As international students, is getting your dream career in Australia impossible?
If others can, you can too!
The Problem
International students in Sydney often face significant challenges when it comes to managing the high cost of living in the city. Accommodation, transportation, and food are among the most expensive items, and many international students struggle to afford them on their limited budgets.
As a result, many international students resort to getting part-time or casual jobs to support themselves while they study. Many people think that as long as you get a job on the side, you will be able to walk into your dream marketing role once you have finished your degree, but the harsh reality is that this is not the case and it can lead into a vicious cycle which many international students face.
The Harsh Reality
Employers these days do not only account for the Weighted Average Mark (WAM) but practical experience within a workplace. While academic qualifications are important, practical experience can demonstrate to employers that you have the skills and knowledge to succeed in a real-world setting. For marketing, you need practical, real-life experience within the workplace to some degree to get a role within the industry.
Going back to the idea of a vicious cycle, many international students cannot get a job straight out of university without relevant marketing experience and therefore making adjustments to your weekly schedule could help you gain the upper hand on other candidates. This means creating a balance of university work, earning enough to keep up with the living costs within Sydney and having time to focus on gaining relevant marketing experience.
The Solution
There are many options you can consider. For instance, meeting for industry networking events. You can join MARKCubator who runs regular networking events specially for international students. They met key figures within the business world of marketing from many top organisations such as Google, Amazon, Tik Tok and Guardian news. Click here to find out about about previous events that have been organised by MARKCubator
Putting aside a few hours a week to meet and speak with the MARKCubator team can help you gain insight into the industry through their practical marketing training and gain real-life marketing experience alongside your busy work and university schedule could be the main difference between yourself getting that dream job!
As previously mentioned, the large majority of marketing roles require practical experience which MARKCubator can help you with to have the upper hand when it comes to applying for marketing roles within Australia. There can be a vicious cycle, where Visa can run out and leave you with little options but to return home and not experience the working life within Australia which you have been working towards with your time at University. You, yes you, have to take control of your future and gain this experience to increase the chances of getting a marketing role after university and being able to overcome the uncontrollable Visa factor, with a working extension. This could be through taking control and putting aside time to work towards that dream career by balancing your work schedule and adding practical marketing experience into your weekly schedule.
Past examples
MARKCubator has helped many students in the past overcome the problems they faced with job barriers and found work at global marketing firms. Here are a few examples:
Adam Xie was a Dominos delivery driver while he was studying at University. Adam was a student from China, where he was unsure about his career direction and lacked relevant experience.
As an international student, you may have faced similar challenges like Adam. But this is just the tip of the iceberg for international students. Without guidance, he struggled to gain the relevant practical skills to land a job after graduation. It is possible for international students to get a full-time job if they do the right thing - strategically build their skills along the way before graduation.
Adam is now a marketing Executive at Reed Exhibition, championing all things in Energy and Waste exhibitions and working closely with different teams to proactively suggest, create, monitor, deliver and improve content for RX customers through various platforms. Adam's Story
Vy Huyen Le is a Vietnamese international student who was lost in Sydney with no sense of direction. She gained experience through MarkCubator and gave a talk at a recent event set up by the team where she told young aspiring students: “Even though I don’t have 1-2 years’ experience, the recruiters were impressed by the way that I confidently presented myself and all the real-life work experiences that I gained.”
The experience she gained helped her re-discover her pathway to be a luxury brands marketer. Vy's Story
Another similar case was with Karine Lo and how she felt insecure about changes and trying to adapt to living in Sydney. Marketing is a competitive industry to get into and with the help of MARKcubator, she was able to gain the necessary skills to land a job as a marketing coordinator for a global company. She also spoke at a recent event and said “Time doesn’t wait for you. I sense an urgency to advance myself as early as possible, not only in my study but also gain more experience to pursue my dream as a marketer. I need to take the move now.“ This highlights the importance of finding the right balance and pursuing your dream career through gaining marketing experience on the side.”
Time might seem uncontrollable, but as Karine says, what you do with your time can make it more controllable for you to land your dream role within an incredible and prosperous country. Karine's Story
If you have any questions or are interested in gaining real-life marketing experience and marketing skills, please do not hesitate to contact the team at MARKcubator to give you some guidance in this journey.
Author: Tom McMahon
Publish date: 2 April 2023