International Graduate Story: Shubh

Posted on: 25 May 2023 by Aditi Gupta in Graduate stories

Shubh Kantharia graduated with an MSc Marketing in 2022. He shares his graduate career journey with Barclays UK and offers advice to current international students on dealing with rejections and tailoring applications.

What is your current role and how would you describe a typical day in your role?  

My current role at Barclays UK is working as a Business Banking Relationship Executive.

My duties within the role include identifying new businesses to build banking relationships with, working with existing business customers to expand the financial services they use, and ensuring products or services meet clients' needs.

What do you like the most about your current role? 

The aspects of my current role that I enjoy the most is interacting with different people on a day-to-day basis. I also enjoy the job satisfaction that I get in my current role at Barclays.

What do you find challenging about your current role? 

The most challenging aspect of my current role is keeping up with the expectations of the clients that I deal with. At times, you get different types of clients who have different requirements which requires catering to each client’s needs in their respective way that suits them the best.

How did you go about finding this job opportunity? Do you have any advice for current (international) students on how to look for roles of interest?  

I found out about my current job through the Barclays company website where the role was advertised. It was also advertised on online job boards like Indeed, LinkedIn and Reed.

What did the recruitment and selection process involve and how did you prepare for it? 

The recruitment and selection process for my current role involved three different types of assessments: situational judgment test, logical reasoning test and statistical test. I had prepared for this selection process by reviewing the test material online beforehand. I had also conducted research that involved YouTube reviews of people who had already attempted such assessments and made use of other free websites that allow you to practice mock tests. Personally, I feel that some type of advice and guidance from my peers would have been helpful when I was attempting for these assessments. I would advice others to get some advice from their peers who have experience of taking these assessments themselves.

What made you choose the UK as a graduate job destination? OR Why did you choose to work in the UK? 

The reason why I chose the UK as my graduate job destination was on the basis of its financial stand in the geo-political environment today. Another reason why I chose the UK was because the environment here is quite hospitable and allows one to maintain a healthy work-life balance. While money or salary was not a big priority, financial aspect was an important factor for me to keep in mind before taking a decision.

What differences have you noticed between the UK job market and the job market of your home country? (This could range from workplace culture to selection process.)

While not necessarily specific to a particular company, workplace culture here in the UK is the best in the world. An employee here is always treated like an asset to the company.

What challenges did you face as an international student/graduate in your career journey? 

There are quite a bit of challenges that international students can face in their time in the UK. These can range from culture shock, language barrier (if any), trying to understand the UK job market, restrictions on the number of hours you can work in a part-time job, among others. Everyone faces their unique challenges in their journey and it is important to not feel jealous of anyone else’s journey.         

In your opinion, what steps can current international students take for enhancing their employability and preparing themselves better for the graduate job market? 

A piece of advice that current international students can use to prepare themselves for the job market is always tailor their CV for the particular job(s) that they are applying for.

What advice would you offer to current international students who are looking to enter the job market? 

Navigating the UK job market can sometimes be tough and unpredictable where you might land into an opportunity within a week or it might even take several months to find and get a job that you like. It is important to be realistic about the roles that one applies for and manage expectations accordingly.

There are a lot of opportunities available out there and it is important to take part in some of them in order to ensure continuous development. At the same time, it is also important to deal with rejections effectively.