How to talk about your previous qualifications and experience from home with UK employers

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You may feel worried that the qualifications and experience gained from your home country won’t be valued by employers in the UK because they don’t fully understand. The following tips can help you present these most effectively to increase your chances of getting a job.

Qualifications

There is value in referencing on CVs and applications what your previous qualifications are equivalent to in the UK, where possible (e.g. A-levels). The admissions team in your department can help you with this if you are unsure.

If you have completed professional qualifications that don’t have a UK equivalent, it is worth adding few brief words about the qualification is if it’s not otherwise clear to someone unfamiliar with it. If the qualification is particularly relevant to the job you are applying for, you may want to highlight this in more detail in your cover letter or supporting statement.

If you have previously completed a degree elsewhere, you do not need to add every single module (especially if you are a postgraduate student and have changed career direction). Instead, add some final year modules most relevant to the job you are applying for.

You can arrange an appointment with the Careers Network if you would like to talk about this further.

Experience

Generally, employers won’t discriminate or devalue your experience simply because you completed this in another country. Instead, you can often make having experience in a different country(s) an advantage by highlighting what is unique about it, for example how you gained experience of working with people in different cultures/environments, confidence in other languages, developed an international outlook, have learnt best practises and different ways of working that might benefit the company, and so on.

Our ‘Make Applications’ page has excellent information on how to talk to an employer about your previous work experience. To quote:

The secret to any successful application (and interview!) is doing your background research before you start. By reading the vacancy carefully, learning about the organisation and exploring the wider job sector, you will be more effective at targeting your applications. Learning about skills employers seek will help you to identify your strengths and evidence the relevant ones. Work out your unique selling points (USPs) and use positive action words to make a more powerful impact, online and in person.

All applications must be tailored to each job role you apply for. The vacancy will ask you for specific skills, qualifications and knowledge, so it is imperative that you use the information given to you, as well as what you have learned from your background research, to construct your application.

In summary, identify what an skills/attributes/experience employer is looking for, and then write about your experience to highlight how you demonstrate these. Leaving out information that is not relevant will make it easier for the employer, although always double-check with the Careers Network if you are unsure what is relevant and not relevant, or if you would like further help with any part of this process then please don’t hesitate to book an appointment.

– Christian Jameson-Warren

What to do if a UK company you’re interested in doesn’t sponsor visas

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While looking for a permanent job in the UK after your studies you may see a job vacancy that really interests you, but unfortunately the company currently don’t sponsor visas. The following steps can help with this:

Start with you –

  • Clarify on a scale of 1-10, how much do you want to work at this company and why. This will help with:
  1. deciding if you really want to invest the time pursuing this option
  2. identifying what interests you in a job, so you’re more aware of other suitable options
  3. speaking to the employer, which will be covered further down
  • Check if the role is eligible for sponsorship. The government’s Immigration Rules manual can help if you are unsure. If you are an undergraduate or postgraduate taught student, please refer to RGF level 6 or above, and if you are a PhD student refer to the appropriate table.
  • Do all you can to ensure you are the outstanding candidate for the job, so that the company would be interested in hiring you. Our posts How to use your internationalisation to stand out to UK employers and All the best advice we could find about getting a job in the UK as an international student can help with this. As part of this, we recommend that prior to applying you speak to the employer to ask them a few questions about the job, including finding out more about the main challenges they face as well as current and future projects. Once you have this information, you can think about how your skills, attributes and experience can help them overcome their specific challenges and complete projects. You can arrange an appointment with the Careers Network for help with this.

The company –

  • A company is more likely to be willing to sponsor you if you are the outstanding candidate and can bring value to their organisation that other candidates can’t.
  • Prior to applying, speak to the HR or recruiting manager to discuss if they would consider sponsoring a via. In the conversation you should include –
    1. Why you are interested in working for them
    2. Based on your research in the previous section, highlight 3-4 key reasons you’d be an exceptional candidate, i.e. why it’s in their interests to consider hiring you and becoming a visa sponsor
    3. As appropriate, share the link to the government’s information about becoming a sponsor https://www.gov.uk/uk-visa-sponsorship-employers
  • If appropriate, you can offer to complete some temporary work for 3-4 months after your studies finish and before your visa expires. This may give you more opportunity to convince the employer to take you on longer-term once they can see how you contribute to the business.

What to do if a company is interested in sponsoring but is unsure

Employers wishing to employ non-EEA students or researchers under Tier 2 General Visa can arrange a free appointment with immigration law specialists solicitors to discuss this in more detail. Information about this can be found at:

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/services/careers/students-and-graduates/international/visa-support/ 

Opportunities for Chinese students

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Click on the links below for more information:

1) 2018 Shanghai Returnee Career Fair hosted by 51job

2) OTEC – Overseas Talent Entrepreneurial Competition 2018. Information about scoring system.

3) Hays Challenge Day London 10th July – for students interested in working in recruitment in Asia (including mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia).

4) Michael Page China – 2018 London Assessment Days

5)Software Developer Vacancies  – Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore

Careers Network information on Visas & Free Immigration Solicitor’s Advice

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As part of the International Students section on the Careers Network website, there is a section covering Visa and Immigration. This has several documents and summaries, including:

Free Immigration Solicitor’s Advice

International students can access free legal advice from a leading solicitors firm specialising in immigration law.  Appointments are available for students, researchers and employers to discuss job related immigration queries.  More details can be found here.

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

How to find a job in another country if you don’t have much time

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Trying to find a good job in a different country can be difficult, especially if you have limits on your time and energy due to studying commitments. The following steps will help you focus on the most important actions in an organised way.

1) Be clear about what sort of job you want

Without a clear criteria of what you want in a job, it’s difficult to focus your efforts effectively. However, having a too narrow focus will limit your options so you may not find enough opportunities – instead of thinking purely about your first job after graduation, think about where you want to be in your personal and professional life in 5 – 10 years’ time, and consider what skills, experience and connections you need to achieve that. Use this as part of a criteria for deciding what sorts of jobs you wish to apply for now.

2) Understand the recruitment expectations and procedures of different countries

You can use the same resources on our Work Abroad page to become more familiar with recruitment processes and requirements in a different country if you are not already familiar with them, for example how CVs are formatted, etiquette at interviews. Speaking to people from that country can also help with us.

It’s essential to do this, as potentially you may waste time on applications that are being rejected because of small things you could change. You can also read our Marketing yourself to employers in your home country PDF.

3) Understand the labour market

You can visit Goinglobal to find out about employment trends in different countries by reading their Career Guides (you’ll need to log into the Careers Toolkit using your normal university login details, but won’t need to set up a private account on Going Global). This will help you understand what jobs and skills are most in demand and if there are likely to be many opportunities in your chosen field, all of which will help you make informed decisions about what opportunities to spend your time pursuing.

4) From the above information, identify potential employers

This will help you be more focused in your activities. You can use resources like Goinglobal and others from our Working Abroad page, as well as search engines (e.g. Google) to find companies that might interest you. You can also search  In his book The 2-Hour Job Search, author Steve Dalton recommends making a list of 40 companies as this will encourage you to think creatively and widen your options to a suitable number beyond what is merely convenient. Put these into an Excel table. If you are focused, you can do this in a few minutes.

5) Rank the employers in terms of preference

Dalton also recommends putting all the employers in a table so you can rank them in order of preference for working at – LAMP:

L – List, completed in previous step

A – Alumni – quickly using LinkedIn.com/alumni (or for Lboro students, using Lboro Connect too), are there any alumni that work there? i.e. other people who have an Lboro connection that you could contact about working there (see (6) below). Dalton also includes anyone who would be sympathetic to your job search (e.g. someone you know already), even if they are not a literal alum of Lboro. At this you are simply writing ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, rather than alum details as doing so at this stage will slow you down.

M – Motivation – give a score of 1 – 5 how much you want to work there, based on what you currently know (don’t spend time doing extra research at this stage, as will add extra time unnecessarily).

P Posting – are there any opportunities available right now? Use www.indeed.co.uk to search (don’t click on job posting at this stage), and give each a score as follows:

Employer & Keyword (job title) – 3

Employer & No Keyword – 2

No Match – 1

You can vary this according to your circumstances, e.g. Employer & Keyword & Internship – 4

The key is to go through this as quickly as possible, working down ‘Alumni’ column, then ‘Motivation’, and then ‘Posting’, instead of working across doing A, M, P for one employer, then doing the same for the next. Dalton compares this process to how Henry Ford massively increased production in his car factories through introducing assembly lines, i.e. reducing a complex process to “individual, simple tasks increases efficiency and reduces the mental effort required. Focusing on a repetitive tasks may certainly be boring, but it gets tedious tasks competed quickly, effectively, and with minimal effort.”

Once you have prioritised your list, you can select which employers to focus your time on. Dalton recommends using the ‘Sort’ tool on Excel (under ‘Data’ tab) to order the list, based on a) top priority – Motivation b) second priority – posting c) third priority – alumni. When reviewing this list, if any companies are advertising at the moment and it makes you more motivated to apply for them, you can increase the motivation score. In addition, if any companies score lowly under Motivation but have postings or alumni you can spend a few minutes researching them (one minute maximum per employer) to see if they would potentially interest you – these employers may have low brand recognition, and so be more open to direct approaches from you.

6) Get contacting people

In line with the approach Dalton advocates, the organisation 80,000 Hours conducted extensive research into the most effective ways of finding jobs. Some companies (especially large ones) have standardised recruitment processes that everyone must follow, so you need to just follow these.

However, thinking about the recruitment process from an employer’s point of view, many people are more likely to recruit someone they know or has been recommended by someone they know. 

Taken from “What Color is your Parachute?” 2015 edition.

This means that rather than contacting people at companies directly to ask if they have any jobs, it’s more effective to build relationships with them. An effective way to do this is called informational interviewing, and involves you contacting people to ask for a few minutes of their time to find out more about working in that company/industry. If you are able to find Lboro graduates, often they are often more open to helping.

80,000 Hours have put together a series of email scripts that can be adapted to reach out to people at companies that interest you. You can send people personalised LinkedIn connections are do some research and find their email address.

If a company is currently advertising a vacancy you wish to apply for, if you have time you can adapt an email to someone at the company for their insight to help with your application. An adapted example from Dalton:

Subject: Loughborough Uni MBA student seeking your advice.

Dear Mr Jones,

My name is [….]. I am an Loughborough University MBA student who found your information on LinkedIn loughborough alumni page. May I set up a phone call with you to discuss your experience with [company]? Your insights would be greatly appreciated, as I am now in the process of applying for an open [job vacancy] position there.

I recognise that this may be a busy time for you, so if we are unable to connect by email I’ll try to reach you next week to see whether this is more convenient.

Thank you for your time

[Name]

Not everyone you reach out to will respond, but you can schedule 15-20 minute phone/Skype (or email) conversations with people at times that fit in with your schedule. Our Networking for career planning and job search pdf can help you with knowing what to say in this appointments.

Spending time building relationships so that people know you and potentially recommend you for opportunities will speed up your job search efforts and save you time in the longer-term.

 

Finally, you can book an appointment to get help with any of the above, should you so need it.

– 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

 

Hays Recruitment Challenge Day

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Hays Recruitment are hosting a Challenge Day on 10th May for students interested in working in in recruitment:

We are looking for ambitious, passionate individuals to join one of our 13 offices across 5 Asian regions including (mainland) China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.

For more information, including how to apply, please click here.