Are you an overseas student, looking for work in the UK, but short on time?
We know there are lots of competing demands on international students’ time. Often juggling both independent and group assignments, and this year, adjusting to doing this remotely online. In normal circumstances adapting to a new culture, city, and education system presents enough to be getting on with. On top of all this, is the task of finding graduate work. This can be time consuming as an international student. From getting to know the UK jobs market to understanding the graduate visas available. Not to mention choosing roles you have an interest in and feel you could contribute to.
International student job portal, Student Circus, advertises internships, placements and graduate jobs across a range of sectors and company sizes, from start-ups to large multinationals.
It is an exciting time for international students! If you are graduating from this summer, you will be able to apply for the new Graduate visa, to stay in the UK and work or look for work for two years, or three years if you have a PhD.
The main benefit of this route over the Skilled Worker visa is that you do not need an employer to sponsor you. Here are 3 steps you can take now to make the most of this opportunity.
Step One – Clarify your goals
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Do you want to work in the UK for the longer term, say 5 years, perhaps more? Or do you prefer to get some shorter-term experience here, before returning to your home country, or working elsewhere in the world?
Staying short-term
If you only want to work in the UK for a couple of years, you don’t need to worry about sponsorship anymore – you can simply apply for the Graduate visa!
If you want to stay in the UK long-term, look for a sponsored job through the skilled worker visa. Register for Student Circus – the UK graduate schemes and jobs on this website are all ones that employers have confirmed they will sponsor.
The Graduate visa gives you more time
If you haven’t secured a sponsored job before your student visa expires, you can apply to the Graduate visa, start working for an employer, and then apply to continue working for them on the Skilled Worker visa – as long as the necessary criteria are met.
You also have further chances to apply to sponsored graduate schemes, which tend to open every Autumn (see our international student timeline for getting a job in the UK).
Remember, some employers may not be fully familiar with the Graduate visa, or the Skilled Worker visa. For the Skilled Worker visa, employers need a licence to sponsor, and the job you are applying to needs to fulfil certain criteria to be one they are able to sponsor. It’s important to educate yourself so that you can explain these rules to employers if necessary.
As an international student you have a lot to offer UK employers. You have gained subject-specialist knowledge from your degree(s), and important skills from work experience (including volunteering) in your home country, and hopefully the UK. If you haven’t got UK work experience yet, it’s helpful if you can gain some. View our Intro: Finding work experience and internships in the UK and find out about our SME internship scheme.
Pascal-Laurent on Pixabay
Most importantly, you will have a global mindset, cultural knowledge and often language skills such as Mandarin or Arabic, that are in high demand. This can help you stand out. Watch our Intro: Communicating your value to Home and UK employers and reflect on the skills, knowledge and experience you have as an international student who has studied in the UK.
Step Three – Adopt a targeted job search strategy
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Research employers who will value what you have to offer
Consider this story for example: an Indian student taking an MEng in Aerospace Engineering focuses on contacting aerospace employers who see India as an important strategic partner. She discovers that the UK India Business Council has published Advocating Business Success in 2020, which highlights the founding members of a new Aerospace and Defence Industry Group, launched to “support and build on the huge opportunities for collaboration that exist between the defence industries of the UK and India”. This gives her a target list of employers as well as important commercial context she can reference, to stand out in her applications and at interview.
To find UK employers who are likely to value your home country knowledge, start with finding the membership organisations relevant to you. Search the name of your home country, or wider region, and add “UK” and “business membership” or “Chamber of Commerce” to find their website(s). Then, familiarise yourself with their membership lists and sector reports.
Don’t just limit yourself to well-known, larger employers – in the UK, over 99% of employers are SMEs (small or medium sized enterprises employing fewer than 250 people). SMEs are often able to recruit more flexibly and may give you a greater range of experience and responsibility than a larger employer.
Find advertised jobs – or access the hidden job market
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You may find your target employers are advertising roles through Student Circus or on their websites. If they aren’t, consider approaching them speculatively: this can lead to employers hiring you in what is known as “the hidden job market”. Send a cover letter and tailored CV demonstrating the value you believe you can bring, and follow up with a phone call to see if you can arrange an exploratory meeting.
If you follow these 3 steps, you will greatly increase your chances of securing high skilled work in the UK, in the career direction you are most inspired to pursue.
Getting to know a new labour market and how to navigate it can be difficult! That’s why we’ve put together this handy timeline for international students looking to find a job in the UK.
The #WeAreInternational student ambassador programme is an education policy and leadership development scheme for international students in the UK. With my growing interest in education policy and love for personal development, I thought it would be the perfect fit for me, and I was right!
From the very beginning, UKCISA staff have been nothing but kind and supportive. Even the recruitment process was insightful and enjoyable. It entailed a group activity and presentation, then a one-to-one interview. I remember all the candidates being so passionate, confident, and knowledgeable. We were informed of the decision a couple of days later, and fortunately, I was successful.
The induction training session, being before the pandemic, was an in person two-day event. It covered an introduction to UKCISA, essential policy knowledge and skills, and an individual session going through our personal development plan, tailoring it to our policy area of interest.
Being a #WeAreInternational student ambassador has been one of the best experiences of my university journey. I have been able to have a say in the international student experience! This has included: (more…)
We are often greeted with surprise from both students and graduates visiting the Careers Service for the first time: “I never knew there was so much here!” and “I wish I had got in touch before now” are common reactions.
We also know that students are often reluctant to get in touch with us, feeling that they need to have a specific reason to talk to us – you don’t!
You may have seen articles in the UK press about how coronavirus is affecting the UK graduate job market. Broadly speaking it’s a mixed outlook, with some sectors like hospitality badly affected whereas others, like healthcare and social work, are more robust. You can read a useful summary on Prospects.
Photo by MOLPIX
At Bristol, one in four of you now are from overseas, so we’re actively using our relationships with global recruitment platforms and employers to collate information on job markets outside of the UK.
Chambers of Commerce are membership organisations which businesses can join to access services to help them grow and play a part in their local business community. They exist around the world at the local, regional and national level. Bristol Chamber of Commerce is run by Business West. You can easily find Chambers for your nearest home town or city, or home country, by searching online. For example, “[name of city] Chamber of Commerce.”
1.) It caters for all stages of your start-up journey
The competition caters for all levels of start-up stages: ‘Ideas,’ ‘Development’ and ‘Growth.’ Funding is available at all stages, and there is pro bono support available from our sponsors in the Growth stage of the competition. You can apply to any and all stages of the competition and do not need to complete them in order (more information below). To read about some of our start-up stories from previous winners of the competition, clickhere.
This post was accurate at the time of writing, please check online for the latest information.
We know that many of our international students would like to get a job in the UK when they graduate. However, it can be hard to find an employer willing to sponsor you for a Tier 2 visa.
The good news is, there’s an alternative visa route if you’re prepared to be flexible: the Tier 5 (Government Authorised Exchange). You are eligible if you are from outside of the EEA and Switzerland.
Getting to know a new labour market and how to navigate it can be difficult! That’s why we’ve put together this handy timeline for international students looking to find a job in the UK.
This post was accurate at the time of writing, please check online for the latest information.