Students across Newfoundland and Labrador rely on a variety of resources to help them navigate the educational world.
For those who are from this province, that road is normally smooth and a lot less bumpy.
But if you are an international student, many coming here with limited use of English and from a variety of different cultures around the globe, that journey could be a lot more difficult.
Memorial University has a number of programs and organizations and vast resources on campus to help those students.
“Memorial offers numerous employment and professional development services to support international students during their studies and after graduation.” Lynn Walsh, manager, Internationalization Office, Memorial University of Newfoundland said.
“While we can’t say for sure how many stay in the province as a result of participation in these programs, there are examples of international students who have studied at Memorial, availed of its services and started their own entrepreneurial ventures here after graduation,” she added.
The following is a list of services offered by the Internationalization Office:
• We offer a wide range of career supports for all students (drop-in clinics, one-on-one appointments, weekly workshops, special career events and programming including Career Fair, Career Week, Career Month).
• We have an International Student Career Advisor who meets with international students and alumni to support them in their job search.
• We offer services specifically tailored for international students (e.g. we launched Tea & Talk in June 2018, which is now offered once per semester and is a networking event for international students and local employers with the objective of connecting international students with the labour market and helping students practice their networking skills.
• This winter’s 2019 term, we launched a six-week-career exploration program, Dream Career Club, which will benefit international students, but it is open to all students.
We have increased our online resources for international students and for employers, with specific content to educate employers about hiring international students:
• Resources and how-to-guides for employers interested in hiring international students or graduates : https://www.mun.ca/student/student-success/work-experience/hireinternational.php
• Career resources tailored specifically to international students – including success stories (interviews and career tips) from Memorial alumni who successfully transitioned in the work environment : https://www.mun.ca/student/student-success/career/careerresourcesinternational.php) –
• We offer the Professional Skills Development Program for international students (PSDP): https://www.mun.ca/international/programming/employment/preparationprograms.php and the Entrepreneurship Training Program (ETP): https://www.mun.ca/etp/.
• Alumni can access the full range of career supports after graduation (meet with career advisor, prepare for job search, attend career fair, networking events, etc.).
• Recent graduates can also meet with a career advisor and apply for the Graduate Transition to Employment Program (GTEP): https://www.mun.ca/student/student-success/work-experience/gtep.php. Program supports new grads who are unemployed or underemployed.
Related story: