Experiencing the UK Graduate route: China, higher degree

Date:Apr 2023

Topic(s): Graduate route, Recruitment, Student employability, Transition

Type(s): AGCAS Case study

The Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS), a member of UKCISA’s International Student Employability Group (ISEG), has captured the experiences of international graduates seeking employment in the UK after graduation in a series of case studies.

Who are you?

Name	Anonymous
Nationality / country of origin	China
Current visa	Graduate route
Are your expectations of your Graduate route visa being met?	Agree
University, level of study and programme of study	University in the east Midlands Higher degree, mainly by taught couse (eg. MA, MSc, MBA) Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence)
How many roles have you applied for since leaving university?	Over 50 For an international student, job hunting is quite challenging. The work permit is not long enough (Graduate route visa = 2/3 years). Lots of companies rejected me because they couldn’t support my visa sponsorship in the future. I struggled with the lack of a network, especially during the pandemic.
Current activity	Employed - full-time (permanent contract)

Where do you work?

Job title	Deep Learning Engineer
Employer / organisation	Finance organisation
Region of your contracted place of work	Scotland
Briefly describe your role and your main responsibilities	Deep learning in finance
Time between the end of your course and start date for your current role	3-6 months
How did you find your current job?	Through social media (LinkedIn, Twitter)

Thoughts on your visa

The Graduate route visa is limited to two years. Companies are not willing to support Tier 2 for graduates. Therefore, no matter what, you need to find a company that can support your visa sponsorship now or in the future.

The process is fast and convenient through the online service. The ID identification app is quite good, and it saved me so much time.

Support and development

While at university, I attended a careers fair and gained access to job vacancy listings.

Employer knowledge and attitudes

“Lots of companies rejected me because they can’t support my visa sponsorship in the future.”

I feel that employers don’t accept the Graduate visa, and some of them haven’t heard of it, which is sad. The two/three-year work permit is the main reason that employers don’t want to accept those with a Graduate visa. It is so difficult for graduates to get a visa sponsorship from a company. One employer said they preferred to give it to someone with at least two or three years of work experience.

What advice would you give to current international students seeking graduate employment in the UK?

Unfortunately, there isn’t enough benefit with the Graduate visa (especially the 2/3 years work permit). We have to try harder than most to find a job.

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