Ques:
1) how did u end up in Cardiff?
I was in my late 30's, wanted a career and life change, so decided to take up PhD at Cardiff University. Mid-life crisis, lol. Uprooted 2 kids, wife and myself. Friends thought I was crazy then!
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2) was finding a job there a problem?
Depending on type of jobs tbh. As a student then, I could work 20 hours a week. Not difficult. Student unions advertise job vacancies. As a student then, I work in a cake factory and then at Boots the Chemist warehouse. The latter was a much better job. My wife could work as well. So we never had to fork out much savings from back home. The wages were good, paid our rent, makan and bills.
TBH, things are very different nowadays since Eastern Europeans (Polish, Slovakians, Bulgarians etc) start flooding the UK job market around 2004/5. Lower end jobs are mostly dominated by them. Locals won't do it, non EU are squeezed out. Looking around I see a lot of non EU tend to work in respective takeaways or have their own small business. Professional jobs are the way to go if you are keen to settle in UK.
BTW, immigration rule have changed so much since I came. I guess I was lucky to have made a decision to move when I did. Even Americans, Canadians, Oz and NZ citizens are finding difficulty in securing jobs or PR. Anyway, Brexit will turn the tables against EU citizens. Perhaps UK will favour the Commonwealth once again! Who knows?