About me
Hello I’m Natalie, and I’m in my final year at the University of Exeter, studying BSc Marketing and Management. Before my progression to the Business School, I was an INTO student.
Like many finalists, job seeking is one of my priorities. Many International Students will need to decide if they should seek jobs in the UK or back in our home countries, and we might doubt our understanding of the UK work culture, along with the challenges of finding work in the UK. Research, and sharing information from graduates who have been through the process of finding work is crucial to our success.
Student Circus and me
As International Students, as soon as we decide to study outside our home countries, we research study options, rankings, student satisfaction, and university environments that will be the best for us. There’s a lot of information online, which is helpful, but too much can be confusing.
There is also a lot of information online for International Students who are interested in working in the UK, which is where Student Circus comes in.
Student Circus has been created specifically for International Students who would like to work in the UK after University, and it goes far beyond job-searching. It is for all International Students studying all courses at all campuses.
There is a comprehensive job-search toolkit, step-by-step tutorials, and careers resources specifically collected and organised for international students. Alongside information on finding work in the UK, there are guides on other countries you might wish to work in, along with immigration information.
To me, the most useful resource would no doubt be the ‘Job Seekers’ Toolkit’ where the CV Builder and job searching engine for visa-sponsored jobs can be found.
As I have personally used and benefited from Student Circus, I would like to catch more international students’ attention to the existence of this platform. Therefore, I sent my application to its Campus Ambassador programme and finally secured a role in late August. Being the Campus Ambassador here at the University, I got a chance to attend to the Careers and Placement Fair held by the Career Zone, and the Global Festival 2023 held by the Business School. I am so thankful for these amazing experiences that have added more to my University life.
Why Student Circus?
During my job searching, I used the big names in the job search platforms. While there was nothing wrong with them, they were targeting a much larger demographic segment, and did not cater for students that would need sponsorship.
All the jobs listed on Student Circus are from employers that will be able to provide visa sponsorship. This can greatly increase our chances of finding jobs that are interesting to us, relevant to our degrees, and that will allow us to stay in the UK.
Resource Combination and Leveraging
To ace the job-seeking process, we need to have our CV prepared. We might fall into a pitfall of formatting our CV in the way which is applicable for our home country.
Student Circus has a CV builder that you can access as soon as you become a member, and Student Circus is free for all University of Exeter students.
I have combined my use of the CV Builder service from Student Circus with the CV Builder and CV360 services from the Career Zone, who also have guides on creating a great CV.
As a student at the University, the Career Zone provides a range of helpful services, so keep an eye out for any resources that could benefit to your use, and how they could form a combination with external resources.
At the end of the day no matter where you are going, I wish all of us all the very best in our job seeking journey, and make sure you create your free Student Circus account.