FIND A WARM WELCOME AWAITING
SHAREHOUSING with a mix of students and even working part time in a cafe can help international students find a job after graduation.
Employers largely prefer to employ local candidates, with foreign students often taking more than two-and-a-half years to find their first job, international student community start-up Outcome.life reveals.
International Education Association of Australia chief executive Phil Honeywood says assimilating into Australian culture can improve job outcomes for foreign students.
He says the “worst mistake’’ international students make is to share accommodation with students from their home country, where they often revert to speaking in their native dialect.
“When they front up to an Australian employer for an interview … their English is abysmal, their understanding of Australian culture is abysmal,’’ he says.
“But if they go and find housemates from different cultures then they have to use English every day in their home environment — they get incredible immersion in Australian culture and that’s the missing link.’’
Outcome.life co-founder Gerard Holland agrees socialising with a mix of people is key to helping international students find work.
He recommends students build networks by joining clubs and societies — but not student-focused ones because “your fellow peer students are never going to be able to help you’’ find a job — and then use those networks to secure work experience and learn of job opportunities.
Through undertaking work experience and internships, international students can halve the time it takes to find a job after graduation, Holland says.
Some international students won’t work at a cafe because it is not related to their field of study but “a cafe is great for building their English” and even learning about job vacancies, he says.
Alex Law Min, 25, originally from Mauritus, graduated with a Bachelor of Environments and a masters degree in architecture but had to apply for at least 50 roles before securing a role at an architectural firm.
“The architectural industry is quite a small, tight-knit community … but I didn’t have a network here,’’ Law Min says.
“Once I started to go to networking events it was easier.
“I also did my own networking (by) texting people I knew to ask them to catch up for coffee — then they put me in touch with others and it went on from there.’’