December 11, 2014, by Bety Mehide

Go Global – employability conference part 1

By Bety Mehide

As a non-UK student there are many questions when it comes to my future career, but one of the important ones is –  where can I start my career and what are my possibilities? This is the question I took with me to the Go Global conference on the Tuesday 9 December.

During the full-day event we got to hear about other international students’ experience, global labour markets, part-time job opportunities, working for a global organisation and visas in the UK.  As it is a lot of information, I am only going to write more about the first two in this post and cover the other three in the next one. So what did I find out?

International student and alumna experience

I heard two inspirational stories. The first one was an example of how we can start now and make the most out of what the University offers. The second year student had taken part in the Nottingham Advantage Award, being part of societies and organised events as a part of the Award. She talked about what she had learned from each experience and how she used the knowledge in other projects she took up; each one being more successful than the previous.

The second speaker, an alumna. encouraged us to do what we love as this will lead to success. She studied a masters that she enjoyed at the University and thanks to that finished with outstanding results leading her to a job with RBS, a big international company.

Global labour markets

This session was more informative than inspirational, so I will bring out some interesting bits I learned and feel are good to keep in mind.

• Companies arrange programmes for students to work in their offices abroad, some of which are aimed at international students to help them to return to their home country.
• As an international student I should get some local experience outside university to really connect with the local culture. This would make me more employable back in my home country as I would have something extra compared to the locally educated graduates.
• A lot of companies are expanding into Africa and Asia creating lots of opportunities for students who are from these continents and for others with a global mindset.
• I cannot expect to get a higher position nor salary than a local graduate back home, but it has been observed that returning international students tend to progress quicker in their career.

This is it for now but keep your eyes out for the next post to hear about the other half of the conference!

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