And there is one school that is hoping to dispel the myth that the UK’s borders are closed for business. Bath University School of Management, which has a top MBA ranking program, works closely with leading companies to find its international MBA students jobs after graduation.
Before the Government abolished the Tier 1 post-study work visa in April 2013, non-EEA graduates who had studied in the UK had the opportunity to stay in the country and seek work for a further two years after completing their studies.
Now, international MBAs can only apply for a Tier 2 visa, a Tier 5 temporary worker visa or a Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) visa.
Bath still enjoys healthy employment statistics. Last year, more than 90 per cent of their MBA students were employed within three months of graduating, and the Bath MBA is ranked first in UK for salary increase.
International students, too, flock to the English business school in great numbers, which in-turn attracts employers whom are drawn to the rich pool of global talent on the full-time MBA program. There are also a range of MBA scholarships available, racking up a combined total of close to £400,000 per intake.
Vladimir (Vlad) Brenner, a Russian graduate of the school’s MBA program, says that he was able to find a summer internship and full-time job in the UK thanks to Bath’s connection to Intel Corporation, the global tech giant. “I would not be working here right now without Bath. The entire summer placement came through Bath’s career office,” he says.
Vlad was one of two MBA students who secured an Intel internship – although about a dozen applied. Competition was fierce, he says. “I got support from the Bath career office, from admins, teaching staff and my supervisor, whom is ultimately responsible for me working at Intel,” says Vlad.
Internship opportunities for MBA students from outside the EEA are one way that companies are adapting their hiring strategies to the UK’s new visa regulations, agrees Wendy Sleat, an Executive Recruitment Manager at Admiral Insurance, based in Cardiff.
Admiral works closely with the Bath careers department, one of the few schools they typically hire from. “We recently started offering internships to UK business schools, the first time we have offered internship opportunities; we used to use a project-work approach,” Wendy says.
“Providing that all goes well then that could offer us an opportunity to broaden that approach.”
Internships are the best way international MBA students can secure work in the UK, says Vlad. “Try as hard as you can to get an internship which allows you to learn over the summer. And over those three months you will have the best possible chance to showcase your skills to a potential employer,” he says.
Intel’s internship scheme allows international MBAs to get one foot on the careers ladder, agrees Richard Brown, marketing finance manager at Intel EMEA. “The Bath MBA project helps us to focus on a particular business problem, and in doing so identify great potential recruits from around the world,” he says.
“When you look at candidates from Bath, they are typically from a broader selection of society. And that is valuable in itself.”
Companies are also adapting their MBA recruiting strategies. Intel, for example, uses an external agency to find potential talent – although Richard also works with the Bath careers department and Bath MBAs directly.
Other companies have reverted to internal recruiting processes since the UK visa changes. Admiral used to use a third-party recruitment agency, but has switched to an internal process, says Wendy.
“We wanted to be closer to what was happening and understand what the border agency is expecting. And we can only do that by dealing with it on a day to day basis,” she says.
Admiral is happy to hire international graduates from around the world, Wendy says. “We’re happy to look at international candidates because we want the best people, even if they don’t happen to live or work within the European Economic Area,” she says. “When they present themselves we can look for an opportunity to find a sponsorship.”
Other companies in the UK haven’t been put off hiring overseas graduates from outside the EEA either. Melanie Colledge, a Graduate Manager at Merlin Entertainments Group, the largest visitor attractions group in Europe, hires international MBAs from UK-based business schools to work in Britain.
“International students provide us with an excellent resource to help us with our global growth strategy, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region,” she says.
“Recruiting international students has enabled us to bring in fresh, new talent who are able to help us understand our customers better in new and emerging markets.”
Mary Hurlock-Murphy, Director for UK and International Talent Recruitment at DigitasLBi, the leading digital marketing agency, says they continue to make a viable case for hiring international candidates, regardless of the visa changes. “We are just starting to roll out graduate level hiring in a more programmatic way,” says Mary.
The company’s clients include Virgin, American Express and eBay, and they plan to hire up to 50 MBAs globally this year. “We are strengthening our international footprint from a recruitment perspective, and international MBA students are likely to factor in,” Mary says.
Ify Okolie, a Quality Manager at Fish4Dogs in the UK, says that the more diverse the workforce, the better the quality of solutions they can provide. “International students bring individual talents and experiences, enabling new ideas to be created. They offer employers a range of skills and experience which can help companies expand their presence in countries outside of the UK,” he says.
Obtaining a visa is not difficult, says Wendy. “It’s not a simple process; it’s fiddly and time consuming but it’s not difficult,” she says. “It wouldn’t put us off hiring international students. We have a great team of lawyers and we can provide documents ready for visa applications to be made.”
Jennifer Mullen, Head of Talent at Busuu, the leading language learning company which is headquarter in the UK, says that the majority of their employees are from outside the UK.
A large portion of their workforce is from Latin America, she says. “Wherever possible, we’ll think about hiring internationals. The Government has also made it easier to get a Tier 2 visa; you can get one within eight weeks now,” says Jennifer.
“It doesn’t put us off. We’d never make a decision to disregard someone [if they are from outside the EEA].”
It is often important to source international talent – particularly those with language skills, says Jennifer. “It can be a hindrance that most people native to the UK don’t speak a second language. And for us, international candidates, as well as EU candidates, provide this.”
Nikita Knyazev, a Russian SAP Associate at PwC UK, says that international students can provide bilingual qualities. “[Sometimes] there are projects where clients want Russian-speaking people. And being Russian is an advantage both in terms of the language, and in knowing how business is done in Russia and neighbouring countries,” he says.
International hires are valuable, adds Jennifer from Busuu. “Absolutely; we’re a language learning company so we need people who are passionate about other cultures.”
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