I'm moving with my (English) husband to the Sheffield area in January. I have been before, but only for a short time on holiday. Any advice? Where are the best places to look for jobs (retail, serving, etc.), or are jobs hard to find? Do you think that my being American will hinder my ability to find a job at all?

As far as going out, we are both in our early/mid 20's and not the clubbing types. where are the best places for live (indie, etc.) music and generally low key hangouts?

Also, I am a certified teacher in the states and was wondering if anyone here would have information on where to find what further qualifications I would need to possibly teach later in the UK.

Thanks in advance,
Sarah

I'm busy adding more questions to my questions...

What is the general pay range for jobs such as retail, waiting tables, etc? Also, I know taxing is different so how much of your paycheck do you actually end up taking home?

Hello there, to answer a few of your questions if not all...

The usual amount of tax is around 25% of your gross income, obviously this depends on how much you earn.

Waiting Jobs usually pay the minimum wage which is around £5.50 I beleive, ill let you do the math and work it out.

There are plently of Jobs in Sheffield, although unless your fairly high up the chain wages are not fantastic, I would guess in the regen of around £12K - £20K on average, if you have teaching qualification I don't think you will have much trouble finding a Job..you could look on the following website:

http://www.yorkshirejobstoday.co.uk/?sitecode=ypos
http://www.fish4jobs.co.uk.

Also Leeds/Doncaster/Barnsley/Rotherham are only a few miles away.

As for going out, there are many different venues for live music including: The Leadmill ( link to the gigs ) http://www.leadmill.co.uk/db/live.php , Casbah, Octegan also check out the sheffield uni site etc.

So where about in the states are you coming from ??

Minimum wage is slightly under £5 at the moment

http://www.direct.gov.uk/Employment/Employees/RightsAtWork/RightsAtWorkArticles/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4018234&chk=DVHNe6

I was guessing didn't have a clue - just new it was around the £5 mark

Thanks for the info. We're moving from Pensacola, FL. Had a little too much of the hurricane "season" which is becoming all the time; our landlord has had the windows boarded for 2 months now and has no intentions of taking them down until the end of season. Hopefully I can adjust to the cold weather, but I think it's worth not having to worry every few weeks if you're going to have somewhere to live or if your house is going to be in a heap a mile down the road.

Enjoy the snow and grey slushy weather in January in Sheffield while I'll keep enjoying the sun here in Pensacola.

btw, Is Jim Cantori one of your friends;) Hermano looks just like him.

For our Sheffield friends, Gulf Breeze and Pensacola are separated by a 3 mile long bridge across a bay, which leads out into the Gulf of Mexico. We're almost neighbors and didn't know it. Small world eh!

Ha. And next Summer while we are enjoying a nice cool 70 degree weather, you'll be sweltering in the humidity, eating MRE's from FEMA. Enjoy.

Originally posted by spyro2000
Minimum wage is slightly under £5 at the moment

http://www.direct.gov.uk/Employment/Employees/RightsAtWork/RightsAtWorkArticles/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4018234&chk=DVHNe6

The minimum wage will rise on 1 October, benefiting more than one million workers. Adults must be paid at least £5.05 an hour, up from £4.85, while 18 to 21 year olds will get 15p more at £4.25.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4294512.stm