3 lessons Europe can learn from China’s flourishing start-ups

The World Economic Forum have produced an article summarising the influence of China’s recent economic development on other parts of the world, and how Europe can follow the example of China’s start-ups.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/09/3-lessons-europe-can-learn-from-china-flourishing-start-up-ecosystem/

(image taken from article)

  • Christian Jameson-Warren

Going Global China page

GoinGlobal have a section specifically for students interested in working in China. To access, first log in to the Careers Toolkit using your university log in details, then scroll down to GoinGlobal and log in. Next go to ‘Career Guides’, then ‘Country Career Guides’ then click on ‘China’.

From here you can find online job boards with vacancies, internships, recruitment agencies, top companies, information about CVs and more! We hope you find this resource useful for finding a job in China.

– Christian Jameson-Warren

 

Finding jobs in different countries – Goinglobal

Careers Network have a ‘Working Abroad’ page with resources to help with finding a job in other countries.

One of these resources is Goinglobal, a database provides country specific  vacancies, employer directories/profiles, career information and country guides. Careers Network pay a subscription fee so you can use this for free by logging in with your university details.

Goinglobal are running webinars to help you make the most of your subscription in October and November.

 

 

The Autumn Graduate and Placement Fair – advice for international students

The Autumn Graduate and Placement Fair is the largest university careers fair in the UK. Here are two steps that can specifically help you as an international student to make the most of this event:

1) Review which employers are attending and what steps you’d need to take

The fair brochure with details of all attending employers is now available –

If you are looking for opportunities in the UK and need a visa there is an exhibitors list which includes if companies are UKVI registered, and say if they sponsor Tier 2 and/or Tier 5 visas. The advice we would give is to use this more as a guide to what steps you would need to take to work there – for example, if they a company you are interested in doesn’t isn’t UKVI registered, that doesn’t mean you can’t work there, it would just take about 4 months for them to get registered. If they do not sponsor visas, you could ask why – for example, their jobs might not meet the minimum salary requirements for a Tier 2 visa. Please note that in many instances the people you speak to won’t be the experts on visas, so if that if is the case you can ask for contact details of someone at the company you could speak to about finding out more..

If you are looking for opportunities in another country, many of the companies at the fair are multinational. While the company representatives present may not know explicitly about opportunities abroad, you can still learn a lot of information about the company that can be used in future applications by asking them good questions.

2) Attend Prepare for the Fair – Wed 17th Oct

Every year the Careers Network run a workshop called ‘Prepare for the Fair‘ to help you learn about using social and face-to-face networking, before, during and after the fair. This includes going through a through a calendar of steps on how you can connect with your chosen employers prior to the event and then, once at the fair, how you can gain answers to your questions whilst impressing at the same time.

For more details and to book your place, click here.

– Christian Jameson-Warren

Balancing job searching and mental well-being

Being a full-time student trying to balance different commitments and expectations can weigh heavily on you. As part of marking World Mental Health Day on the international blog, below are some steps to help you manage the weight of searching for a job as a student.

1) Get clarity on your direction

It’s easy to mistake being busy for being productive. You only have a set amount of time and energy, so knowing where to focus your job searching efforts will help you maximise your efforts and reduce unnecessary work and pressure. This includes understanding what motivates you, what skills you’d like to use in a job, what sort of work environment you want and so on. You can book a Careers Consultation to get help with this.

Putting pressure on yourself to get a certain type of job because it will impress people or to make others happy can be unhealthy and adds unnecessary stress as you may be pushing yourself to do something that deep down you don’t want to do.

2) Recognise your strengths

Many people feel they are reasonably good at a variety of things, but really being clear about your key strengths (including attributes, skills, experience and so on) can help you focus your job searching efforts, choose suitable extra-curricular activities, accept when you make mistakes in other areas and respond positively to any setbacks. You may not be as good as someone else at one particular thing, but that’s okay because you have strengths elsewhere. Remember employers aren’t looking for someone who is perfect at everything, and increasingly value the different strengths that people bring to a team.

This process is also closely linked with job satisfaction, as being able to do things you’re good at will enable contribute more in the workplace and have increased job satisfaction.

Understanding your strengths can also help as part of separating your self-esteem from external factors, such as whether you get a prestigious job you wanted or not.

3) Break activities down into smaller parts and plan ahead

Plan your time a week at a time instead of just day-by-day. Think of all your commitments and activities in the upcoming week – lectures, coursework, societies, work and so on, and try to plan your time so you that activities that you find draining are balanced by periods of rest or doing something enjoyable. For example, if you are trying to network with employers but find it stressful and draining you could consider planning something fun in afterwards as a reward for trying and to build your energy levels up again.

If you have tasks that you want to put off or are stressed about because they seem overwhelming, try planning to do them in smaller segments throughout the week. Breaking activities into smaller parts can make them more manageable. For example, rather than trying to complete an application form in one night the day before it’s due, try doing sections over 3 days.

4) Understand where you need help

No one is good at everything, and at the same time no one person achieves a lot in life purely on their own efforts without the support of others. Acknowledging where and when you need the help of others can help you move forward quicker and also feel pressure or negative self-talk. For example, maybe you want to attend the Careers Fair but feel shy and worried that you’ll say the wrong things to the employers there. Dropping into Careers Help Point for to talk about how to speak to employers can help you feel more confident rather than worrying excessively about this.

5) Listen to yourself

Sometimes you may feel you should be doing studying or working, but part of you just wants to relax or do something fun. Feeling like can cause you to procrastinate rather than get anything or properly relaxing – instead just feeling like you’re achieving nothing and not feeling any better.

This conflict is often caused by using the suppressing your emotions. Emotions often act as signals that something that you’re doing is or isn’t working. For example, maybe your emotions are indicating that you are trying to do too much, or that your approach to a particular task needs changing.

Taking regular time to pause and reflect on your emotions will help you be more balanced and successful in what you do. Of course there are times when you’ll need to force yourself to do something, but relying purely on willpower all the time is not a healthy strategy.

6) Dealing with setbacks

Everyone experiences setbacks in their job search at some point. Following on from the previous point, whenever you experience a setback it’s important to acknowledge your emotions. Research shows that taking time to embrace and recognise individual negative emotions you are experiencing is more effective than trying to suppress them. As you take time to do this, you may also be able to better identify things you could change or do better next time you’re applying for a job. Setbacks are part of life – in many instances as human beings we learn more from when something went wrong rather than when it went right.

– Christian Jameson-Warren

 

How can the Careers Network help me as an international student?

Loughborough Careers Network was voted the best university careers service for international students in the 2017 International and UK Student Barometer – a survey of student views at 211 universities in the UK and overseas.

We’ve just updated our Careers Network pages for International Students to make it easier for you to find the information you need, including:

  • Finding work in the UK and in other countries
  • Finding a part-time job during your studies
  • Visa information and solicitor’s advice

One of our international students has made a video about how the Careers Network can help you.

 

The experts’ advice getting a job in your home country

Careers staff within the Midlands International Group were asked what was the best advice they would give to international students looking for a job in their home country. This is their responses below. The original article can be found here.

My advice would be research recruitment agencies and university alumni associations in your home country before you leave, make contact with them and stay in contact with them during your studies in the UK. We have a saying….the early bird catches the worm…

Michele Zala, Nottingham Trent University

Be prepared for reverse culture shock and that it will take anything from 3-12 months to find a suitable graduate position once home.  Maintain your network whilst you are studying and start putting out expressions of interest 3 months before you go home. Be realistic in your expectations of salary and status and think about how you will sell your extra- curricular UK experience to employers.

Ellen O’Brien, University of Birmingham

Reflect on the value you can bring to the role having studied in UK. Your time studying has not only helped you better understand the subject you studied, but has giving you a unique insight into life outside of your home country, so why not use that to your advantage? Maybe there are roles where your enhanced language skills and cultural awareness could be put to use. These could be organisations which have dealings with UK markets, or are international organisations who highly values those who have a wider perspective that only studying and living in another country could gain them. While many people do now study overseas, think about how your experience has helped you develop the skills that employers are looking for, and practice how you could communicate that message clearly when you make an application or during your interview.

James Heritage, Aston University

Utilise the resources in your Careers Service namely websites they’ve subscribed to on your behalf. Resources like: “Passport Careers” or “GoinGlobal”. In Addition “GradLink” have some useful resources for some places like: Bangladesh, Canada, Africa, India, Middle East, Asia etc

Teresa Corcoran, University of Nottingham

It is vital to develop and maintain links and relationships with companies and professional industry bodies back home.  Keep in touch and comment on the articles and blogs being created. Attending online events and basing a university project upon the key issues for the industry/ business within that country, can prove your genuine interest in their needs.

Chris Steventon, Coventry University

We can’t emphasise enough the value of gaining relevant work experience whilst studying. Not only in terms of building your networking opportunities to support your case for staying in the UK but also to show the added value of your UK qualification when you return to your home country. What kudos to be able to say you have real-world insight into UK business because of your work experience! Take advantage of paid placements and internships offered.

Merlinda Charley, University College Birmingham

  • Give some thought to what you already know about the recruitment process in your home country and how you can apply this
  • Use your network! Think about the industry you want to work in and any connections you may have that can help you

Mark Blaber, Northampton University

Use your home based network, friends, family, old employers this will allow you to remain updated on employment situations back home. Make sure to keep yourself relevant to those employers you are interested in,  follow companies on LinkedIn that you are interested in back at home – connect with recruiters for these companies ( but also make sure that you LinkedIn page is good enough to share with them) this will also allow you to keep in mind deadlines for applications etc.

Judy Turner, University of Lincoln

Worried about being interviewed in a different language?

Firstly, it’s normal to feel nervous before a job interview. As long as the nerves do not get too much, this isn’t anything to worry about. Sometimes though you may feel additional worry or pressure because you are interviewing in a different language. In addition to practicing your language skills, the following techniques can help with this.

Recognise your specific worries

This will help you address each negative thought or emotion directly instead of being overshadowed by a overall feeling of unease. List your worries as specifically as possible, your thoughts and/or beliefs about each one and it’s potential impact on your behaviour. For example:

Worry – I’ll be asked a question that I don’t understand

Thoughts/beliefs – I’ll fail the interview because I can’t answer and will look stupid

Impact – I’m already scared about questions I’ll be asked and won’t be able to relax or come across confidently

Strategies for addressing specific worries include:

Being solution-focused

When we really care about something (such as securing a job), it’s easy to focus on what has or might go wrong. Unfortunately, focusing thoughts this way can be obstructive to success.

One strategy to use is to reframe negative thoughts from a positive angle. Seeing the situation in a new way that allows you to move forward. For example:

Original thought Reframed thought
‘I’m scared I won’t know the right words to say’ ‘It’s great that I really want to do well in this interview. What specific questions am I worried about answering, and who can help me practise them?’
‘I failed at the last interview even though I really prepared’ ‘I’m disappointed, but now know more about questions I might get asked, where I do well and where to improve for the next one. It’s normal for people to have a few job interviews before they are successful.’
‘I don’t know enough words’ ‘There are some some words and phrases I am confident using. How can I practise answers for questions I’m likely to get asked so I can improve on any areas of weakness?’

 

Reviewing your list of worries, are there anyways you can reframe your thoughts positively?

Scaling

A rating scale can be used to identify where you are in relation to a goal and identify small, manageable steps to help you move forward. Sample questions you could ask yourself include –

  • On a scale of 1-10, if 1 were absolutely terrible and 10 was perfection, what score would I give myself for my interview skills?
  • I have given myself a score of X. What have I done to get the score this high?
  • What are the reasons I haven’t given myself a higher score? What would it take to get it up to the next score [e.g. from 5 to 6]?

Positive Experiences

While you may not have successfully interviewed in another language, you can still think about experiences that collectively improve your self-belief in detail. For example, remembering a good interview you had elsewhere. What did you do that made it a good interview? How did that make you feel? How did you prepare for it? How did you answer any difficult questions?

Visualisations

This involves imagining performing well in an upcoming event in minute detail. If this is a positive experience it can create positive feelings and associations in your brain as if you’d actually experienced the event for real. As an example of this –

Imagine yourself arriving for your interview, including thinking about what you are wearing. Think about how you might be feeling. Imagine meeting and introducing yourself to the people interviewing you, including the details of the room and furniture. You are walking in confidently and shake their hands. How are they reacting to you?

You sit down and they ask you the first interview question, which you answer confidently and easily. How does this make you feel? How are people reacting to you? Continue this process for a few more questions.

You end the interview by confidently shaking hands, smile and leaving the room. How do you feel now? What are the interviewers thinking as you leave?

Now try think of a word that you can associate with this final scene that would allow you to remember this image and associated feelings easily.

You can recreate this scene in your mind several times leading up to the interview, and each time use your chosen word to bring back the positive images in your mind. On the day of the interview you can say this word to yourself to help you get into a confident frame of mind.

Mock Interviews and Practise

You can book a mock interview with a member of the Careers Network for any upcoming interview you have. This will give you interview practise. Please note that this will most likely be in English. If there are specific things you are worried about (e.g. specific interview questions), you can address these.

If you have an upcoming interview in a different language, having a mock interview in English will still help you practise good interview technique. If there are people you know who are fluent in the language you are interviewing in, there is value in practising interview questions and answers with them, even if they are not interview experts. Simply speaking words and phrases will help you feel more confident and be more proficient.

  • Christian Jameson-Warren