Saturday, February 7, 2009

Employment Opportunities for International Students in USA

As the world is becoming smaller with the globalization of markets, there are an increasing number of international students on campuses throughout the United States. Currently many international students are seeking for good employment opportunities in USA.
Several organizations and businesses in United States are hiring fresh graduates and are posting jobs and coming into different campuses. Companies don’t want to be torrent with calls and faxes of resumes. They will probably rely on word-of-mouth to get a handful of candidates. Thus
As per the Employers of USA, there is more likelihood to increase the employment opportunities for the graduate by 12% over a year.
In another study, it is projected that among 60% of US Business Plan is employing the same number of graduates this year as with last year.
As the reviews of CERI (Collegiate Employment Research Institute) at MSU, there would be an increase of 55% comparative to the last year.
According to a recent survey, US Corporations and Businesses are about to employ more graduates with a bachelor’s degree in business, biological and physical sciences. Those with construction management, engineering degrees, health care and accounting will also experience an increase in hiring. Other fields will have a slight decline.
On a whole we can conclude that there are various prospective employment opportunities for fresh graduates in United States.
Many companies are more likely to hire the students who have undergone an internship program and most experts advise that during the holidays, whether you’re looking for permanent employment or internship, it is time to step up your search. However, if an intern proves their capabilities, they can surely get permanently recruited in the company. The work experience, they say, makes a lot of difference. Federal agencies will employ more graduates but not nearly enough to offset the decrease in hiring by the state and local government agencies.

What Can a Student Expect?

Companies will hire more students earning bachelors degree in business and management, physical and biological sciences. Engineering, health care and accounting degrees also would experience an increase. Other degrees will experience a decrease in hiring. It might be harder for computer science graduates to find the job. Many companies are employing nearly the same number of MBAs this year as last year. Businesses have found employees with bachelor's degrees being able to do some work being done by MBAs.
While searching for a job in USA, you have to be pre-planned of when to go for interview, what to talk and what not to, how to behave while responding with the recruiter. International students can find various resource centers to find the work. They provide access to a number of powerful resources to assist in your quest to study abroad. Most of these services are offered for free of cost, thus take time to utilize such services.
For international students there could two major hindrances in their search for a job. Primarily, there might be restrictions imposed by US immigration regulations and secondly, there could be cultural differences affecting the student’s ability to present their qualifications. An international student should be aware of these obstacles and get well prepared for to deal with them.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Study in Australia – A Wonderful Experience in the Student Life

Education in Australia is uniquely different and helps a student usher into a creative, innovative and independently thinking professional. Australia is the destination for third largest numbers of English-speaking international students after US and UK. For the students of various countries, Australia is the most preferred destination. There are few reasons that make Australia such a hot destination for higher studies. Six of them are mentioned below:

Excellent Education and Training:
All the universities and institutes in Australia vouch for the excellence in their education and training patterns. The syllabi are inclined to focus on practical and career-developing elements. This inculcates in the students confidence to work for any industry with zeal and panache. To impart excellence to the students in all the spheres, bonafide academic staff has been recruited from across the globe.

Quality Education: Australian education system is constituted in such a manner that quality has to be its inherent part. For international students, it is firmly committed to provide quality education and training. The most significant feature of Australian education policy for the international students is that it has enacted legislation to guarantee the regulation for providing education services. The Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) and the Australian Quality Training Framework 2007 (AQTF 2007) have been set up by the Government to enhance the quality assurance processes in Australia.

A Safe and Multicultural Atmosphere: To cater to the natures and diversity in the international students, a multicultural, safe and friendly atmosphere is permanently created in Australia. Moreover, people from more than 200 countries have migrated and settled in Australia and they have made it one of the most multicultural societies of the world. It's a relatively safe country- crime rate is low and political unrests limited.

Low Expenses and High Value for Money: Studying in Australia is going to be fetching you high value for your money. The living expenses and tuition fees in Australia are significantly less than United Kingdom and and United States and this is guaranteed with high standard of living too.

Recognized Qualifications:
The employers as well as leading educational institutes of the world recognize Australian qualifications. National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition (NOOSR) is an Australian Government organization that assists Australian institutions to recognize qualifications from overseas. It also strives to promote the recognition of Australian qualifications internationally.

Support and Care: International students are given every kind of support in the Australian continent by means of law as well as human relations. Specialized services to address every concern of the international students are well resourced and assured of quality.

Some specialized services are: language tuition, designated international student advisers, application and visa-processing assistance, on-arrival reception and orientation programs and health, counseling, accommodation and employment services.
UK is the second largest study destination after USA and is rapidly growing to become the top destination to study abroad. UK higher education is known around the world as high quality and world class. The cost of education for an international student in the UK is much lower compared to other countries. So study in UK becomes the destination of great diversity with London being the hub for many internationals.
The UK offer students with over 80 universities to choose various undergraduate and post graduate programs for students from the UK and around the world. All universities have made strenuous efforts to promote bursaries to all eligible students. These universities and colleges have long been a magnet for overseas students. Education and training in UK can be very cost-effective for students from overseas. These universities have a wide range of facilities on campus and become the safest place for study in UK.
The British Council puts the total number of overseas students currently studying in UK – at all academic levels – at nearly one million, with two-fifths of post-graduate students hailing from other countries. These universities and colleges are continuously evaluated by professional bodies to ensure world class teaching and research standards. Many international students choose to study in Wales when they study in the UK.

Types of Degrees and Diplomas Awarded by UK Universities:

Degrees:
The highest and most sought-after undergraduate qualification. Degree courses usually last for three years (except in Scotland where the duration is four years) but those in professional subject like medicine and law usually take five years.

Foundation Degrees: These two-year-long career-related courses are equivalent to the first stages of a degree in areas like media and communications, art and design and hospitality management. True to their name, they lay a foundation for you to pursue a particular career and also provide a basis to move to a degree course.

Higher National Certificate (HNC)/Diploma (HND): These career-related courses – in areas like sports, media, engineering, art and design – lasting for one or two years are equivalent to the first stages of a degree. These enable you to start a career at junior-management level.

Diplomas in Higher Education: The Higher Education Diplomas are two-year courses related to social sciences like theology and education.

Postgraduate Courses:
You need an undergraduate degree to pursue these courses which include postgraduate certificate or diploma, master’s degree and doctorate (PhD).

Admission Procedure:
In British universities, the academic year starts from September while the admission procedure commences a year before that. To enroll in an undergraduate course, you do not have to apply individually to each college or university of your choice. Instead, you have to route your application through the Universities & Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) which is the country’s main admissions body.
To submit your application, you have to apply online at the UCAS website (paper forms do not exist any more). The application does not have to be filled at one go. The form you fill is stored at the UCAS website. You can periodically log in and modify it as many times as you want until you finally decide to submit it to the UCAS.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Your Search for Pleasing Scholarship Programs to Apply

The cost of overseas education has increased dramatically over the last few years. With budget cuts to higher education and increased tuition, the burden of cost has increased for the average college student. While loans are an option, they have the drawback of needing to be repaid eventually. Another option for funding is scholarships, many of which are overlooked.
Most of the students studying abroad are worried about finding a right scholarship program to cover their education fee, consequently to reduce their financial burden. But many students are in an illusion that searching for a pleasing scholarship program is a timely process and is difficult to find. For the reason, many students are not applying for scholarship that could help in payment of university/college tuition fee.
This was true at one point of time when you had to search through volumes of books containing information on scholarships and cross reference them with various criteria. However, with the advent of personal computer and the internet and all of its functionality, the search for finding a right scholarship program is made as simple as filling out some information online.

Free Online Search for Finding Scholarship Programs:

Your search for finding free scholarship searches is made easy with the availability online. The only thing that students have to do is join one or several free scholarship programs by filling out an application online with all the relevant data concerning who you are, what you participate in and what your interests are. By signing up for any free scholarship search you are literally giving all of the necessary information in order to have appropriate scholarships found for you, free.
Honestly, if you pay for a scholarship search, you are being ripped-off since this is a service provided free of charge by various online scholarship search services. The database of scholarships is no different for a paid service than it is for a free service.

Advantages:

The benefit of participating in a free scholarship service is that all of the work is done for you. Your information is fed into a database and scholarships are chosen for you based on the information you provide. Potential scholarships are then sent to your email address and you simply have to apply for those you want to apply for. Here, you can potentially generate thousands of free money for college in the form of scholarships. In the long run free scholarship money could save you thousands in your loan costs.

An Essential Factor For Studying Abroad – Standardized Tests (GRE, TOEFL, IELTS, GMAT, SAT, OET)

If you are planning to study abroad, you will likely have to undergo the obligatory standardized test, which can be either or the combination of GRE, TOEFL, IELTS, GMAT, SAT, OET.

Standardized Test:
Standardized test is an essential tool required to evaluate the student’s proficiency in English, which is crucial to study abroad. It is the test administered and scored in a consistent manner. The tests are designed in such a way that the "questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent" and are "administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner. These tests are the utmost way to ensure you get the results you want from the standardized tests you take. It really helps to be as prepared as you possibly can be.
Usually in India, the Standardized tests that are often taken by the students to study abroad are:

GRE:
Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is a commercially-run standardized test, which is required for obtaining admission to study higher education in the USA and in other English speaking countries. GRE was formed and administered by ETS (Educational Testing Service) in 1949. The test primarily focuses on testing abstract thinking skills in the areas of math, vocabulary, and analytical writing.
In the graduate school admissions process, the level of emphasis that is placed upon GRE scores varies widely between schools and even departments within schools. The importance of a GRE score can range from being an important selection factor to being a mere admission formality.

TOEFL:
Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is a common standardized test, which is highly taken by many students in India. The test evaluates the potential success of the test-taker to utilize and analyze Standard American English at a college level. It is required for non-native applicants at many English-speaking colleges and universities. TOEFL is also required in various institutions such as government agencies, businesses, or scholarship programs. The test scores are valid up to two years from the test date and then is deleted from the official database.
TOEFL test is a registered trademark of ETS (Educational Testing Service) and is administered worldwide. The test was first administered in 1964 and has since been taken by nearly 20 million students.

IELTS:
International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is an international standardized test that evaluates the proficiency of the test-taker in English language. IELTS is established in the year 1989 and is jointly managed by British Council and IDP Education Australia. IELTS is accepted by several education providers of the world and recently even many US universities are accepting IELTS in their admission process. The test results of IELTS or Test Report Form (TRF) is valid for two years.
In 2007, IELTS tested over a million candidates in a single 12-month period for the first time ever, making it the world's most popular English language test for higher education and immigration.

GMAT:
The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is a computer adaptive standardized test conducted to evaluate the test-taker’s aptitude to succeed academically in graduate business studies. A high score in the GMAT exam is essential to get admission in top business schools. The test consists of three modules: GMAT Verbal, GMAT Math and Analytical Writing.
Business schools commonly use the test as one of many selection criteria for admission into an MBA program. It is given at various locations around the world. As of 2007, the fee to take the test is U.S. $250 worldwide.

SAT:
SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. It is formerly known as ‘Scholastic Aptitude Test’ and ‘Scholastic Assessment Test’. The test was introduced in 1901 which is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, and was once developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), which is now administering the test. The test is classified into 3 sections viz, Math, Critical Reading, and Writing with 800 points in each, along with other subsections scored separately.

OET:
Occupational English Test (OET) is an English language proficiency test for overseas trained health professionals who want to work or study in Australia. The test is administered by The OET Centre. The test consists of four sub-tests: Listening, reading, writing, and speaking. OET is recognised by the Regulatory Authorities of 12 Australian health professions. Currently, one should obtain at least B for all four sub-tests to be eligible to work as a doctor in Australia.

Many students from different parts of the world wants transmit to UK to pursue their higher education in one of the good university. To apply for the admission in the UK universities, international students have to go through the centralized admissions body of UK called UCAS (Universities and Colleges Applications Service). This body acts as an impartial bridge between the prospective students and higher education institutions.

Presently, the UCAS scheme covers more than 400 government recognized universities and educational institutions, which offers more than 50,000 different undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

For postgraduate courses, part-time courses and distance education, you have to apply directly to the institutions. But for the students applying for UK undergraduate course has to submit their application online at the official website of UCAS. Students have to submit only one application form for up to six different courses or colleges. You can also track the status of your application from beginning to end. It requires the student’s information such as,

Selection of course/university

Educational background

Employment history (if any)

Personal details

Faculty’s reference and

A student’s personal statement

When to Apply:

While applying for the admission in the UK university, students have to give enough time for processing their application. They have to hopefully come out of it with a place at the UK university of your choice. Nevertheless, students have to be aware of different application routes, depending on the course and university that you’re applying. Usually in UK, the academic period starts in the months of September-October, thus you have to pre-plan for the intake and make out sufficient time for the application. The closing date of applying for the admission in UK will vary according to the chosen course and university. Whereas, students applying for Research courses can commence their study program at any point in the year with the agreement of a supervisor, and so therefore can apply at any stage, making life much simpler, with no particular deadlines to meet.

Entry Requirements:

The entry requirements for admission in UK university are also based on the choice of course and university. Every program of every education provider has its own requirements set by the concerned university/institution. Know about all the provisions and the requirements of the university before submitting your application. The entry requirements are described in terms of UK exams as grades or a Tariff point score.