Tag Archives: Employability

How to prepare for interviews and assessment centres in the UK

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The vast majority of job applications involve an interview at some point, while some countries require you to attend an assessment centre. The below information will help you with preparing for these.

Interviews

Our Make Applications page has information and links to help you prepare for an interview, including examples of questions. To quote:

Interviews may seem scary, but they don’t have to be.  By preparing well they can be a positive experience. Review your application form, letter or CV and build on the research you have started. Find out as much as you can about what the employer expects during their interview process and prepare and practise answers to typical interview questions.

Work out in advance what you will wear and how you will get to your interview; and on the day be positive and enthusiastic to make the best impression possible.

The Careers Network also delivered some workshops in Spring 2017 entitled Interview Workshop for International Students. Key points include that it doesn’t matter where you gained your skills as long as you can demonstrate them, how to answer ‘tell me about yourself’, the different types of interview questions and how to prepare for them.

In addition, pages 20 – 23 of ‘How to excel in applications and interviews’ also has information about different types of interviews and how to prepare for the questions you’ll be asked.

Video Interviews

The Careers Network has teamed up with Sonru, a leading provider of video interview software, to bring you the change to practise a video interview. Details on how to prepare for video interview and about Sonru can be found here. To quote from ‘How to excel in applications and interviews’:

Video interviews can sound scary, especially when you are responding to pre-recorded questions. But the more you can practise the more relaxed you will be for the real thing. These types of interviews may involve you talking face to face with the employer (like a Skype chat), you could have a recorded video of the employer giving you a question and you are allotted an amount of time to respond, or you may just have questions pop up on your screen for you to answer.

You may be given multiple chances to re-record your answer or you may only be given one chance. It is therefore important to establish what type of video interview you will be taking part in. Before your interview make sure to do the following:

  • Dress smartly – you may be at home but you are still being assessed as if you were in an interview room.
  • Take the interview in a quiet room with no distractions.
  • Tidy the space behind you so the employer will not see any embarrassing posters, clothes strewn on the floor or dirty plates!
  • Test your workspace: is the lighting correct? Do you have a reasonable enough internet connection? Do your microphone and webcam work? Is there any loud traffic outside?

Telephone Interviews

Telephone interviews may be similar to face to face interviews so remember to respond and act as if you were in the room with the employer. The benefit is that you can use notes to prompt you for difficult questions. However, be warned – too many notes can be distracting.

  • Try to smile when you talk, it will help vary the tone of your voice and make you sound friendly and approachable. Consider dressing smartly to help you get into your ‘professional’ mind set.
  • You will be told a time to expect your call so make sure you use a quiet room with a good phone signal.
  • Have a notepad handy to take notes, but don’t use a computer if the interviewer can hear the keyboard tapping!
  • Don’t worry if there are short silences at the other end, the employer is probably taking notes.

Assessment Centres

Assessment centres, (sometimes called second interviews), are often the final stage in the graduate recruitment process – and are increasingly used in placement selection too. They are usually held at the employer’s premises or a hotel and involve a variety of individual and group exercises designed to give you the opportunity to demonstrate specific skills and qualities against a predetermined set of criteria.

Find out if you need to prepare anything to take with you to the assessment centre. Some employers ask you to prepare a short presentation. Identify which skills and qualities the organisation is looking for and work out how you can best demonstrate these.  When you get there be friendly, positive and professional and be yourself.  Make a contribution to all activities so that the assessors have something to mark you on.

For more detailed advice, see our guidebook – How to excel in applications and interviews 2017.

 

If you would like help with any of the above, then please do not hesitate to book an appointment with the Careers Network.

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