Three UK universities plan further student careers success in China

Careers professionals at the Universities of Birmingham, Nottingham and Warwick are busy planning their next business partnership in China after their first joint graduate careers event in country attracted praise from employers, students and alumni.

They are now aiming to work more closely with employers in China at the next event after 60 high-profile employers attended the Joint UK Universities Career Fair in Shanghai with the next fair planned for spring 2019.

Any employers in China wishing to attend the next event should contact Gloria Barber or Cate Linforth.

Nearly 600 students and recent alumni from the three universities had the opportunity to apply for jobs and engage with employers including Bassetti, China Pacific Construction Group, Citi Group, Neilsen, UBS, Geely, Deloitte, Ericsson, Expedia, HSBC, IBM, KPMG, Mattel, Mintel, Philips, PwC and Unilever.

Gloria Barber from Careers in Business at the University of Birmingham said: “All three partner universities are committed to creating employment opportunities for our students and our first joint careers fair was a great success.

“We are now committed to raising the bar at next year’s event and looking to bring in more Chinese employers; putting them in touch with our students and creating connections that lead to excellent career opportunities that benefit both student and employer.”

She added that feedback from attendees and employers was exceptionally positive, with every employer stating they would be interested in attending future fairs.

Esther de Perlaky, International Employer Liaison Manager at the University of Warwick said: “This careers fair demonstrates our commitment to students from the Asia Pacific region and their future employability. It has been an invaluable opportunity to strengthen our relationships with key employers and to increase the breadth and depth of graduate roles and internships.”

A representative from Mintel said: “It was amazing to receive hundreds of applications from the career fair hosted by the Universities of Birmingham, Nottingham and Warwick. We got the chance to talk to those high-calibre talents and expecting to hire some fantastic graduates from the fair!”

High praise for both the organisation and impact of the fair was offered by participating employers, who said that, in comparison to other fairs, the Shanghai event had more 'reputable companies and high quality students'.

Nielsen commented: “Combining this careers fair with the Universities of Birmingham, Warwick and Nottingham helped make it yet more beneficial for us and it was well worth investing our time and resources in joining it.”

Several companies were particularly impressed by the quality of students; Expedia noted “…a good collection of candidates with different backgrounds”, whilst Visa commented: “We saw many excellent students here."

A representative of CPA Australia said: “This is one of the best organised fairs I have attended and the breadth and status of the other employers here today is hugely impressive. The quality of the students is outstanding and is an excellent reflection of the three universities."

“The preparation and organisation before and during the fair from the three universities has been brilliant,” said a Bassetti representative. “We are delighted to meet such a variety of students today and we can really see how closely the three universities have worked together to deliver such a successful fair today.”

Attendees have already begun to receive job offers from employers attending the fair, with one writing to university careers professionals and commenting: “Through this activity, I am more clear about my career objective and dream company. I suddenly realised that I could have more choices. Really appreciate you and also the University of Birmingham! I have now got an offer which makes me really excited."

• The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including academics as well as more than 7,500 international students from over 150 countries. The history of collaboration between China and the University of Birmingham dates back almost to the foundation of the University in 1901. The University created its China Institute in 2012 to reflect Birmingham’s extensive academic activities undertaken in China.
• The University of Warwick is one of the UK’s top ten, and one of the world’s top 60, universities by the QS World University Rankings 2019. Placed 10th in the UK and 54th in the world, the new 2019 ranking means that Warwick has risen 10 places in the world since 2014. For more information: www.warwick.ac.uk
• The University of Nottingham is a research-intensive university with a proud heritage, consistently ranked among the world's top 100. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our 44,000 students - Nottingham was named University of the Year for Graduate Employment in the 2017 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, was awarded gold in the TEF 2017 and features in the top 20 of all three major UK rankings. We are ranked eighth for research power in the UK according to REF 2014. We have six beacons of research excellence helping to transform lives and change the world; we are also a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally.