Introduction: 

As an International Student, your employability journey might have specific questions and topics that you need to explore to feel confident in your employability. You can use this page to find the right resources to answer specific questions, where to find support, and explore your future working options in both the UK and internationally. This page offers you a list of useful resources, questions, and activities to help you produce an Employability Mission Statement. This Statement is a useful tool to help you think about how your previous experiences and personal circumstances can positively impact your employability and make sure that you are exploring your development in a way that benefits you the most.

Resources: 

Questions and Activities to Help Your Employability Journey:

Reflection Questions:

• Which experiences (personal or professional) have given me skills that would be valuable to a future employer?

• How will my degree help me develop the skills and experiences I already have?

• Which skills and experiences do I want to learn/gain during my degree experience?

• What challenges might I face as an International Student when developing my employability?

• What advantages do I have when developing my employability as an International Student?

• Do I feel confident in knowing who to contact with questions about my Visa?

• How can I decide if I want to work in the UK after I graduate? 

• What is my priority when developing my employability? 

• Which resources am I going to access, and what do I want to gain from accessing them?

Activities:

• Your Skills and mySkills Activity 

• My Priorities Activity 

• How to Reflect Activity 

• In-Depth Self-Reflection Questions Activity 

• You at Your Best Activity 

• Yourself as an Asset Activity 

• Skills Evaluation Activity 

• How to Share Your Experience Activity

Employability Mission Statement: 

An Employability Mission Statement is a useful way to write down exactly what you need/want to focus on during your employability journey to ensure you find the support that will benefit you the most and to help you imagine your future work environment. In doing this, you are able to explore your priorities, ambitions, and next steps when thinking about your employability development. You can use this statement to think about the opportunities and resources opened to you and to decide which opportunities and resources you want to access. To help you write this statement, you can begin by answering the prompts and questions below:

• Knowing what is important to you and your priorities during your degree experience and in your future workplace is a useful way to understand how to make your employability journey the most beneficial to you. Things that might be important to you could be: 

  • During your Degree Experience:

    • Feeling supported and understood by the university 

    • Finding a community of people who share your experiences 

    • Trying new things and meeting new people 

    • Feeling confident in your academic skills 

    • Knowing where you can get your questions answered 

  • In a Future Workplace:

    • Your employer’s values align with your own

    • Knowing what you want your work day to look like 

    • Being able to work in your own way 

    • Developing your experience 

    • Being financially stable

    • Creative freedom

    • Having tasks delegated to you

• Taking time to consider these things and identify your priorities can help you focus on making sure your employability journey and future plans suit you best. You can break down this thinking into considering your wants, your needs, and your expectations during your degree experience: 

  • Your Wants: 

    • What would your ideal experience look like?

    • What skills do you hope to use/learn/develop?

    • What experiences would you like to gain the most?

    • Which opportunities do you want to do?

    • Which resources do you want to use?

  • Your Expectations: 

    • How will you make the most of your experience at university?

    • Which experiences do you expect to gain?

    • Which skills do you expect you will use?

    • Which support and services do you expect to access?

  • Your Needs: 

    • What is essential that your future employer understands about you?

    • What skills/ experience do you need to gain?

    • Which resources can best support you in finding the answers to questions you need answering?

    • What support do you need to support you in your employability journey? 

You can then use this to write yourself a mission statement to come back to (and adapt) when you need reminding of what you want/need/expect from your employability journey and your future workplace.