Word from the top (The Provost on Visas)

Professor Malcolm Grant, UCL Provost has summarised his thoughts about the latest changes to Student Visas and what these implications mean. It seems that planning ahead to secure employment before you graduate will become the normal expectation, which puts UCL students in a favourable light as employers are keen to employ the brightest and best.

If you would like to discuss getting a graduate job, have your CV or application checked over then just call to book an appointment with the careers service. Similarly if you are in your first and second year and are looking to secure a summer internship, talking through your options would be a great place to start. Contact details and the Provosts full message are below.

UCL Careers Service, 4th Floor, ULU Building, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HY (Map) – Tel: +44 (0)20 7866 3600 Email: careers@ucl.ac.uk

Student visas

“The Home Secretary last week made her long-awaited announcement regarding student visas. We have greeted it with some relief – until quite recently we had expected much worse, and had been lobbying strongly for a more enlightened outcome. There will be a cut in student migration to the UK but it will focus – once again – on bogus colleges and bogus students. It was confirmed that students coming for sub-degree programmes will continue to be able to enter with B1 English language skills; that post-study work provision has been retained for international students who secure a job offer; that students will not be required to return home between courses; and that universities will be able to vouch for the language capability of international students (B2 level) entering degree courses without the need for Secure English language Tests (SELTs). University students will continue to be able to work for 20 hours per week either on or off-campus. University students will retain the right to do work placements where the study/work ratio is 50:50. Postgraduate students on courses of 12 months and over will continue to be able to bring their dependants to the UK. Their dependants will retain the right to work.”

A summary of the Home Office’s proposals can be found here.

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Accountancy Insight – A chat with Kingston Smith

 

 

 

 

 

 

To all you budding accounts, I’d thought I’d share some insights straight from Kingston Smith Partner Mark Twum-Ampfoand and their graduate recruiter Tracy Jackson about applying to work in a medium size accountancy firm.

Mark said Kingston Smith (450-500 employees) takes on about 20 graduates per year and that competition is strong. Typically 350 people are short listed for telephone interview after online tests. The minimum requirement was a 2:1 in any discipline and three B’s at A-level. I asked Mark if a 2:2 or C’s at A-level combined with a masters would be acceptable, but his answer was unfortunately no as they want to have the same standard for everyone and need to whittle down the applicants. Tracy was also keen to stress that the nature of A-levels was far closer in reality to the accountancy ACA exams that each graduate trainee would go on to take. Thus A-levels were a better indicator of future success.

For candidates with a 2:2 Kingston Smith offers an AAT programme that can act as a stepping stone to the main graduate entry. ATT stands for the Association of Accounting Technicians, which provides successful trainees with a well-respected qualification.

A key skill that came up time and time again in our conversation was the need for candidates to not only have the numerical skills but the people and communication skills to interact with clients. Mark said these skills are so important when sending graduates out to meet clients as they need to be comfortable with talking with reception staff to gaining trust of owner managers. To reflect this desire to have people within the business with great interpersonal skills, Kingston Smith have added a telephone interview, individual presentation, and lunch time discussion to really test candidates in this area.

When talking about the type of work experience Tracy wanted to see from students applying, she was fairly relaxed as to the field the experience was in and was far more interested in the skills gained and the drive and initiative shown by candidates.

Mark said there was good career progression within Kingston Smith and told me that he had joined as a graduate in 1996 and that 3 of his cohort are now partners in the firm. He summed up the main benefits of working in a medium sized firm as: responsibility from a very early stage, great access to Partners, good work/life balance and the breath of experience and training a student would be exposed to.

For more on Kingston Smith please follow the link

http://www.kingstonsmith.co.uk/kingston-smith

AW

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Secure employment before you graduate

 

 

 

The Spring Graduate fair is today!

Come and meet Google, HSBC, PWC, WikiJobs, Abercrombie and Fitch, The College of Law and 50 more employers.

FREE CV and Application Form feedback

23^rd March 2011 – Today!

12pm – 4pm in Macmillan Hall, Crush Hall and Beveridge Hall at Senate House, Malet Street.

In light of the current visa changes it is now extremely important for students wishing to apply for the employer sponsored tier 2 visa to meet and secure a job before graduation.

 

For more info on the fair follow the link: http://www.springgradfair.co.uk/

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That was unexpected

You may have read the announcement today that post-study work visas are to end. We have been following the developments from the “no change” to today’s shock announcement. The opportunity to gain real work experience in the UK after graduation has been a major incentive for many students we have spoken to about their decision to study in the UK. The scrapping of PSW has changed everything.

The announcement indicates that another aspect of the international student experience, the ability to work part-time, will remain although there will be restrictions on non-course related placements. This at least means that students can continue to develop their employability whilst in the UK and aim to compete with EU students for graduate jobs (sponsored) afterwards.

According to the Summary document, the Post Study Work visa route will close to applicants from April 2012. There will be no restriction on those who apply under Tier 2 and the Government has announced its intention to support entrepreneurs.

Universities, careers and employment professionals and employers have campaigned against the closure of Post-Study Work. It is very disappointing that it has now happened.

For more information on visa’s please visit

UCL Rights and Advice

1st Floor
Bloomsbury Building
15 Gordon Street
London
WC1H 0AY

020 7679 2998

uclu-rights.advice@ucl.ac.uk

 

This article was kindly written by our friends at rhulcareers

http://internationalfutures.wordpress.com/2011/03/22/that-was-unexpected/

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Interested in working Malaysia?

The weekend is the United Kingdom and Eire Council for Malaysian Students is hosting it’s annual Careers Fair and it will be held right here at UCL.  Don’t miss this chance to head along and meet 40 employers.

• Date: Sunday, 27th March 2011 (Careers Fair)
• Time: 9.00 am – 6.00 pm
• Venue: University College London (UCL)

More details can be found at the UKEC Career Fair website.

For more general information on working in Malaysia, a new resource called UK/Malaysia GradLink has been created by the University of West England and provides and excellent starting point.

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UK Border Agency Announces No change to Post Study Work Visa

The Home office’s UK Border Agencies department has announced that it plans to make no changes to the Post-Study work visa.

They write,

Page 57 confirms at para 7.9 No changes, other than those set out in 7.16 and 7.17 below, are being made to the Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) category, which caters for international graduates who have studied in the UK and wish to work following their graduation.

For the full report please follow the link.

<http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/statementsofchanges/> http://www.ukba.home…mentsofchanges/

This is great news, as it means students continue to have the benefit of being able to gain work experience in the UK after they graduate for up to 2 years on this Visa.

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700+ International Graduate Jobs and internships now on offer

The new look, International Graduate Jobs site is launched at <http://www.prospects.ac.uk/international_graduate_jobs.htm> part of prospects.ac.uk

The site has opportunities with different employers in a wide range of job sectors.

Plus there is other useful information on the site to help students to get the job they want: how to write a good CV and covering letter; example CV for many countries; plus tips on how to improve interview skills.

Check it out here:

<http://www.prospects.ac.uk/international_graduate_jobs.htm>

The great guys at AGCAS, HECSU, NASES and The Careers Group, University of London have worked in partnership to develop the enhancements.

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Interested in working in Singapore?

Contact Singapore and the Public Service Division invite Singaporean students from UCL to the following 2 events:

(1) Networking dinner with public agencies for UCL/KCL students, 12 Mar 2011 (Sat)
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Learn about industry developments and the latest career opportunities in the public sector. Come network with 13 public agencies from various government sectors who are looking for talents like you!

Date    : 12 Mar 2011 (Sat)
Time    : 7pm – 9pm
Venue   : Sofitel St. James Hotel

Sign up for the event via this link

(2) Networking lunch with Senior Public Service Officers (for students & working professionals), 13 Mar 2011 (Sun)
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Come join the Singapore Public Service for a networking lunch on 13 March 2011 and get a rare opportunity to network with Senior Public Service Leaders including:

Ms. Lim Soo Hoon, Permanent Secretary, Public Service Division
Mr. Peter Ho, Senior Advisor, Centre for Strategic Futures
Mr. James Wong, Deputy Secretary (Policy), Public Service Division

Public Agencies from the Economic Sector, Security Sector, Social Sector and Government Administration & Strategic Planning Sector would also be present to share with you the opportunities available back home.

Date    : 13 Mar 2011 (Sun)
Time    : 11.30pm – 3pm
Venue   : Sofitel St. James Hotel

Sign up for the event via this link

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