Concerns about the ability of international students to stay on and work in Britain is seen as one of the reasons why the number of students from India have fallen sharply in recent years.
Under changes brought in five years ago, students have up to four months after their studies to find a job, which can prove daunting and greatly reduce Britain’s attractiveness as a place to study, given the large levels of investment put into obtaining a degree. Two former Indian students turned entrepreneurs — from Mumbai and Jaipur — hope to change that through Student Circus, an online portal targeted at helping international students in Britain find employment.
The founders, Dhruv Krishnaraj and Tripti Maheshwari, said they came upon the idea following their own struggles, and those of friends: finding a job after completing their degree. They began to wonder what the root of the problem was. It was not lack of willing employers: about 30,000 U.K. companies have the necessary licence to hire workers on a Tier 2 visa. Nor was it the cost: hiring an international student directly after his or her studies is considerably easier than hiring from abroad.
“We realised we just weren’t applying for the right jobs… as an international student, you have to focus on firms willing and able to give job visas but that is difficult in a pressed amount of time... you need to be smart in your job search and that is why we came up with the idea of Student Circus,” said Ms. Maheshwari.
3,000 sign up
They’ve focused on whittling through the 30,000 companies that have a Tier 2 sponsorship licence to identify those that were willing to hire foreign students, particularly on their graduate training programmes.
Since starting in January, Student Circus has signed up more than 3,000 students from 112 universities across the U.K., with four universities already signing up at their portal for all the students.
The firm is also expanding into legal advice, via law firm Veale Wasbrough Vizards, VWV, and online training for students on the rigorous graduate training programme selection process deployed by many large companies.
“There is a often a huge difference between the system here and at home and you can’t really apply without preparing,” he said.
They’ve attracted considerable interest from businesses — especially in shortage areas such as engineering, where Britain has an identified skills shortage, though law and finance have also proved popular.
The firm plans to extend coverage to jobs at smaller firms, and other sectors from fashion to media. It hopes to branch out to services for firms too. “If a trading house needs a Mandarin speaker with a relevant degree, we can help them find them.” With the pressure on universities to attract foreign students, the founders believe more institutions will sign on. “There are far more jobs out there for foreign students than many think there are,” said Mr. Krishnaraj, noting that more than 6,000 have transferred from Tier 4 (student) visas to Tier 2 (work) visas in the past year in the U.K.
Growth has also come from an unexpected quarter: EU students, concerned around the uncertainty of their position in the aftermath of Brexit, have signed up at Student Circus. “They need the security that if things get rough, they have someone who could sponsor their visa... we never imagined that would be the case but we now have another whole area open.”