News Europe

The Importance of Employability to International Students

Employability is the buzzword on the lips of every campus careers adviser and hiring manager at this time of year. And as various surveys reveal, employability is of huge importance to international students, who are looking to get that all-important first step on the career ladder. It’s no secret that the job market is ever increasing in its competitiveness and today’s recruiters are looking for more than just good grades. So how can international students shine in this overcrowded recruitment marketplace?

A global perspective

The top global employers want adaptive and driven individuals with confidence and a capacity for leadership. They want people who are unafraid to take risks, who travel and will immerse themselves in new cultures, environments and experiences – does this sound familiar? While relevant sector skills will always remain vital, there is a push to find candidates with a global outlook – something international students have in abundance.   

For those who choose to study in the UK from as far away as Kochi, Cape Town or Chengdu, from the moment they select their course, their future employability prospects are the driving force behind their university experience. The University Alliance Report 2013 found that 83 per cent of international students study at UK universities in order to get a good job and both the Universities UK Report and the Hobson Report agree that employment outcomes are a key factor in the international student’s decision-making process.

In this sense, they are often more pragmatic than home students, but they still have their own unique set of problems. It is human to miss home on an emotional level, but the disconnect many international students feel with their home markets, vacancies and networks can present an additional barrier to finding work.

Furthermore, the abolishment of the PSWV means that following their graduation, international students have just four months to find employment in the UK before their visas run out. Graduates can feel they are in no man’s land, unable to find a job in the UK and too distant from their home territories to conduct an effective job search there.

But it is worth it. Alumni of UK universities make for prized employees. The British Council Ghanaian Employer Survey reported that 72% of Ghanaian employers prefer to employ a graduate educated in the UK because they are skilled, creative, can manage different situations and adapt easily.

Returners who have a strong command of the English language are also highly sought after, especially in the Asian financial sectors. As Manoj Vohra, Asia Director Economist Intelligence Unit, recounts: “Even companies in China who prefer to operate in Chinese, are looking for managers who speak both Mandarin and English if they want to expand abroad.”

Making a connection

So it follows that the problem does not stem from either the employer or the international student directly, but from trying to connect the two. While there are several graduate programmes designed around helping UK students find work, international students have long been lacking their very own dedicated resource, until now.

GradLink was founded on the ethos of recognising the separate challenges international students encounter while, at the same time, providing them with a specialised resource.  We work with over 360 employers – such as Ford, HSBC, Deloitte, UniLever, Intel and EY – and have branches connecting students with employment options in China, Africa, India and the ASEAN. Employers can advertise for free while graduating hopefuls can simply upload their CV and start searching. Through a unique process of collaboration and co-operation, we’re connecting the UK’s top international talent with their dream jobs back home.