Overcoming Barriers to Employability for International Students
Working with international students is such a rewarding and interesting opportunity for any career professional. In my 17 years in higher education, I have spent over 14 of those years specialising in international careers and employability. Looking back, I can see I was drawn to this area of work based on my own experiences as a non-national studying in the UK and ultimately forced to return to my home country after graduation in order to find work. In my own career journey, I have come across many barriers to employability, some blatant and some not so blatant.
Our international students are highly motivated academically and are seeking a return on investment for their extremely high fees due to financial stresses and tight loan repayment deadlines. However, there exists a disconnect between the academic priorities and career priorities of these students. This can be due to a number of reasons including; making decisions based on outdated information from family or school counsellors, culturally prioritising study over work, thinking that good grades alone mean good jobs as well as the lack of research regarding post study options.
Language, Culture, Information
Barriers for international students to gaining employment in the UK are many but can vary dramatically depending on the student. As we know our international students are not a homogenous group and are wonderfully diverse and complicated individuals. However, we do see trends that repeat themselves when students are seeking employment such as language barriers, which does not necessarily mean the students has bad English but may struggle with colloquial language, understanding accents and technical/business level language. Working with our students there are so many ways in which we can encourage students to develop their language skills in order to maximise their employability whether it be English or another language for their career. Universities are a great space to develop this skill and explore the complexities of colloquial nuances regionally in the UK.
Often there are misconceptions or assumptions made by international students on what they can apply for, when to apply and how to apply based on information from their home country, also on their previous HE experiences if that was overseas. The UK is unique for instance in how we operate placement and internship programmes, with the onus on the student to do all the work and as well to seek payment for the opportunity. This can cause confusion for students as well as discourage them from engaging with services they are not familiar with, therefore not benefiting from the support careers services can offer them.
Cultural nuances can cause some barriers as well at the HE level when students are looking to engage with careers professionals. This could be in the form of attending a guidance appointment with a friend/spouse/parents as this is the norm back home and also expected, which can conflict with how we have been trained to run a guidance session. Respecting a student’s cultural values and norms can have a huge positive impact on their experiences and employability outcomes. This can also be incorporated into events and activities during study to tray and ensure the support we offer is accessible to all students, using plain language and avoiding metaphors, embracing marketing in other languages that are prominent on campus (not everything translates well into English) and ensuring representation at events with our alumni and employers.
For many of these students, the challenges they face come down to:
Not understanding which skills employers need
Not understanding what experience employers want/looking for
Lack of contact with employers (Fairs, events, webinars)
Lack of opportunity to secure short term internships during the holidays
Lack of placement opportunities due to recruitment channels
Reduced opportunities to forge a professional network and maintain it
Difficulties in articulating experience and relevance/transferrable skills
This is where we as careers professionals can bridge these gaps and lack of opportunities by working with employers, academics and our students to ensure we have an accessible service with the specialist resources to help.
Employer Pushback
In terms of barriers from employers which tend to be the hardest to overcome these are focused around visas and managing employer expectations. The legislation is clear in the UK on hiring international students and how regardless of their country of origin they should not be discriminated against. For clear information and guidance, see “Recruiting International Students: A Guide for Employers”.
We find, however, some employers openly refusing to recruit students via sponsorship on the Skilled Worker Route or via the Graduate Route. This can be found in job adverts that clearly state sponsorship will not be given, or that they will not hire from the Graduate Route, or that a placement year is not open to international students because the company does not sponsor graduates (even though there are no visa issues for a student to do a placement on their student visa). They may also ask for UK experience as an essential, or a full UK driving licence to prevent international students from applying.
Working with employers from across the UK, feedback on recruiting international students varies. Many employers are put off by the lengthy guidance and confusing language provided by the Home Office around sponsorship and visas or they may not have internal immigration specialists to offer support. Employers are not engaging with the graduate route for many reasons the most common reason is they want staff for longer than 2 years. We know in the graduate labour market that no employer can guarantee any new hire will stay longer than 2 years visa or not. HEPI & Kaplan recently held a webinar around the graduate route and cited only 3% of employers surveyed knowingly engaged in the Graduate Route. This lack of awareness around the route as well as not understanding the options for recruitment on the route has led to 20% of employers surveyed by ISE stating they have no plans to engage with international students through this route. Overall, we are finding employers are just not up to date on the latest legislation, terminology and are hesitant to engage with the Home Office and the increase in perceived compliance risks.
Working with International Student Communities
I receive frequent reports of students being ghosted by recruiters at all stages of the process, being rejected when asked if they require a visa, having an interview terminated when the question of visa comes up. We have a duty of care to our international students as HEI’s and ensure we represent our student communities equally and engage with organisations that embrace those values. EDI is such an important topic and is at the forefront of many organisations recruitment policies and approaches. Our international students are a very diverse community or young professionals who can offer so much to the UK economy in particular the regions yet EDI is only important of the applicant is British, which contravenes the whole concept of EDI. HEIs need to be working closely with employers not just to gain employment opportunities for students and get the big brands on campus but to ensure that the brands we do work with reflect our values and offer a level playing field to all of our students.
To do this there are a number of resources and reports that can help career services to work effectively with their international student communities.
AGCAS launched new research in February 2023, International Graduate Routes: Narratives from the UK job market, which shares the experiences of international students seeking employment after study in the UK. The report also has a number of recommendations for HEI’s working with international students.
ac.uk: Working abroad pages
UKCISA: A website designed for international students with all the visa information they need.
The British Council has released online employability modules via: MOOCs.
Creating Equality of Opportunity
Finally, in order for us as Career Professionals to ensure we create equal opportunities for all of our students. I have highlighted the challenges faced by international students in navigating career services and opportunities in the UK. In order for us to be impactful and effective I have summarised the following recommendations:
Encourage international students to prioritise their career goals alongside their academic priorities.
Provide resources to help international students develop their language skills, including colloquial and technical/business level language.
Clarify placement and internship programs and payment expectations to prevent confusion and encourage engagement with career services.
Respect cultural norms and values when providing guidance and support to international students.
Bridge the gaps between international students and employers by working with employers, academics, and students to provide accessible career services and specialist resources.
Address employer pushback by providing clear guidance on hiring international students and working with employers to overcome misconceptions and concerns around visas and sponsorship.
Increase awareness of the Graduate Route for employers to encourage more engagement with the program.
By implementing these recommendations, institutions can better support international students in achieving their career aspirations and enhance their overall academic experience in the UK.
About the author
Noeleen Hammond Jones is International Careers Manager at Lancaster University Management School and Co-Chair of the AGCAS International Task Group. She has been a careers professional for over 14 years, delivering a blended career service through a variety of platforms and technologies to engage the diverse international talent pool of students ranging from 4,500 MBA’s globally to over 19,000 undergraduate and postgraduate EU & international students. She is an experienced International Employer Engagement Manager liaising with organisations, agencies, SME’s and start-ups for all international recruitment needs. Her role involves developing business opportunities with organisations globally to create long term mutually beneficial relationships which result in projects such as internship programme development, leadership development, research collaborations and contributions to international employability and recruitment strategies.
