A Hong Kong national, I have relocated to London from Singapore since the beginning of this year. I thoroughly enjoyed Singapore over the past four years but thought it's time to change. So my spouse and I decided to move to London.

Before moving to London, I contacted a few friends of mine who are living in London or have connections with London. Here were some of their genuine advice:

• "England is still very much in recession and although jobs are opening up slowly, it is still very, very tough."
• "Finding a job in the UK, even for UK nationals, is honestly hard work at the moment. It doesn't surprise me if it takes three to six months to get a real job"

I knew I was arriving into the UK at one of its worst economic times in history, but I was a bit skeptical. Three to six months sounded quite a long time to me.

So I had been intensively searching for a job once I arrived in London - preferably a full-time position but I was open to a part-time or a freelance job.

After six weeks of job search, I got an offer from a local public relations agency though it is not ideal. I had to accept a lower position, a much lower salary and pass a three-month probationary period to confirm this full-time position.

I have to confess, this job-hunt process was not easy at all. I experienced lots of frustrations and failures but valuable lessons at the same time.

Here are some lessons or job hunt tips I have learnt during my job search process, if this helps:

Expand your network

When looking for a job, think hard about who you might know in a new country or in a new industry.

Once I got to know that I would be moving to London, I instantly ‘activated' my connections with London in all possible ways. I contacted my colleagues who worked in London previously, my close and distant friends who know someone in London, and my business partners who might have some minimal activities in London. Try any possible connection. Try those whom you are familiar with first, those whom you know you can rely on.

Extend your network. Tell people you're looking for a job. Don't feel bad about it or even hide it. People will think about you if they happen to know any potential opportunities or are often happy to introduce you to somebody who may be able to help out.

Polish your CV

Try to make your CV really impressive and stand out among some hundreds and even thousands of CVs for one single job vacancy. Maybe, try a different approach.

As suggested by an ex-colleague of mine who is a British, besides sending my two-page standard CV to each potential employer, I enclosed a 20-slide credential document outlining my important skills and a few testimonials from my former client and bosses.

I must say this credential document has been instrumental in helping me secure some 20 interviews, and that's also how I landed on my current position. Very often people said they wanted to see me because of my "different approach" and "impressive credential document" though half of them were not hiring. Twenty-page document sounds lengthy but I found people do appreciate your efforts to put something nicely together.

Approach companies direct

I was told that recruitment agencies in the UK are very active, professional and reliable. However, as a total newcomer in a new country, I found recruitment agencies might not be the fastest, most effective way to secure a job. Out of my 20 interviews, all were from direct applications to the companies.

Not saying that recruitment agencies are not helpful, but simply it's worth applying to companies directly as companies often tend to be more willing to meet you free of charge as opposed to seeing you through a recruitment agency which normally incurs a small fee to them.

To be fair, it is still extremely useful to contact recruitment agencies who can often give you some valuable, realistic insights on the current salary level and job conditions. So try both.

Meet people

I still clearly remember I met this Corporate Director at a well-established public relations agency. She is a pleasant British lady who had worked in Holland for two years. She said she was interested in seeing me because of my "impressive background" though she's not hiring, and simply because she wanted to help me out of goodwill.

During our 30-minuite chat, she gave me loads of useful tips working and living in London. She told me how popular LinkedIn is in the UK job market and asked me to be a really active LinkedIn-er. She told me how her good friend offered to work for free for one month in her dream company and now her friend was hired as a full-time staff member and was even paid back for her first-month work because of her outstanding performance. She told me that if she hired me it would be because of my Asian knowledge and skill sets. She gave me ample reassurance on my proven talents despite my "lack of UK experience" - the main obstacle for me.

Go to meet people. Generous people exist. People matter.

Utilise LinkedIn

Among hundreds of job sites and business networking sites, I found LinkedIn the most powerful platform to connect professionals in different sectors and in different parts of the world.

Update your LinkedIn profile and get some nice testimonials from your colleagues, bosses or business partners. Nowadays, recruiters do hunt for talents from professional sites like LinkedIn. A few HR managers actually asked me to check their LinkedIn profiles for openings at their companies.

One tip: you can search companies by sectors and countries on LinkedIn. This is especially useful when you are entering into a new sector or a new country. You will be simply amazed by so many other opportunities out there when you think you've already exhausted all your contacts. That's how I actually found my current company.

Hang in there

Job hunting is never an extremely easy process, especially when you venture into a new area.

I am always quite a cheerful and confident person. I thought I would be able to overcome challenges and remain cheerful during my job search process. However, after a few unexpected unsuccessful interviews, I started getting disappointed and depressed. I started lowering my expectations and applied for jobs which only required one-year job experience when I had five-year work experience. I was uncertain about my future. I felt insecure.

"Hang in there", as a former business partner of mine based in Bangkok said. If you ever give up, you will lose everything and will never get what you have been working so hard to attain. Only when you "hang in there long enough", you will finally get there.

So these are some humble tips on job hunt and hope you found one or two useful. Now I have been working in London for a few weeks and I can never forget this experience which provoked me to realise or confirm the following:

1. Trust yourself. If you are good, you have no reasons to ever doubt your track records. Prove yourself to others and yourself once again. The power of will conquers obstacles.
2. Ask, ask and ask. Don't be afraid to ask people for help, advice and support. You are not alone. Meet people.
3. Be grateful. Say Thank You! to those who assisted you, supported you and encouraged you during this challenging time.
4. The world is Glocal (global-local). Skills are transferable. Never underestimate the values of your local experience and strengths in a new country.

Hang in there. You will make it!

Sally Maier-Yip