The business culture, language and etiquette

(code of professional behaviour) inside the

UK Graduate job market

Stephanie Pemberton, Career Consultant, Careers and Student

Employability (CaSE)

What does Employability Mean for International Students?

1. Outline key expectations of UK based graduate employers

2. Highlight your international student USP

3. Outline potential barriers

Objectives:

4. Identify where to locate potential employers

5. Indicate 7 key steps you can take to

build an effective career plan

6.Introduce some key resources to help you

Objectives:

"a set of attributes, skills and knowledge that all labour market participants should possess to ensure they have the capability of being effective in the workplace – to the benefit of themselves, their employer and the wider economy”

CBI, Future Fit, 2009

What do Graduate employers want?

1. Self-management2. Team working

3. Business and customer awareness4. Problem solving

5. Communication and literacy6. Application of numeracy

7. Application of information technology

7 top Employability skills required

a positive attitude: a ‘can-do’ approach, a readiness to take part and contribute, openness to new ideas & a drive to make these happen

(‘Future fit: preparing graduates for the world of work’, CBI and Universities UK 2009)

Underpinned by 1 crucial essential

www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-of-licensed-sponsors-workers

Association of Graduate Recruiters -http://www.agr.org.uk/Current-Members

What do I need to know about the process?

www.uel.ac.uk/.../INT374---Recruiting-International-Students.pdf

Where are the international student employers?

A handful of employers - Register of Sponsors (Workers)

Commitment & drive

Bi/multi-lingual skills

Adaptable & flexible approach through living/working & studying from multi locations

Your international USP includes...

Diverse cultural experience/insight

Additional overseas industry network

Anything else that you can think of?

Your international USP includes...

High number of unemployed and underemployed UK/EU graduates that are cheaper to hire

Potentially, not meeting the UCAS requirements for graduate schemes/jobs

Globalised competitive graduate job market

Reality check – potential barriers

Sponsorship cost to employer

Visa bureaucracy – perception & reality

Access to a restricted no. of graduate employers

Reality check – potential barriers

1. Volunteering – unpaid work & volunteering

2. Internships – 4-12 weeks3. Work placements – 4 weeks to a

year4. Mentoring – professional knowledge

exchange & support with Mentor5. Work shadowing – observation6. Casual & part-time work

7 Key Steps to move ahead ... 1. Gain work experience

Tap into friends/family/UEL network

Create and nurture your online professional profile through social media: LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter

Be proactive on online professional forums

Attend professional events e.g. Cyber Security Workshop - Institute for Engineering & Technology

2. Network – Be proactive

Top up your university studies - free professional Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) e.g. www.coursera.com & www.futurelearn.com/partners/the-open-university

Contribute towards open source projects – www.opensource.com

2. Network & upskill

Research on/offline –identify sector trends, skill shortages, new technologies, company products, services, customers, profits, recent projects, global footprint, competitors...

Keep up to date via trade journals, websites, newspaper sector details & register for rss feeds

Reflect why & how you can develop to offer a good match/add value – SMART action plan

3. Research your industry

Aug- Feb & open all year – Internships & placements – Tier 4 (General) Visa & Tier 5 temporary Work

Graduate entry job ready role with on the job training – Tier 2 - Certificate of Sponsorship /Sponser Register required to extend your visa – 6 months minimum preparation - £20,500k min – Code of Practice

Graduate Training Scheme – up to 1 or 2 years – formalised training often prior to a permanent job offer –identify and apply Aug-Dec before graduation

4. The graduate recruitment calendar & application process

1. Online application form/CV2. Telephone interview/s3. Online psychometric, aptitude &

numerical tests4. Interview5. Assessment Centres – group work and

intray exercises to see if you display the personal qualities, interpersonal skills & aptitude that count

6. Final job interview7. *Any/all of the above

5. The Process – training schemes/entry level jobs

BP, ‘ the quality of applications & number of opportunities available pre-Christmas allowed us to make a large proportion of our offers by December...I can’t stress enough the importance of early applications’

TARGETjobs – www.targetjobsengineering.co.uk

http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/f1cd9379#/f1cd9379/16

Early bird catches the worms..

1. If you have a Genuinely outstanding idea for running your own company in the UK see the International Student Team - Visa 1

2. Contact Timothy Isle – Enterprise Team

t.isle@uel.ac.uk – 0208 223 7092

5. Genuine interest in self employment? - Visa 1

Target small-medium employers through Register of Sponsers that have smaller budgets for recruitment/internships

Identify potential employers - www.fsbonline.co.uk www.gb.kompass.com

Deliver in hand a targeted CV/Covering letter & invite staff member for a coffee to discuss how you can add value to the company

6. Speculate – Adopt a strategic approach to widen your search

1. SMART Career Plan A & Plan B2. Refer to CaSE’S road map to navigate3. A targeted covering letter4. A targeted and well researched CV5. Application form & psychometric practice6. Mock interview workout/practice7. Brush up your English Writing Skills – 20 e-

learning modules

http://www.uel.ac.uk/eet/

7. 7 Personal tools to help you

Overwhelmed?

1. UEL International Student Team2. School linked Career Consultant

3. Careers and Student Employability team: career decision making, internships, mentoring &

volunteering, 4. School staff with potential industry contacts

5. Student Learning Achievement Advisers/Skill Zone&

You, crucially you through a proactive, realistic and SMART career plan –

www.uel.ac.uk/eet/students/plan/careerplanning/

Who can help me at UEL? Help includes:

Any more questions – summary & close Please complete feedback

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Thank you for listening