How competitive is it really for international students to find jobs in the UK?
(click here to view the video transcript)
This video covers:
- The factors that affect how competitive a job is
- How to find less competitive opportunities
- Why it is much less competitive for international students to stay in the UK than it was in the past
- How to increase your chances of finding a job in the UK
A challenge for international students....
One of key challenges for international students is that some UK employers are concerned about visa regulations. They worry about how visa rules affect them if they employ you and often don't understand the visa regulations very well. Many UK employers aren't clear yet about the Graduate visa which was introduced in 2021.
It can be helpful if you understand the visa rules.
International Student Support provide detailed information about immigration options available for working after your studies. You can contact the team directly if you're unsure about your particular situation.
We run workshops collaboratively with the International Student Support team which include advice about visas. In these workshops we can help you think about what types of employers might prefer which visa, and how to help employers understand how the regulations impact them.
You can book these workshops on Handshake
- What every international student needs to know about working in the UK after studying
- Please sponsor me! Managing employers and visas
Remember that with the introduction of the Graduate visa you can work in the UK for two years (3 years for PhD graduates) after your studies, without needing an employer to sponsor you.
However, some international students would prefer to stay in the UK for up to 5 years using the Skilled Worker visa, which requires an employer to sponsor you. To check if an employer has permission to sponsor international employees, you can look at the UKVI Register of Sponsors.
The register cannot tell us whether an employer is planning to sponsor anyone in the future. It does not show whether they want to take on a graduate right now. It is not a list of employers who want to hire you. It is just a list of employers who have sponsored before. It is better to think of the register as a useful tool to check whether an employer that you are interested in working for is already registered as a sponsor.
We run the following workshops which may help you understand sponsorship which you can book on Handshake.
- What every international student needs to know about working in the UK after studying
- Please sponsor me! Managing employers and visas