The Irish Universities Association has set up a toolkit to provide international students with additional support and make them more employable. The motive is to offer practical advice and tips to help them embark on their professional journey successfully.
The graduate toolkit known as Employable You will let international students enrolled at Irish universities have access to University Careers Offices. In addition, it will try to figure out the issues that international graduates face when they look for jobs and provide advice to find work-integrated learning, overseas experience, internships, casual and volunteer work.
Chair of the IUA International Directors Group and director of International at NUI Galway Anna Cunningham said that employability and improving career scope for international students has always been a key priority for their International Education Strategy.
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on student routines including networking and job fairs. It is, therefore, now more crucial to make international graduates as work-ready as possible, Cunningham added.
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The toolkit will cover major competencies employers demands such as transferable skills, field-specific skills, communication skills and creative thinking. It is further based on detailing out how international graduates have certain high demand capabilities and how they can fill many of Irelands current skills gaps.
Head of International at IUA Jennifer Cleary said that IUA and the universities are working with government agencies to make sure that employers understand the value of and process to recruit Irish-based international students.
Earlier this year, the Irish government announced that international students who have had to study remotely due to the pandemic will also be able to access graduate work opportunities in Ireland.
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The countrys Stamp 1G path, as part of the Third Level Graduate Scheme, lets undergraduate students from outside the EU to work in Ireland for up to 12 months from the date of release of final results. Students studying Masters or PhD programs from beyond Europe will also be given the option to renew their Stamp 1G for additional 12 months.
Cleary mentioned that IUA was excited about the Department of Justices recent decision to let international students who could not travel to Ireland amid Covid-19 but were studying remotely to get the Stamp 1G upon graduation.
Although employment and recruitment vary between countries, much of the advice in the guide will be useful for future work outside Ireland, the document read.
