So What's Next?
Ok, so for those of you who didn’t know… a few weeks back, I
booked a one way flight to London and arranged a month of accommodation. I had
no solid plans for this month, but I had a few intentions. The only thing set
in stone was that I had booked tickets to go to V Festival with my friend
Blaithin (as a sort finishing uni present to ourselves) and I had a few friends
based in and around London that I couldn’t wait to catch up with. Now, there
was never a doubt in my mind that I wanted to get back to London as soon as
possible, temporarily or permanently, yet to be decided. So there I was, here
nearly two weeks, enjoying life and the substantially more appreciable weather
and of course I had been on the look out for work, with college now being a
thing of the past and the future being unwritten *que the classic by Natasha Bedingfield*
So yea… the job hunt… I had my eye on many positions before
coming over, so I applied for them instantly, some long term permanent
positions in a head office environment, other more short term positions or paid
internships in studios etc.. So as the first week had passed, being completely
honest, stress and paranoia levels were on the rise, as to whether this was a
bit of a brash decision and whether I had made a mistake… (and constant longing
to be at home with my baby cousins, wasn’t making it any easier) but in
contrast, I’d have an exciting day where I’d be ecstatic to be back in this
incredible city whether it be for long term or just a holiday.
Originally, I had planned if nothing degree related came up
work-wise, I would apply for bar/retail work but I had to give time for the
first applications to be responded too, before getting ahead of myself… so I
waited.. (and over analysed – classic Barry). So while waiting, trying my best
not to spend too much of my savings, in case they would be needed for a long
term London situation. I got strategic/maybe had a bit of a reality check. I
got into the accounting side of things, wages/budgets etc (Shoutout to Ms Greene
and Ms Edwards for those life skills). I looked into the average retail Sales
Advisor wage ( in particular, that of the brands that I had my eye on) and
there full time contract hours, which monthly could make around £1000 in a
starting position. From my experience of house hunting in the last few weeks,
it was gunna be a damn miracle to find a place with my own room for less than
£600 pound a month including bills, excluding transport, excluding food and
excluding having any sort of life… (you see where this is going?) So if I was
to stay long term, by myself.. I would literally just be scraping by, not
making any savings for the future.
Analysis: Full time retail/bar work will just about cover
costs for one person living in a relatively central location in London.
Conclusion: If I was to go down the path of working in
retail/bar I think I would either need to be extremely lucky with accommodation
or share a room with someone, ideally a friend.. so what now? I have
accommodation for another few weeks here, I’m still waiting to here back from a
lot of applications and I’m applying for more. However now I’m focussing on
just getting a placement for a few weeks, a few weeks experience with another
company, make more contacts and get one step closer to knowing what part of the
industry I want to be in. So focussing on a placement with a fashion studio for
London Fashion Week or with a textiles studio for Premiere Vision, whether it’d
be paid or unpaid, it’s experience and I’ll settle for that.
So yea the (realistic) ideal plan now, to get a placement
for a few weeks and then head home again for a few months, which I’m perfectly
happy to do. (Maybe I’m not ready to leave the nest permanently just yet and
y’know what… after three years of a college and last summer in London, it’s no harm
to spend some time with family and I’ve now realised that, why should I rush
into something long term so soon, I’m still quite young, I’ve got lots of time
to take the next step and by doing this, it leaves me free for the possibility
of some very exciting freelance work that could be on the horizon. As for
London, it will definitely be my home, in the future and probably the not too
distant future but that is a move I think I’d rather make with company.
*Plot Twist*
Having started this post last week, you can see where I was
at but there has been some developments. I’m delighted to now be able to say,
after a successful trial day last Wednesday, I have just completed my first
week interning at the incredible studios of Gareth Pugh. I genuinely can’t
believe I’ve managed to gain this opportunity with a designer that has achieved
so much. I shall be interning at his studio for a total of five and half weeks
until his show at London Fashion Week on the 17th of September,
which I’m also incredibly excited to be part of again! Obviously, I can’t say
much about what I’m doing (confidentiality clause and all that) but for now
I’ll say this much, I love interning there. The studio is amazing and has a
really nice atmosphere and the people are lovely too and I’ll explain more
after the show!
Who knows what’s to come in the next few weeks… all I know
for certain is I had an incredible time in Windsor last weekend, to celebrate
one of my best friend’s birthdays who I hadn’t seen in 7 months (yet to miss a
birthday) and this weekend is without a doubt gunna be the highlight of the
summer with V Festival on the cards and of course I’ll have five and half weeks
of interning with an amazing designer to add to my CV, so I really can’t
complain…
And as for the rest… the rest is still unwritten ;)
Thanks for staying with me throughout that very long ramble,
but that is what my brain has been overthinking in circles over the last few
weeks and it feels good to just summarise and conclude, whether you guys care
or not, it’s like a weight off my shoulders!
As always, feedback is always welcome and you can keep up with all my
other social medias with the links below!
Thanks,
Barry T.
Feel free to follow me on:
Twitter: Baarold
Instagram: barryt95
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