You’ve probably head people say that networking is the most effective way to get the job you want, but at the same time find the prospect of networking daunting and something you’re not ready to do yet. If so, taking some time to go through the following steps can help you to get started.

• Be clear about why you should network

One of the challenges that stop people from being proactive in their networking is that they are not clear on what steps to take and how it will benefit them; completing job applications and getting interviews has a very clear cause-and-effect, whereas networking can seem more indirect.

One exercise to do is visualise your career in 5 years’ time if you invested a lot of time networking, and then visualise again if you didn’t invest any time networking. What is the difference between the two projections? If there is a positive difference from networking, write this down so you can refer to it later on for motivation and clarity as needed; if there is no difference, this would suggest that you’re not clear on why you need to network, so it is worth exploring why you should network and how it could help you specifically achieve your career goals. Having a thorough understanding of why you should do something will help you be more motivated to do it. Speaking to Careers Network can help you with this.

• Accept where you are and identify your worries

Acknowledging that you don’t feel ready to network – or that you feel you should, but really don’t’ want to – is an important first place to start, as from here you can then make the necessary steps to move forward.

On a scale of 1-10, rate how ready you are to start networking, and then once you have a score write down the reasons why your score is not higher, and then the reasons why it’s not lower, e.g. because you feel scared that you’ll embarrass yourself but you know that you should network in the future to further your career. Thinking about the reasons why your score is not lower will help you appreciate that you may be more ready then you realised, while listing your worries and concerns will help you identify next steps to take to move forward.

• Make a decision to act and take some small steps

Once you are clear that networking can help you achieve your career goals, refer to your list of worries and concerns and commit to take a small action to address one of these. For example, if you are scared about knowing what to say to a new person, set up a LinkedIn profile and connect with people you know well. Send messages to some of these people asking if you could arrange a time to ask them some questions about their careers. A step that follows on from this would be to send a personalised connection invite to someone you don’t know very well outlining where you met and why you want to connect, and once connected request if you could arrange a time to ask them a couple of questions to get insight on their careers.

There are lots of potential actions you could take depending on what on what your concerns are, but in every case the principle is to identify how ready you are now and where you want to get to and then take regular small actions to move towards there. Which each completed step you may feel more confident and skilled to move forward. Smaller steps are easier to achieve then big actions.

Networking to find a job in a new country

Social media has made it easier to contact and build relationships with people in other countries, even if you don’t already know anyone there. Assuming you are already confident with the language of that country, the below steps can help you get started with securing a job through building your professional network.

Finding the right people to talk to

You can use LinkedIn and Lboro Connect to find people to network with by searching for:

• Lboro alumni who work in the country you are interested in working in (for example, there are 774 alumni who work in the United Arab Emirates). Send them a personalised connection invite stating that you would like to find out more about their career journey to finding a job in this country.
• Recruiters in your industry in the country. They are paid to place people into employment, so it’s worth sending them a personalised connection invite outlining what you are looking for and asking to arrange a conversation to discuss this.
• Company page on LinkedIn for companies you’re interested in working for. Follow these companies to get regularly updates, and also look search employees who work there; ideally you want to find the person who is manager/level above of the role you want to apply for, but if not someone who works in the same department. You can send them a personalised invite to say you’re interested in working there and would like to speak to them to find out more. You can also look for alumni who work there, even if in different departments, to find out about how they got a job there.

Reaching out and knowing what to say

At this stage consider conducting what’s known as ‘informational interviews’ over Skype or phone (or similar) to do career research rather than asking new people directly for a job (unless you are speaking to a recruiter at an agency, then you can be really direct about what sort of job you’re looking for). Doing this will not only help you be more informed but also build relationships with key people who can help you with your career. For example, if you speak to a manager at a company you’re interested in, you could ask them a few questions about how they got to where they are, what advice they’d give someone in your circumstances, what skills are most important in that role and so on. While this may not seem as direct as asking for a job, if you build good relationship and people know what you’re looking for they may let you know about and help with upcoming opportunities and/or help you find opportunities that aren’t widely advertised.

Remember to respect people’s time by stating you’d like a 10 – 20 minute conversation and then try stick to this.

A key question to always ask is ‘what are the most pressing challenges you face?’.  This information can help you understand what’s important to them should you apply for a job there, and if you’re feeling confident spend some time working on proposal or solution that addresses this problem and send it to them. This will impress and can lead to people offering you a job.

At the end of each conversation, it’s worth asking if there’s anyone else you can speak to who could help you. Doing this can help you speak to new people who you would otherwise not have known.

In addition, finding people who have made the same transition from either Loughborough or your home country to working in your country of choice can help as you learn from their experiences and get first hand advice.

Always follow up your discussion with a thank you email. Make notes about the conversation and follow up any action points. Use discretion and consider what should and shouldn’t be divulged to other people in your network, particularly if you are approaching rival organisations.

More information on informational interviews can be found at: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/media/wwwlboroacuk/external/content/services/careersandemployabilitycentre/downloads/advice/Networking%20for%20career%20planning%20and%20job%20search.pdf

Christian Jameson-Warren

The resources below can greatly help you with finding and securing a job in a completely new country.

Goinglobal

This resource can be accessed visa Careers Network’s Careers Toolkit and has over 40 Country Career Guides, each with information on:

• job searching resources (including job sites and overview on how job searching works in that country)
• internships and volunteering, “top” companies
• employment and industry trends
• country-specific advice on CVs, cover letters, interviews and work visas
• networking tips and groups
• living there, including financial and cultural advice

Loughborough University pay for this service, so by logging into the Careers Toolkit you can create a free account instead of paying yourself.

Prospects

The Prospects website has several country profiles aimed at helping students find opportunities in different countries. These country profiles include information about:

• Job market
• How to get a job there
• Summer jobs, teaching jobs, internships
• Visas
• Language requirements
• Explaining your qualifications to employers
• Working life in that country

Target Jobs

Target Jobs also have country and region profiles for students looking for opportunities in other countries. There country profiles include information about:

• The job market and where to look for a job/work experience
• Visas
• Living in that country

Using all these resources can greatly help you understand where and how to find a job in your chosen country as well as understanding a bit more about working life there. Remember you can always get in contact if you have any more questions or need any help.

– Christian Jameson-Warren

Since 2010, MThree has helped organisations deliver challenging technology projects with expert consultancy. This is underpinned by our 24-month Alumni Graduate Programme, which bridges the gap between academic life and corporate culture by helping graduates build on qualifications with technology training and career coaching that prepares them for a career with our client base.

With over 500 consultants deployed on client sites globally, we’re a trusted partner to organisations committed to delivering innovative technology services.

Our talk will be specifically about roles available outside of Europe. We have recently opened our office in Asia which covers Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai. Our business is every growing which is such an exciting time for students to join our firm. Do come along to discover what international opportunities we have.

Click here to book your place

Register Now! 80 Days Event for Overseas Chinese Talent (pre-employment workshop for finding jobs in China)

18th Oct, 6pm – 8pm, J001 Edward Herbert

As a student studying abroad, when should you start seeking job opportunities in China? How do you write a proper CV that get HR’s attention? How should you prepare for different types of interviews in China? How can you negotiate salary with HR? There is much more you should know about job seeking in China than you thought.

Lockin China, as the largest recruitment platform specialized in supporting Chinese overseas students, has invited experienced HR and employers to bring you the most professional and practical pre-employment workshop for finding jobs in China. Last year, more than 10,000 overseas students found jobs after attending Lockin China 80 Days Event. This year, we will bring even more positions that you can choose from to realize your true value in a career. You will have more choices and broader access with tens of thousands of vacancies from 1,000 employers provided exclusively for overseas talent. 1000 global universities and Lockin China stand united to get you hired in this coming graduation season.

During the 90-minute workshop, you will be able to access the same employment resources as graduates in China!

You will receive:

• The latest information about China’s job market
• The recruitment process used by best-known employers in 2018
• Step-by-step guide to online application skills
• How to write a resume that will get you through screening processes

And even more practical tactics:

• Guidance on how to interact in group discussions
• Individual mock interview practice
• Rehearsals for face-to-face job offers and contract negotiations

We hope you’ll join us for this presentation and bring a friend! This workshop will be presented in Mandarin with PPT materials in English. Dress is business casual or student attire.

Click here to register.

For more info about 80 Days Events, please visit: http://80days.lockinchina.com 

毕业前就业，如何提前准备中国校园招聘

-第四届环球人才搜索80天

2019中国校招已经开始，咱们海外应届生离中国就业市场这么远，上哪去找

又好又多、又适合自己的企业职位资源呢?

这个秋季，你的大学，联合海外人才招聘专家Lockin China团队，为所有毕业想在中国找工作的留学生带来定制化的校园求职Workshop。

参与Workshop，你会得到：

1. 了解国内就业市场行情，知道如何找到大量的职位资源; 今年的“80天活动”还像往年一样给大家收集了近2千家企业、 超过3万个职位，大家即使在国外，也能最大范围地接触到国内的招聘市场。
2. 了解应届生求职规划，知道名企何时发布职位、如何申请;
3. 了解求职者的求职定位，知道自己的优势和企业的岗位需求; 了解简历正确写法，能够写出有针对性和竞争力的简历;
4. 了解面试流程，能够在面试环节充分表现自我;
5. 现场体验群组面试 —— 无领导小组讨论，招聘专家现场点评，帮你基本掌握群组面试要点;
6. 现场体验个人面试，招聘专家一一解读各个问题，了解面试官意图，学会在面试中展示自己的优势。

座位有限请尽快报名预定：

电脑端报名:

点击:  http://80days.lockinchina.com 在校园求职Workshop模块找到你所在的城市或大学，点击报名。

手机端报名:

关注Lockin China官方微信ID: lockinchina
找到你所在的城市或大学，点击报名。

如果你对活动有任何问题，请联系：contact@lockinchina.com

期待很快见到你！

Click here to register.