Today we had a big careers fair in the Octagon, jointly organised by the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam.  Its theme was careers in Engineering, Science and Technology.  As I heard at the end of the day, attendance had been very considerable - certainly up on last year.  This might not be surprising in a year when students have realised that they might have to put a lot of energy into chasing a post-graduation job. 

 

But there is one group of students for whom the goalposts in job hunting have changed significantly since they started their studies.  These are international students who arrived here in 2008 or 2009 expecting to be able to get work experience in the UK for a year or two after graduation and then return to their countries of origin with a further set of skills and experiences under their belts.  Instead they have been subject to a drastic change in the regulations for post-study visas, and many of them will effectively be barred from taking employment in the UK.  The rules are going to change again in April 2012 for anyone who graduates after that date.  A particular problem lies in the complexity of the regulations, such that employers are not aware of what they can or can't do: the result is that many are not taking on international students at all because it seems too difficult to do so.

 

I wonder if the government is Macchiavellian enough to have planned this complexity for just such an outcome?  In other words, making things as difficult as possible in the hope of reducing overseas student numbers in the UK yet further through the negative messages that are going out across the world about the UK government's attitude to immigration and to overseas students.

 

But this morning we had a 30 minute seminar for employers to make them aware of what they have to do to take on an international student.  It was an excellent session, bringing together  advisers from our Careers Service and the Students Union, with colleagues from Hallam also participating.   And judging by the standing room only at the back, employers want this sort of information. 

 

Last week I met a group from the CBI.  They share many of our concerns about policies towards international students. It seems to be only the goverment that sees things differently. Oh, and the Daily Mail. But one panders to the other on this.