Memoirs of an International Student: Week 3- Tips for international students as told by a top recruiter
By: Memoirs Of An International Student
Tags: Students, Job Hunting, Recruiting, Job Search, International

Tuesday

Firstly the weather is currently digusting!

Lol! It’s windyy, like really windy. I really don’t blame the planet, we did this to ourselves.

I also spent some part of my night contemplating how I would feel about all this?..even further, “how I would feel when I’m 30? Would I look back at this process with regret? or be grateful for the lessons it taught me? What would I be like? Would my passion have changed? How would I view life as a whole?”

Maybe I’m just always focused on the next thing — blame my ENFP brain, always searching for all the possibilities — that I end up not enjoying the present. I guess it’s impatience. Now, I’m trying to not just do things to get to the next thing but to actually do things in the moment.

Trust me I’m getting better.

Even though sometimes, I feel isolated somehow. I even deleted my Instagram because I felt like I was stuck in rut. I don’t really know who I am at the moment. But I’m learning to be patient firstly with myself and that reflects on how I treat others. I’m more understanding of people and their shortcomings.

So be patient with yourself.

Meanwhile, I’ve had some opportunity speaking to various recruiters in different organisations and I think this might help.

Tips for international students as told by a top recruiter

Go for roles that have demand but low supply: A big one is Cyber Security. Apparently most companies when offering Visa sponsorship have to prove to the home office that they couldn’t find any home candidate that was good enough to fill that role in the UK, hence why they employed an international. And this involves some legal work, so why would they go through that stress for a role that has high supply when they have a lot of locals applying for it. You get the logic. While applying for Tech roles might be challenging, for non-tech roles it's even harder. So what this means is that you might not get the exact role you want when starting out, but once you enter the company it’s way easier to transition to that role. Just get in first. Apply to the Big Companies: specifically, the Big Fours whether in Tech, Consulting or Finance or Law, etc. These companies usually have big resources at hand as the Visa Sponsorship process can cost quite a penny. The chances of getting a startup or SME company to sponsor you are pretty low but you never know, so apply to as many jobs as you can but put most of your effort into Tech-related roles in larger companies. Show your work in a portfolio: Might come as a shocker but recruiters are human *lol* and most of them are faced with over 2000 applications for just 10 roles sometimes and this can be a bit overwhelming. I know if I was faced with that much information, the temptation to just breeze through most of them is high. What will set you apart most times, is seeing actual things you’ve worked on. Your portfolio gives you a personality, it helps the recruiter get to know you better. This is the one thing I wish I had done earlier. Go to networking events: Get out of your house and go meet recruiters and other professionals. Not only will that make you more comfortable with networking and reaching out to people, but many recruiters also admit that they have a bias towards candidates they have met one on one. I remember being rejected for a job even though I scored high on my test. I was really confused because I had been invited to an exclusive company’s events happening in 2 weeks' time. Nonetheless, I went to the event because I genuinely wanted to know more about the company. I had met with some of the recruiters at an earlier event and seeing me again, my face was recognised. After the event, I asked the recruiter what I might have worked on and he said he would have his team go through my application again and get back to me. Long story short, it was due to Visa sponsorship issues but I was put back in the process for a slightly different role. Recruiters are people too and a lot of the times they care about the wellbeing of candidates. Try replying rejection emails to find out ‘WHY’: This goes to support my earlier story. But like all my other points, there is no one-size-fits-all approach, it may or may not go the way you want. Companies are notorious for giving generalised answers but who can blame them (Tbh, I have a bone to pick concerning that but that’s for another day)? When you have thousands of applications to go through, it can get tiring. Simply sending a thank you email and asking to follow up on what you might improve on, can set you apart. Not only does it show character but it can actually motivate the recruiter have to go through your application in more detail and who knows, he/she may have missed something. Keep applying: I think this point speaks for itself. NO extra story needed lol! Oh and try calling HR companies before applying to see if they offer Visa Sponsorships but then again I would say apply still because you never know what could happen.

I know the job process can be tiring but you don’t have to know everything. You just need to know how to hack the system and keep trying. Don’t give up sweetie!