nicnic

Hello there London arch vis people!

Im moving to London from Melbourne in January and am looking for work (either contract but full time preferably) and some pointers as to where might be good to work etc.

I have researched fairly extensively and found alot of offices but have no 'ground knowledge' so to speak and was hoping for some input from anyone working in the London area in Arch Vis? is ''contract' work easy to come by? Working in a dedicated arch vis office vs. being a in house arch visualiser at a architects office? Whats better form your experience?

I have a cv, folio of stills and an animation reel ready to email out but I wanted to target 'decent' places and try to extend myself professionally in some way. I am professionally proficient in max/vray/A.E and have a architecture degree and 5 years of professional experience in arch vis/architecture, im looking for a 'senior' role (or whatever pays rent/food/beer)

If anyone has any pointers regarding good places to work or contacts / advice at all id be very appreciative! Im pretty excited about a change in working environment...even if it is going to be mid winter when I arrive....

cheers

jon76

Hi Nic,

I'm a creative Director at Smoothe, there are a number of good architectural visualisation companies in London, the main ones besides Smoothe would be Hayes Davidson, GMJ, Miller Hare, Squint Opera... i'm sure there are more out there!

There seems to be plenty of work at the moment and we are always looking for good, experienced freelaners. I'm sure you'll have no problems picking up work.

Cheers,

Jon

nicnic

Ah cheers for the pointers I haven't seen a few of those names before!

Justin Hunt

I too was going to mention the same companies. I worked for GMJ many years ago, they are really great Most places are always looking for talented people. You wont have too many issues in getting work.

Having said that, what type of visa are you going over on. If its the working holiday you may have a few issues, unless things have changed. I am sure you have checked out the legalities of working visas.

Have fun, you will learn alot, it is very different to working here in OZ.

JHV

nicnic

hey justin, im going over on a 'working holiday' visa, no restrictions as far as I can tell except that I can only work for 24 months.

Also what kind of ballpark rates are average for freelance work? I have so little idea about salary and living costs in UK reckon I might get a bit of a shock at the price of living etc.

The general plan is to get out of oz for a while and have a good time!

thanks

bigroo

A bit, coming from Melbourne where I used to live many years ago I'd say you'll have a shock but I guess everything is relative in comparison. As long as you're working & working well you'll survive & have enough to have a tinnie at the Walkabout.

__________________
All things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light. Leonardo da Vinci

nicnic

Nnooooo Not The Walkabout!

Justin Hunt

You might want to check the fine print of the Working Holiday Visa, once again things might have changed, but technically it is there so you can work to fund your holiday. Which means you cant work in your profession, but you can do other types of jobs, outside of your profession. There are a few exceptions, such as radiographers etc.

I was on an anceteral visa which has no issues like this but I was asked by serveral companies about my visa status.

As to cost of living, if you are earning then the two biggest costs are rent and travel. Food is actually quite cheap compared to OZ. If you are staying in London then rent will be high and travel sightly cheaper, but if you stay out of London then rents are cheaper and travel higher. Either way bank on spending a good chuck of your money on these two. Also take enough money to see you through at least three months. One thing I noticed was that it takes a while to actually land a job. Then there's rent deposits, food travel etc to cover before the first pay check.

A good place to start looking for work on arrival is "Everyman" in Earls Court, just ask any backpacker and they will tell you all about it. They do all the "dogs body" work from construction to packing boxes. Its an easy way to get a bit of money in while you are looking for fulltime work. I did constuction work for three months before I started full time working. Its fun and pays well.

I also tried agencies to get work, but they were a waist of time. Unless you want to get into the games industry or graphic design. They have no clue with arch viz, I got sent off for drafty jobs. Waisted my time and the interviewers. Check out the newspapers and the equivelent of seek.com . Also 3D magazines, often they post jobs there. Have a look both here and and CGtalk job section, you may be lucky. Other than that sent out your CV to every 3D house around.

I am out of touch with rates. When I was there I was on 25K per year, seven years ago. It was me and my wife working so we were able to save one salary and live on the other. We lived comfortably in a 1 bedroom flat in Kent. Both worked in the West end. Ate out often and travelled over seas every three to six months. We lived well.

Have fun,

JHV

nicnic

Sorry to bump this.... but I have a few phone interviews coming up and Iv been asked what kind of salary expectations I have...I really have no idea what market rates are over there are.

Could someone from UK please PM me and give me some hints as to what a 'middleweight/senior 3D' arch vis artist might expect either contract or fulltime?

much appreciated!

PAWUK

Nic

Dont work in london but found this while searching for a new job, unusual for the pay scales to be shown. Hope its helps

http://www.hays.com/JobSearch/Result...ryTo=-1&Page=1