that one, it gets frustrating after you send a hundred emails and nobody cares enough to write a reply; they simply look through my emails it seems.

This is what made me realise that my approach to finding a job is flawed and needs to be corrected. I'm also at the point financially where drastic actions are required, though the tie isn't tight just yet I definately see the bottom of my pocket.

I am also curious. An experiment is always a great way to conduct some research and to get some answers to my questions.

1. Is it possible to get a qualified job in London as a foreign candidate coming from the EU?
2. Is it possible to get that job during the recession?
3. Is it possible to earn enough for the rent in the recession and in a quiet phase of the year?
4. Is it possible as an immigrant and in a week?

Basicallyy what I'm trying to figure out is whether the problem lies in my lack of motivation or it lurks behind walls I cannot climb. I'm wondering if I would go all out taking reckless actions would I be more successful, than sniping those System Administrator or Customer Support vacancies I tend to see posted every second week with same phrasing and modified start date.

There are a few expectations I have and I think I'm not overestimating myself to ask for them as they are needed for survival:
1. The vacancy has to be full time with at least 35 hours a week.
2. The position needs to be paid according to laws of employment in Great Britain.
3. The job has to be in London for the sole reason of being able to commute.
4. It can't involve risks to life or health, including the right to good reputation.

And that is it. I spent a year running a network of around 300 computers in a high school and another eight months handling customer inquiries on the phone. By any means my english is far from perfect, but honestly, I think it would be just enough to grab a plate and serve the guests or grab a vacuum and clean a room. I also think that considering my previous experience in qualified roles I would be able to get away without the mandatory 6 months experience required in UK mantra all the employers like to grind.
I simply think that as a citizen of a fellow European Union member country I should be entitled to be able to get a job as much as the laws would like to imply.

This one week experiment will start at 18/01/2010 09:00 AM and ends at 25/01/2010 06:00 PM GMT.

I will be posting updates on statistics about how many agencies, hotels, bars and whatever I might think of during the week I called on a particular day. I will also add a statistic on what my email application success rate looks like and anything interesting I might run into will also be posted.

Let the game begin, and happy 24th birthday to me!