Lose that comfort zone

International students have a right to fulltime employment after they graduate. Picture / Reuters

International students who don't look for work experience or take part in any mainstream extramural activities while studying, struggle in the job stakes after they graduate.

But the more desperate employers become in their search for staff, the more they'll have to step outside their comfort zone and employ people from non-traditional backgrounds. Career coach Lee Brodie already sees signs of this happening, but she says many international graduates are at a disadvantage when it comes to getting a job.

An Auckland University taskforce that looked at these issues discovered that international graduates from non-English-speaking countries often lack:

* a market-driven method of searching for a job;

* sufficient insight into how the market could work to their advantage.

Assuming recent research is correct and 70 per cent of jobs are gained through individual networks, she says the "scatter-gun" approach many international students take to advertised positions won't work.

"Stories of students applying for lots of jobs without receiving any responses aren't uncommon," says Brodie, a director with Career Dynamic who also took part in last year's taskforce. "That's especially true for those who haven't bothered to gauge the marketplace properly or where it's obvious a graduate's command of English isn't great."

Instead of "mass-applying" to job ads that they haven't read properly, she says international graduates need educating on how to best present themselves to prospective employers. From her experience, European and Indian students fare better than their South African or Chinese counterparts.

Brodie suspects international students who haven't made an effort to work or participate in mainstream extramural university activities will struggle the most in the graduate job stakes.

That's why she says it's especially important for them to proactively seek work experience before they graduate.

So in addition to course-based work experience, she encourages international students to capitalise on their right to seek paid employment for up to 20 hours a week (as of July) while studying.

According to Taskforce's results, Asian graduates who seek their first job within the growing Asian business sector only prolong their exposure to the mainstream business arena.

"Many Asian students seek their first job from within the Asian business community. But as they tend to be smaller employers, there's a greater risk of being stuck there," says Brodie. "Admittedly they've successfully leapt from university into the job market. But they still haven't made the jump into the New Zealand marketplace proper."

To help them get a job after graduating, Brodie recommends international students have someone with English as their first language cast an eye over their application and CV before sending them to prospective employers. It's equally important, she adds, for international students to check out how to get into groups where English is the first language.

"In other words, widen your contacts beyond your own cultural community," urges Brodie.

It's only by doing this, claims Manakau Institute of Technology's (MIT's) Tricia Reade, that international students will learn about working within a New Zealand environment, where team-work takes on added significance.

Within New Zealand's predominantly small-business environment, she says it's important for the international graduate to fit the character of the organisation they're working for.

Instead of simply relying on their qualifications, Reade says international graduates might need to lower their initial job horizons to get a foot in the door. For example, she says even temping agencies can provide a useful window into how most businesses operate.

"Understand how the marketplace works and find industries that genuinely interest you. Make contact with them in a way that won't compromise your chances of success," advises Reade.

But according to Reade, Kiwi employers also need educating on hiring international graduates. For starters, she claims uncertainty over their "employability" puts a lot of employers off taking on recently graduated international students. What these students struggle to communicate to prospective employers, says Reade, is their right to immediate full-time employment.

Under existing New Zealand Immigration Service (NZIS) regulations, international students (here on a student visa) who complete a two- or three-year diploma or degree (or equivalent) are automatically entitled to work in a field related to their qualification for an initial two years. They're then entitled to apply for a working visa extension and/or permanent residency.

To Reade it's not so much a limited command of English that often puts employers off international students as it is their hard-to-understand accents.

"If you're not being understood in class, consider taking an English-language pronunciation course," says Reade, director of MIT's International Centre. "And if you've got a particularly long or difficult-to-pronounce first name, consider shortening or anglicising it."

Enhance your employability

* Gain work experience while studying.

* Widen contacts/networks beyond your own culture.

* Be prepared to work "gratis" for a foot in the door.

* Understand how the local business market operates.

* Do your homework on companies/industries that interest you.

* Consider taking English language pronunciation lessons.

* Consider shortening or anglicising your name.

* Don't just email job applications "en masse".

* Participate in groups where English is the first language.