Thanks to Nikita Nandanwad (recent Research and Resource Development intern; 3rd year Ancient and Medieval History) for this great insight.
International students joining us this September have a lot of things to think about: having arrived at a new country, culture and education system, coupled with having to think about career choices. If you are on a one-year postgraduate degree (or a final year student) and hope to find a graduate opportunity on completion of your studies, you should start thinking about your options from this September; whether you wish to work in India or in the UK. Labour market trends, industry-specific research, CV & interview preparation…all of these are important to prepare for the transition from student to graduate; and as Indian international students, there’s the additional complication that all of these things are completely different in the UK.
Over the summer, I have been compiling a 14-page summary guide (found here) which acts as a ‘one stop shop’ for researching all the above topics. Whether you are looking to enhance your skill set, find a job in India after graduation, or understand UK recruitment processes, the guide should be a good starting point to research the options available to you.
The guide provides an overview of the Indian labour market regarding key and emerging sectors in the long term – if you would like to further research this on your own, please find a commentary video here on accessing GoinGlobal’s India webpages. If you want to know about the impact of COVID-19 on the Indian economy, I previously published this blog post which looks at its effect on different industries and their projected recovery (look at this post for an update on the UK graduate labour market).
My research is supplemented by advice from several Indian alumni who graduated within the past three years. As a student who tends to worry unduly about the transition after graduation, it was reassuring to read about how they faced and overcame common challenges in job-searching when they graduated. The advice of those who were in this position before was greatly helpful for calming the ‘what next?’ anxiety and encouraged me to begin mapping out a plan before graduation – and also to relax and enjoy my time as a student!
Finally, the guide includes suggestions for making the most of your time in the UK – a huge advantage of studying abroad is the international exposure, adaptability and resourcefulness gained as personal and professional benefits. In addition, we have included some employer perspectives regarding the skills and attributes they look for in their candidates, which should be useful no matter where you wish to work.
The bottom line – preparing for a changing world
As students graduating in 2020 and beyond, a message we hear often is that the job market and the workplace environment are competitive and changing quickly, and COVID-19 has only accelerated these changes. Preparation is key, as are transferrable skills such as flexibility, adaptability, creativity and resourcefulness to adapt to these changes.
Parting advice…
Making good use of the Careers Service and these resources will not only increase awareness of the wider job market, but will also help with preparing to navigate the job market in the future.
(Image credit: OpenClipart-Vectors on Pixabay)
