After Graduation
After you have graduated in the UK
you have several options open to you and choosing the right path
is not always an easy thing to do.
The most common course for most international students is to
either return home, or look for work in the UK.
You have many options and you should explore each one to work out
which is the best route for you.
The main options for students after they graduate from studying
in the UK are:
Graduate School
Once you have completed your undergraduate
education, an option for you could be to attend graduate school.
The UK is reknown for its wide choice of educational
opportunities and whether you want to apply to do a
masters, Ph.D., attend medical school, attend business school or
law school, the choice can be tough to make.
Graduate school is a different atmosphere compared to your
undergraduate program. Work is generally much harder, and
students take it a lot more seriously.
Financing Graduate
School
Graduate school can be extremely expensive and
you have to consider if it will be a worthwhile option for you to
take. If you have already accumulated debt whilst taking your
undergraduate course, is it a viable option to incur more debt?
Do you think that you will make enough money after you have
completed your graduate course to pay this debt off? You will
have to weigh up your options.
Right
School?
You will have to decide which school is right
for you. Competition to graduate schools is normally extremely
competitive to make sure you apply to a couple so that you can
keep your options open. Before you apply however, you need to
research each school carefully and decide which school will fit
in with your needs. Sometimes the school you really want to go to
is not the best fit!
Graduate School
Tips
Be sure to visit all the schools in person, if
possible. By doing this you can get a better feel of the
institution and you are able to meet with tutors and professors
in person to ask specific questions. If you are going to attend
graduate school you need to make sure that you will be happy
there whilst studying so take the time to visit and research the
institution.
Job Search
As an international student looking
for a job, you will have to make sure you are in compliance with
the Home Office in terms of your Visa. You will need to make sure
you know all about the requirements before you begin looking for
a job.
To get more information about your visa and how this will work
please either contact your international advisors at university,
or visit the UK Visa's website for more information.
Once you know all the information, you will be able to start
looking for a job.
But remember the 7 Golden Rules of job
hunting:
Join LearnHub's Job Skills community for
more job hunting tips and advice!
1. Research the employer
thoroughly, either via their web site or calling their offices to
get some more information sent out to you. Do searches online to
see if you can find any articles or other information about the
company online. The more you research the company, the better
chance you will have at an interview.
2. Understand your personal
qualities such as your strengths and weaknesses. If you can make
a list of these, you will be able to draw on them in an
interview.
3. Wherever possible, mail your
resume to the company unless it specifically asks for you to
submit it via e-mail. This shows you have put in more effort and
allows you to be more creative in terms of
presentation.
4. Always follow-up with
companies when you have sent in your resume for a job. After 1 or
2 weeks, call them to make sure they have received your
resume.
5. When you get to an
interview, always practice as much as possible. There are many
good web sites where you can practice mock questions. This along
with your research of the company should give you a good
chance.
6. If not given, always ask for
a written job description and company prospectus or
profile.
7. At the interview, always
wear a business suit, keep your general appearance neat and tidy
and remain confident with eye contact and strong, firm
answers.
Returning Home
The same is true when you return to your home
country - you can experience reverse culture
shock. After spending anywhere up to 3 or 4 years in the
UK, you have become accustomed to English ways, English
traditions, your new expatriate life, in ways you may not even
realize.
The degree and severity of this shock will also depend on what
country you are from. The USA and many
parts of Europe have similar cultures to the UK and so culture
shock may not be as bad as other countries.
This type of reaction is unfortunately not uncommon - many
expatriates face this situation when returning home. After a
short while of being enthusiastic about being home again, they
feel increasingly isolated and frustrated with their home
environment. What is happening, in fact, is a second culture
shock.
So coming home is similar to coming to another
culture, particularly as while living abroad many people lose the
perspective for their culture. So many people will miss their
home while being abroad - but that has a tendency to be an
idealized home. Once they move back, they get confronted with the
reality.
Another important factor may be that while the expatriate has
learned a lot and become ac cultured in the host culture.
Although there is no recipe for success, other repatriates may
help in such situations. They already know the problem, and can
frequently provide help - as well as probably being more culture
aware, and more understanding towards the problems of
"reintegration".
It is also important to know - and be actively aware of - what is
going on. A culture shock usually does not last for longer than a
year, knowing that may at least provide some help.
Reference / Image Credits:
Studying in the UK,
Bed Bath and Beyond,
Savvy Consumers,
AIB,
GGHPT
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