Category Archives: Working in the UK

Midlands International Group Career Webinar Series

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The Midlands International Group (MIG) consists of representatives from Careers Services at 16 universities across the midlands of the UK, all with a specific focus on working with International Students. Their website contains information about the group, including a  blog, plus links to previous and future events and resources.

The MIG Group recently ran a series of career webinars for international students, topics:

  • Launching your International Career: Decide, Plan, Compete!
  • Post-Study Working Visas
  • Working as an Entrepreneur in the UK – Tier 1
  • Launching your Global Finance Career in China (link to come)
  • Preparing to Work in your Home Country…Looking for Work in China
  • International Students: get the edge in your graduate job market back home – and across the globe
  • Preparing to work in your Home Country…Advice for global job hunting (link to come)
  • Global CVs and Personal Branding
  • Working in the UK after Graduation – Tips for Tier 2 Success

If you would like information about any of these, then contact midlandsinternationalgroup@gmail.com.

How to use your internationalisation to stand out to UK employers

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The common denominator when applying for graduate-level jobs is that everyone has a degree, so being able to articulate what makes you stand out from other candidates will give you a large advantage.

The advice and prompts below will help you reflect on and articulate the advantages of being an international student to employers.

1) Check sponsorship if you are a Non-EEA student

This also includes making sure that the companies you want to apply to can sponsor visas. If you are applying to a smaller company that has never sponsored an international student before on a Tier 2 visa, you can speak to them about doing a few months work experience after you graduate using the Tier 5 scheme. However, to later apply for a Tier 2 visa you would have to leave the country and do this from home. You can also arrange an appointment with immigration solicitors Paragon for employment related queries.

2) Identify the skills you have developed

You can use the questions below as prompts if you are unsure what unique skills or experience you can offer as an international student.

  • Why did you decide to study in the UK?
  • How was your education system and prior experience different to UK students?
  • What were you hoping to gain or develop out of this experience that couldn’t be achieved by studying in your home country?
  • How are you a different person now compared to how you were before you started your studies in the UK? How might you communicate this to someone new?
  • What surprised you most about moving to the UK?
  • How might you share your knowledge of both your home country and the UK through your own lived experience with an interviewer?
  • What are some of the experiences that you’ve had, both at home and in the UK, that have shaped your cultural and global perspectives?
  • Looking at the skills you’ve developed, how and when have you used these?
  • How might you use your international background to re-imagine a problem or see something in a new way?
  • How has being an international student further developed skills you already have?

Answering these questions will help you start to identify skills, attributes and experiences beyond the obvious. For example, you may realise that not only are your English skills improved, but you are more confident and assertive using them in group settings to resolve problems and achieve objectives; or you may have adapted to work proficiency in a different culture or previously studied topics/subjects that other people have not.

3) Identify any concerns/worries you have that might hold you back

You may still feel there are things as an international student that will hold you back in the recruitment process, for example comparing your English skills against home students or that your qualifications and experience from your home country won’t be valued by employers.  It’s important to address these thoughts as they could be holding you back from applying for jobs with confidence, which will be covered in the next few steps.

4) Read our Marketing yourself effectively to UK employers PDF

This can be found on the Careers Network website and by clicking here. This outlines what employers in the UK generally are looking for.

5) Try understand an employer’s perspective

The first thing here is to consider what the employer you are currently applying to will be looking for in a candidate. This is a simple but effective way of improving your applications. The most common ways to do this is are to look at the job description and person specification on a job advert and researching the company to find out what they are currently doing and (if possible) their future plans and aspirations.

Some questions you could consider include:

  • What would the employer be looking for in my CV?
  • What kinds of qualifications/experience would most impress?
  • If I was recruiting for this post and had a large pile of CVs, what would make one stand out?
  • What is it about my last job(s) that the employer would find most interesting?
  • What is it about the answers to questions in section 2 (“Identify the skills you have developed”) that the employer would find most interesting? Why?

To really stand out (and if you have time), you could also do some extra work to find out what would interest the employer beyond what’s on the job description, for example, understanding what additional skills would add value. Ways you can find this information out include:

Once you have done this, you can start to think about how your skills and experience as an international student will help the employer now and in the near future. For example, the ICAEW identified the need for accountants who are skilled working with clients and colleagues from different departments in potentially different countries and time zones. In addition, according to a survey by the Intelligence Unit at The Economist, 90% of executives in 68 countries say cross-cultural management is their biggest challenge.

The second part of seeing things from an employer’s perspective is addressing the concerns you identified in section 3 (“Identify any concerns/worries you have that might hold you back”). Thinking about each concern from the employer’s perspective, how much is this an issue? Why might this be or not be? Our in other words, what might an employer’s worry be or would they not have an worries about it?

6) Impact

The next  step is to think about impact, i.e. putting it all together in a way that will impress the employer. When describing the value you would bring as an international student, try to be as specific as possible to the employer’s needs.

For example, it’s easy to say ‘as an international student, I have experience of working in different cultures’ but this sentence on it’s own might be easily missed. A better way is to explicitly link to what the employer is looking for:

Your job advert highlights teamwork as a key requirement. As can be seen from my attached CV I have demonstrated this skill in my previous job, and through recent group projects as an international student have gained further experience successfully leading teams of people from different cultures. From researching your company, I believe this skill is especially relevant to your increasing emphasis of developing the business outside the UK. 

Now think about your concerns – having looked at these from an employers’ perspective, do you still feel they are issues? If so, how could you address these in a way that would impress them? As an example, if you worried your applications will be rejected because you have no work experience in the UK and are applying for a job that requires a lot of customer service, you might think:

  1. I have excellent customer service experience in my home country, but this was in a different language and although I’m confident in my skills an employer still might be unsure that I can translate these into working with UK customers.
  2. I can write on my cover letter that I have excellent customer service experience and then emphasise that I am skilled at using my English skills in a professional environment by highlighting all the relevant activities I’ve completed, such as leading group discussions and projects, getting involved in extra-curricular activities, customer facing volunteering or part-time work, and so on. By doing these things I can also highlight that am I a motivated, self-reliant individual who takes ownership of my own development rather than someone who might need a lot of help getting used to working in a new culture.

In other words, do not focus on any negatives but instead think about turning your concern into a positive. This can be done by focusing on all the things you have done to work on the concern, as seen in the example above. Employers are not expecting you to be perfect and often will be impressed if you show the right attitude and attributes to do well.

7) Bridge the gap

You may still find that there is a gap in your skills or experience which is holding you back from getting to the job you want. After all, employers want to employ the best candidate. In these instances, it’s essential to make a plan to ‘bridge the gap’. This can include doing professional courses (such as Lynda.com) or getting work experience. If you decide to gain temporary work experience, set relevant goals of what you want to achieve during your time there and review these regularly, for example:

  • Use your language skills in a professional setting as you’ve never done this before
  • Share good practise from the sector in your home country to help your department develop new ideas, so you can understand the value your previous international employment can bring companies in the UK
  • Learn a new computer system that is used in the UK that you have never used before
  • Meet the managers from every other department so you can better understand how organisations in the sector work together, and thereby demonstrate to future employers you understand the different ways of working and where you can add value to them

There are lots of different goals you can set, and even if some are very small (for example, “speak to 5 customers”) they can help you move nearer to your career goals.

8) Get help from the Careers Network

You can access careers help from the Careers Network to help with any stage of this process, from deciding which types of jobs you would to apply for, completing CVs, cover letters and applications, preparing for interviews and so on. Even if you are not on campus, you can still access the service for support.

– Christian Jameson-Warren

All the best advice we could find about getting a job in the UK as an international student

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Knowing how to get a job in the UK can be difficult, so here’s a selection of the best information I could find online:

Understand the types of opportunities available

  1. “[T]there are two main types of vacancy to consider: graduate schemes and direct entry. Graduate schemes are typically offered by companies that are looking to recruit a number of graduates each year into a range of areas, such as finance, IT, human resources and marketing. A graduate scheme will usually last between 18 months and two years….  Direct entry jobs are often with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that do not need to hire a significant number of graduates every year, although larger employers do advertise some entry-level jobs…these vacancies can crop up at any time of the year. An immediate start is normally required so you’ll need to wait until you finish your degree to apply for these jobs.” – Target Jobs

You can book an appointment at the Careers Network to discuss the types of opportunities available in your sector in more detail.

Understand the UK recruitment process

  1. “The UK application process. The application process for most employers is outlined on their websites. It usually involves completing an online application form and CV, or submitting a CV and cover letter. These should be tailored to every organisation – but if you’re applying for similar roles in the same sector it goes get easier to prepare for each application…  [Many] organisations then ask you to complete online aptitude tests.” – London School of Economics
  2. “What is the recruitment process in the UK? Most graduate employers design their own, individual recruitment processes to fit their prorities and the specifc skills they’re looking for; however, they all tend to feature similar steps. You can expect to complete a combination of the following:
    • online application form
    • CV and covering letter
    • psychometric tests
    • games-based assessments
    • telephone interview or video interview
    • assessment centre
    • technical interview”

-Target Jobs

You can book an appointment for help with any stage of this process, as well as accessing our Make Applications page for advice. You can also access our guidebook, How to excel in applications and interviews.

Careers Online is the university’s own vacancy system. On this we advertise over 7000 graduate jobs, placements, internships, part-time work and voluntary roles a year. https://lboro.targetconnect.net/student/home.html.

Other websites for graduate-level jobs include Prospects, Targetjobs, Guardian Jobs, Indeed. There are also websites specific to different sectors, you can find out more details by visiting the Careers Network page relevant to your department.

Sponsorship – if you are a Non-EEA student:

  1. “Check with the firm’s HR or graduate recruitment team -Before starting an application, pick up the phone and ask them about visa sponsorship. It might seem quite daunting, but it shows you’re proactive and it will give you a definite answer. You don’t want to waste time on a great application to a company that won’t consider you. If it’s a big company they’ll have a graduate recruitment team, and if not then ask for their HR team when you call.”

If you are applying for a role after your studies with a smaller company may not have sponsored an international student on a Tier 2 visa before, you can speak to them about doing a few months work experience after you graduate on the Tier 5 visa scheme. However, to later apply for a Tier 2 visa you would have to leave the country and do this from home.

Think how to stand out to employers

  1. “[T]he graduate market is at its healthiest in years and jobs are available in a variety of sectors. Competition for graduate jobs is fierce but candidates with the right qualifications, skills and experience stand a good chance of employment. Language skills are increasingly important, making many foreign nations desirable candidates.” – Prospects
  2. “Use your internationalisation to your advantage. Think about what sets you apart as an international graduate, says Ellen O’Brien, international careers adviser at the University of Birmingham. “You may have language or enhanced numeracy skills that home students don’t have.” – The Guardian
  3. “Really stand out – This might sound obvious, and it’s something every graduate has to demonstrate, but with there being fewer places for international students you do need to go that extra mile to stand out. Spend your time making the application tailored to the firm and the role, as well as highlighting how good you really are.” – Bright Network
  4. “Use being international to your advantage – Being an international student may mean you’re multi-lingual (a skill English students often lack) and have work experience in other cultures. This can set you apart on applications, so make sure you’re really highlighting this.” – Bright Network

You can visit our Develop skills and employability and Skills employers seek pages for more advice on developing your skills, as well as speaking to a member of the Careers Network.

We also have a PDF, Marketing yourself effectively to UK Employers which shows what employers are looking for and how to ‘market yourself’ accordingly.

Gaining work experience

  1. “It is becoming more and more important for students to gain some work experience. As well as helping you figure our what job you want to do when you graduate, it will make you more employable in the eyes of graduate recruiters…It may also be a good opportunity…to develop [your] English skills in a professional environment.” – TargetJobs
  2. “There are many summer, seasonal and temporary jobs on offer in the UK and the majority of these can be found in the tourism, hospitality and retail industries….Hotels, bars and restaurants require causal workers all year round…The retail sector also employs additional temporary staff to cover the busy Christmas period.” – Prospects
  3. “I had to make sure I was the most desirable candidate, so I volunteered in an after-school club and at a mental health hostel to make sure I had more experience than anyone else applying. My advice to others? Look for something you want to do but keep your options open. Apply for as many jobs and get as much experience as you possibly can.” – The Guardian

The Careers Network page for your school  will have links and advice about how to find experience relevant to your degree. You can also read our relevant PDFs – Preparing yourself for work during your studies, Preparing yourself for work after your studies – undergraduate students, and Preparing yourself for work after your studies – masters students.

Some of the websites you can use to find part-time work at Lboro include:

Loughborough Student Union – https://www.lsu.co.uk/yourunion/jobs/

Main university website – https://vacancies.lboro.ac.uk/

Careers Online – Careers Online – https://lboro.targetconnect.net/student/home.html

You can also gain voluntary experience by getting involved with LSU Action or with external organisations by visiting www.do-it.org

Networking

  1. “Network your way into a job. Use your university careers service, and go to international student-focused careers fairs and introduce yourself. “Use alumni networks to contact past graduates from your country who are now working in the UK,” says David Gee, global employability manager at the University of the West of England.” – The Guardian

The Careers Network have several activities and resources to help you with networking:

And of course, you can always book an appointment for help getting started with networking.

Finally…

You can also read Graduate Profiles of previous international students at Lboro to find out how they achieved their career aims and their advice. These can found found by scrolling down on this page.

I hope you found this useful, and of course don’t hesitate to get in contact if you have any questions you would like to discuss.

Christian Jameson-Warren – Employability Development Officer for international students

Steps to help you change careers

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Deciding to pursue a new career direction can be daunting, so the following steps can help you take the right actions to achieve your goal.

1) Be clear about why you want to work in a different sector.

It’s important to take time to reflect on your decisions, for example: why do you want to not work in the same sector you have before? What skills do you want to use? What business challenges/outcomes do you want to work with and why? Will your chosen new career direction give you what you want?

It is worth having a Careers Consultation to discuss your choice in more detail, and being clear about your new direction is essential.

2) Clearly articulate to employers why you want to change careers

Once you know why you want to change, put it together in a clear and concise explanation for applications and interviews. This will help employers feel more confident about you and your application. For example:

I previously worked in A, and what I really liked doing was B so am I currently studying C to start a career in D.

3) Conduct informational interviews and find a mentor

Informational interviews involve contacting people in a job that interest you to ask them a few questions about working in that role. It is not the same about asking for a job, but will give you invaluable information to understand more about what’s involved and what skills/experience employers value. More information can be found here. 

A mentor can guide you in starting and progressing within a new sector. Tools like Lboro Connect can be used to find a mentor.

4) Understand what employers are looking for, identify your transferable skills and make a plan

In addition to the above steps, reading job profiles and adverts will help you understand what employers really value. From here, identify what transferable skills/experience you have and make a plan to develop the skills you are missing. This could include taking professional courses on Lynda.com, shadowing employers, voluntary work and so on.

5) Demonstrate your commercial awareness

This will be covered more in a later article, but in summary commercial awareness is understanding how business works. When changing career sectors it is advantageous to show employers you understand how their business/sector works, as it shows that you can add value to their organisation and will help with answering interview questions. This includes, but not limited to:

  • Understanding a business, what they offer customers and the sector
  • PEST (political, economic, socio-cultural and technological) and SWOT analysis of a business to understand the opportunities, challenges and threats
  • Understand who their customers and competitors are

6) Make your transferable skills and experience clear to employers

You may see how your skills are relevant, but an employer unfamiliar with your previous work may not so easily. For instance, on CVs and applications you won’t have to write down every task you’ve done, instead explicitly highlight what is transferable. One technique for writing about your work history is to think of a challenge you overcame/target you achieved and how you achieved this. For example –

  • Upsold to customers during quieter periods to ensure sales targets were still met
  • Maintained a high level of customer service in a fast-paced environment through effective planning and delegation

7) Communicate your ‘personal brand’ and manage your online presence

Take time to think about how you want people to perceive you, and try to write a 1 or 2 line summary that includes your relevant transferable experience/attributes/skills and job goals. For example:

I am a [adjective] [job title] with [year’s experience] in [sector/industry]  specialising in [theme/purpose]. Currently seeking [type of role] where I can [impact] for [type of clients]

This can be used when introducing yourself to new people in a professional context, as well on social media such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Weibo etc. Make sure that your professional social media profiles are consistent with the image you want to portray, e.g. writing about your previous experience in way that’s targeted to the job you want. This is important as potential contacts and employers may look you up, so you want to give the impression you are serious about the change of career direction.

8) Identify any other barriers stopping you

For example, you might be experiencing a fear of rejection or a worry that you’ll get the job but not be good enough at it. Which leads onto the next point –

9) Get help from Careers Network and respond positively to set backs

You can book a Careers Consultation to discuss moving into a new job, including strategies to overcome challenges, help with applications and interviews, and so on.

It is possible that you will have some setbacks (such as rejections), but getting support from the Careers Network can help you overcome these.

Christian Jameson-Warren – Employability Development Officer for international students

 

Employability tips for new and returning international students

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International students at universities in the UK have a range of career options when they finish.  Many will be interested in the possibility of working in the UK or internationally and the idea of further study, in the UK or in another country will be attractive.  Most international students will return home, however, and here are a few tips which will make the transition into work in your home country easier and ultimately, If you more successful.

Keep in touch with developments in your home country and be pro-active

  • Follow the graduate recruitment scene on-line.  National newspapers and journals will show which employment sectors and growing and which organisations expect to recruit graduates.  Which UK, US and European organisations are active in your home country?  You should target specific sectors and employers to make sure your knowledge is up-to-date.  Indian students, for example, should be following economic trends on such websites as the Times of India

Expand your network and contacts

  • Using social media effectively, particularly Linkedin Twitter and Facebook is a great way of building contacts with particular employers and helps put you in touch with managers, not just the organisation’s HR department.  Moreover, employers now expect graduates to be confident users of social media and to be aware of its uses as a business tool .
  • Are there any UK careers fairs for international students you could attend?  As an international student you will probably be welcome to attend most but check beforehand.  Talking to an employer at a fair after previously making contact through LinkedIn can be very effective.
  • Ask about any networks of ex-students of your UK university who are now working in your home country.  These alumni networks are growing in importance and you already have a lot in common!

Be aware of the employment cycle in your home  country

  • Know how and when employers recruit. Employers’ schedules vary:  the main season for recruitment in the UK is October-January but in China activity is concentrated in two periods, mid-September-November and March-May.  Employers in Malaysia tend to recruit all year round.
  • Useful websites include Gradlink  and Target Jobs
  • Ensure that your CV conforms to what the employer would expect and understand the relevant “application culture.”  Employers in the UK value personal achievements and voluntary work but such details tend to be disregarded in India.  Examples of how CVs differ from country to country can be found at Going Global

Understand what you have to offer and what you have gained from your time in Britain

  • What did you gain from your course of study?  How could it benefit your employer?
  • Your proficiency in English is important but you will also need to show employers that you are culturally aware and can understand how Europeans do business.
  • You should be clear about your ability to adapt to new environments and learning situations and you will need to explain how you have overcome the challenge of studying and working in the UK.  These qualities are vital and you need to sell them in a pro-active way because they will not speak for themselves.
  • Your fellow students will probably have come from around the world so as well as experiencing life in the UK, you have had a truly international experience.

Be realistic

  • You should be aware that employers in your home country may not pay you a higher salary simply because you have a British qualification.  The career benefits of your time abroad my not be apparent until you look for promotion.  Be patient and do not give the impression that you know everything.

Be prepared for “reverse culture shock”

  • Do you remember how demanding it was when you arrived in the UK?  All your energy seemed to be spent on adjusting to a new country.  How tiring it was to speak English all day!
  • Going back home can feel the same.  You will be different and so will your friends and family and they may have little understanding of how your experience has changed your outlook.  The most dangerous time for space modules is when they re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere.  You may get depressed  and feel slightly alienated from what is now a new environment.  It may not happen but be aware that it is a possibility.

Stay in touch

  • Your UK university stays with you forever and there will be plenty of opportunity to maintain contacts through your Alumni Association and the International Office.
  • The good news is that you can still access support from the Careers Network here at Loughborough University after you leave university.
    • You can book appointments through Careers Online or by phone on 01509 222039.
    • We can offer email or telephone advice. Email us at careers@lboro.ac.uk and an adviser will respond to you in 5 working days. Please include your phone number and the best time to call you.
    • You’ll still be able to access the vacancies database on Careers Online after you graduate too.

Good luck!

Why gain global competencies? Intercultural skills will benefit you whatever your career plans.

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Are you open to trying out different things – new experiences, different cultures or learning things in new ways? Do you look out for, and exploit new opportunities when other people don’t? If you answered ‘Yes’ to either of these questions you may already have the global competencies and mindset which are fast becoming a part of graduate employer ‘wishlists’. Having these is more than just about meeting business needs in a global economy. They will also equip for you many of the situations you face in your student and graduate life.

There’s no shortage of definitions of global mindset and competencies, and of intercultural skills, a closely-related idea. There’s also plenty of different ways graduate employers break them down when they recruit. For students and graduates what’s important is to have a broad understanding of what they mean, to be able to connect them to your own way of doing things, and be looking out for opportunities to develop them.

DB Arriva, the multinational public transport company, assesses graduates’ global mindset in three ways: if you can explain who and what motivates and inspires you; how you try out different things, without fear of uncertainty about what it means; and if you excel in relationship building and using support networks. You’ll notice that there’s nothing here about languages and international understanding, but for DB Arriva the term ‘global’ can mean international, regional or even relate to another business unit.

Other organisations view global mindset differently. For HSBC’s international banking operations it’s partly about being open to different ideas and cultures, communicating openly, and valuing different perspectives. While entry to brewers Heineken’s International Graduate Programme requires a genuine interest in other countries and cultures, language skills and at least 6 months spent working, or volunteering outside your home country.

What this shows us is that having a global mindset and competencies doesn’t have to mean you want to work for a multinational corporation or be globally mobile. Instead it includes skills and ways of thinking that overlap with many of the other things graduate employers will be looking for when they recruit. Whatever career you want to go into (or even if you have clear career ideas), you will need to work successfully in groups where the members are from mixed backgrounds, communicating clearly, and be open to new ideas and ways of doing things. This might be in your part-time or vacation jobs, in student societies, voluntary roles or course groupwork. From time to time most of us will find ourselves having to deal with situations where we don’t have all the information we need, having to take on new roles in unfamiliar situations where we have to work outside our ‘comfort zone’. This might look difficult to start with, but the end results can include a sense of achievement, some stories you can use in your job applications, and sometimes finding yourself asking the question ‘Did I really do that?’.

For more information on why a global mindset is important see:

http://www.gradplus.com/graduate-news/graduate-recruiters-say-a-global-mindset-can-give-you-the-edge.aspx

http://www.independent.co.uk/student/study-abroad/uk-industry-needs-global-graduates-but-what-does-that-mean-8613898.html

To explore how you can develop your global mindset and other skills graduate employers are looking for, come and visit the Careers Network

Skills needed for the future professional

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Many industries are rapidly changing with the disruption of technology and new ways of working – sometimes the skills employers look for when recruiting now are often not essential in 2 – 5 years’ time. At a recent event, the ICAEW identified 5 key skills and behaviours for future accounting professionals that are relevant to all job sectors:

  1. Adaptability – e.g. how do you respond to unexpected events? How do you manage tasks? Can you respond proactively and efficiently to change?
  2. Commercial Insight – Critical thinking (e.g. considering issues in a logical way), evaluation/ analysing information (i.e. impact of decisions), judgement (which comes from experience) and delivering success to clients (take ownership of projects).
  3. Collaboration – you’re ability to work with people in different departments/operations,  people in different time zones and/or working patterns.
  4. Perspective – do you have understand how the business makes a profit, and how all the different operations fit into this? Do you understand how your decisions impact clients’ businesses? Do you understand the environmental and social impact of decisions?
  5. Learning and Reflection – Longer working lives and more changes mean an attitude of lifelong learning must be adapted. This should be coupled by an understanding of your strengths and weaknesses, and consideration of how you build on both of these.

At this same event, several national and international employers emphasised that they don’t mind where candidates have developed these skills and behaviours, and that any student who demonstrates the attributes they want clearly will do well regardless of having direct industry experience or not.

In an article from January’s Financial Times:

Even in professions that require a specific skill — like accounting — the speed of disruption means companies are seeking candidates with adaptability. Isabelle Allen, global head of clients and markets at KPMG, says it is becoming a core attribute for successful candidates at the professional services firm. In a world facing an unprecedented pace and scale of innovation, “we need people who thrive on change and are committed to life-long learning, people who are inquisitive and comfortable with ambiguity — who can exercise judgment on issues and solve problems that didn’t even exist two years ago”

Employers assess candidates for the attributes they want through every stage of the recruitment process. If you would like help with highlighting your skills to an employer – whether at CV/application, assessment or interview stage – then contact the Careers Network for assistance.

Navigating the start of your career after university

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When navigating your first job after university, having a mentor at the start of your career can be an invaluable resource for several reasons:

  • Help you make informed decisions to progress faster in your career and help you prepare accordingly
  • Avoiding making bad mistakes as you get used to the workplace/company culture
  • Discussing  any problems/concerns you experience
  • Introduce you to people and organisations who can also help you

A mentor is usually someone with several years’ experience in your chosen field who will work with you on an ongoing one-to-one basis, and who not only give you advice but also help with motivating, empowering and better understanding yourself and your aims. The amount of time and involvement in a mentoring relationship is something that you would both agree between you – there are no set rules for this.

Finding a mentor can take a lot of time and you feel may nervous reaching out to new people, so using Lboro Connect is an easy to find someone who is interested in mentoring you. Lboro Connect is a student-alumni platform where members clearly outline on their profiles if they would like to become a mentor and how they can assist. Click here for more information on using Lboro Connect, and once you have a profile click the ‘Resources‘ tab or further information about using the platform for mentoring.

Finally, most jobs are found through networking – so it’s beneficial  having a mentor who can increase your network.