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Top tips for international students this holiday season

With the holidays upon us, most students are likely to be preparing for a well-earned rest while universities close for the Christmas break. It’s never too early to make a start on your career, so here are our tips this season to help along your career journey.

Look out for work experience

When speaking to international students, the most asked question is usually about work experience. This topic comes up frequently as most students understandably focus on their studies while at university, however, there are some incredible opportunities available if you look out for them. Work experience will allow you to show employers that not only can you verbalise how you meet the requirements of the role but that you can put these words into action. Most recruiters just want to know that you’re capable of fulfilling the role and work experience is the clearest way to show them. It can be daunting to think of where to start, but one idea is to look at a job description for the type of role you would like after graduation and see what skills they’re looking for. This will give you an idea of what to aim for and when looking for work experience you can research or speak to a careers advisor about what roles would help you find these skills.

Try one new thing

Sometimes finding an opportunity that will boost your career is about making a small leap of faith, so try something new over the holidays or look for an event when you return to university. Have you attended any networking events before? This can be a way of helping you make new contacts, boost your confidence and makes you visible in your industry. You could start by looking at the events page on your institution's website and seeing if any take your interest or link to your degree. Putting yourself in more situations like this will help when you start going to interviews as you will be more comfortable introducing yourself to new people.

Find advice online

While your university is closed for the holidays, you still have full access to GradLink’s online career service. Here are a few ways you can use the service.

-Global Jobs board. Our database is regularly updated with jobs from our partnered employers who are looking to bring international talent into their company.

-Employer profiles. Before applying for roles, you can research employers, roles and career ideas through the website to help you decide how you would like to approach your job search.

-Free careers advice. We have country-specific careers advice for each region to help students understand the working landscape and expectations for the country they would like to work in. See the choose your GradLink section to explore each of our regions and the opportunities.

-The latest news. You’ll also find articles for international students and graduates tackling issues and questions that relate to the international student and graduate journey to help you get the advice you need to succeed in your career. Register for full access to the website today!