全球經(jīng)濟危機為全世界的勞動力市場帶來了不確定性，中國以及其他國家的許多學生都在擔心自己畢業(yè)后的就業(yè)前景。的確，在當前這種大氣候下，與一年前相比，找工作更加困難。但是，畢業(yè)生的工作機會還是要比沒有學歷的人多得多，因此學習絕對是那些希望攀登職業(yè)高峰的人的最佳選擇。

然而，隨著就業(yè)市場的競爭日益激烈，學生應(yīng)該考慮掌握其他技能或資歷，從而在就業(yè)市場中脫穎而出。在申請工作的過程中，他們擁有的任何其他技能或資歷都會使其戰(zhàn)勝其他候選人，而掌握這種技能是開始職業(yè)生涯的最佳方式。在這個全球化的世界中，留學并榮獲名校學位是給公司留下深刻印象的絕佳方式。

中國學生非常渴望攻讀海外學位，而英國是中國學生情有獨鐘的目的地之一。實際上，中國派往英國留學的學生比其他任何國家都要多。

盡管攻讀海外學位為學生帶來各種個人和職業(yè)好處，但是要求也非常苛刻。學生應(yīng)該作好準備，以便學業(yè)成功，確保他們享受自己的留學生活，并為回國就業(yè)作好準備。

為了幫助那些考慮留學的人更清楚地了解前方的任務(wù)，一群來自英國King's College London的在讀中國學生、教授和畢業(yè)校友與《國際人才交流》雜志的讀者分享他們的經(jīng)驗并回答“為何留學?”“如何充分利用大學時間?”和“公司真的看重海外學位嗎?”等問題。

問:為何應(yīng)該留學?

Pengbo Song(國際管理碩士，目前就職于北京的一家金融證券公司):“大多數(shù)公司都會看重求職者的海外經(jīng)歷。 留學和跨文化交流可以開闊視野，從不同的角度觀察世界，這對解決問題大有幫助。思想開放、獨立、海外經(jīng)歷、世界名牌大學的教育，這些都是中國留學生不同于接受國內(nèi)大學教育的學生(在就業(yè)市場中)的競爭優(yōu)勢?！?/p>

Jing Jin(英語教學與應(yīng)用語言學碩士):“我在倫敦生活時，我的英語水平大大提高，這是我的一大明顯優(yōu)勢，幫助我在就業(yè)市場中脫穎而出。就個人而言，海外的學習和生活培養(yǎng)了我更加上進、樂觀而熱情的個性?！?/p>

問:如何充分利用大學時間?

Lijia Wan(文化創(chuàng)意行業(yè)碩士):“中國學生在留學時都有個通病:中國學生總是待在一起，住在一起，在一起聊天。他們往往不愿結(jié)交來自其他國家的朋友。我想這不太好，尤其是在倫敦學習的時候。倫敦真的是一個多文化的城市，您在這里可以結(jié)交許多朋友。如果中國學生試著偶爾離開自己的交際圈，試著走出去，嘗試一些其他的體驗，參與英國社會和多文化活動，我想這種經(jīng)歷會使他們在倫敦的學習和生活更有價值?！?/p>

Yin Biao-Sun(生物醫(yī)學與保健學學院高級研究員):“獨立，個人生活獨立，思想獨立，自己獨立作出決定。第二個建議是，如果您想充分享受倫敦的生活，那么需要思想開放。如果您可以做到這一點，一定能夠享受倫敦的生活!”

Pengbo Song:“我想我永遠也不會忘記我的同學。在那一年半的碩士學習過程中，我們建立了牢固而長久的友誼。這不同于那種工作關(guān)系，因為在工作中競爭更加激烈，涉及個人利益;而在學習過程中，那種友誼更加純潔，沒有那種壓力，每個人都更愿分享、互相幫助。因為您沒有工作中的固定職責，不受約束，可以自由發(fā)揮您的想象力!班上的人擁有不同的背景，既有許多經(jīng)驗豐富的人，也有年輕的學生。他們擁有許多實際操作經(jīng)驗，使您了解行業(yè)的實際情況。此外，如果您突然對一個不同的領(lǐng)域產(chǎn)生興趣，例如投資銀行，可以咨詢具有這種經(jīng)驗的同學;如果您發(fā)現(xiàn)自己喜歡營銷，可以參加課后研討會。人們基本上對任何事情都很開放?！?/p>

問:公司真的看重海外學位嗎?

Pengbo Song:“中國諺語說得好:‘讀萬卷書，行千里路’，但是現(xiàn)代可以理解為‘行千里路勝讀萬卷書’。您從行千里路中所獲得的技能可以使您占據(jù)競爭優(yōu)勢，更能獲得成功。危機只是一種短期現(xiàn)象;您的職業(yè)才是一生的追求。”

問:您會給正在考慮留學的中國學生哪些建議?

Hao Wu(生物醫(yī)學博士研究生):“精通英語。我想如果沒有良好的英語水平，(學生)理解講師在課堂上講的內(nèi)容就有困難，那么隨后的作業(yè)也就會有困難。我想語言障礙可能是新生面臨的最大障礙?！?/p>

Cheng Weihang(國際管理碩士):“您需要作好心理準備，King’s等大學的標準很高，因此準備好迎接即將承受的學業(yè)壓力。例如，盡管您可能會發(fā)現(xiàn)課堂氣氛輕松愉快，但是論文和演講都有許多截止期限，還有許多其他任務(wù)需要完成?！?/p>

問:您對回國的畢業(yè)生求職者有何建議?

Jing Jin:“在我回國后，我發(fā)現(xiàn)留學的共同經(jīng)歷使英國以及其他國家的海歸人士在中國倍感親切。我們分享海外留學和工作的相同經(jīng)歷，喜歡討論教育問題，參與社交活動。參加許多社交俱樂部(如上海市留學人員聯(lián)誼會)，通過與協(xié)會會員定期聯(lián)系，不僅豐富了我的社交生活，而且促進了我的職業(yè)發(fā)展?！?/p>

Pengbo Song:“當我開始尋找工作機會時，我為自己設(shè)定的范圍很廣:營銷、銷售、咨詢、銀行業(yè)，我尋找?guī)缀跞魏沃档靡辉嚨墓ぷ鳌Ｐ袠I(yè)具體職位通常需要深入的行業(yè)相關(guān)知識，而我沒有;但是好像我特別喜歡咨詢公司和投資銀行。我成功通過了幾輪面試以及嚴格的選拔過程，才爭取到了現(xiàn)在的工作?！?/p>

The global economic crisis has brought uncertainty to the labour markets around the world， and many students in China and other countries are worried about their job prospects after graduation. It is true that in the current climate， finding a job is more difficult than it was just a year ago. Still， graduates stand a much better chance at finding a job than people without a degree， so studying is certainly the best option for those who want to climb high on the career ladder.

However， with the competition on the job market increasing， students should think of ways to acquire additional skills or qualifications through which they can distinguish themselves from other graduates in the job market. Any additional skills or qualifications they have could be an advantage over other candidates during the job application process and acquiring such skills is the best way to start building a career. An ideal way impress employers in the globalised world is to study overseas and obtain a degree from a renowned university.

Chinese students are already among the most eager to pursue degrees overseas， and the UK is a favourite destination for Chinese students. In fact， China sends more students to the UK than to any other country.

While pursuing a degree overseas brings students a whole range of personal and professional benefits， it can also be a demanding endeavour. Students should prepare well in order to make their studies successful and to ensure they enjoy their time abroad， but also be prepared for their return home and the challenging task of job hunting.

To help those who think about studying abroad get a clearer picture of the task ahead， a group of Chinese students， professors and alumni from King's College London in the UK， share their experience with International Talent readers and answer questions such as: \"Why study abroad?\"， \"How can I make the most of my time at university?\"， and \"Does an international degree really make a difference to employers?\"

Q: Why should I study abroad?

Pengbo Song， alumnus of MA International Management and currently employed by a financial securities company in Beijing: \"Most companies will look at the international experience of a candidate Studying overseas and communicating with people from different cultures can broaden one's horizon and see the world from different perspectives， which may be an enormous help in solving a problem. An open mind， independence， international experience and an education from a world-class university are attributes of Chinese overseas students that will distinguish them from their counterparts who receive education in local universities， and those attributes are the competitive advantage for winning the game [in the job market].\"

Jing Jin， who obtained an MA in English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics: \"My proficiency in the English language has greatly improved while living in London， which is a clear advantage for my career and helps me stand out in the job market. On a personal level， studying and living abroad has certainly developed my personality into a more self-motivated， optimistic and enthusiastic individual.\"

Q: How can I make the most of my time at university?

Lijia Wan， MA Cultural and Creative Industries student:\"With Chinese students studying overseas， there is one common problem: Chinese students always stick together， they live together and they talk to each other every day. They are often not interested in making friends from other countries. I think this is not very good， especially when you study in London. London is really multi-cultural and you can make a lot of friends here. If Chinese students try to leave their circles and their communities sometimes， try to go out and have some other experience， to be involved in British society and multicultural activities， I think this experience will make their study lives in London more valuable.\"

Yin Biao-Sun， Senior Research Fellow， School of Biomedical Health Sciences:\"Be independent; independent in your personal life， independent in your thinking and in making decisions. The second advice is， if you want to fully enjoy life in London， you need to be open-minded. If you can do that， you will surely enjoy staying in London!\"

Pengbo Song: \"I think one thing I will never forget is my wonderful group of classmates. In that year and a half of my Master's degree， we established a solid friendship that will be life-long. It is very different from the kind of relationships you have at work， since there is much more competition and personal interests involved; during your studies it is much purer， you don't have this kind of pressure and everybody is more willing to share and help each other. Since you don't have fixed duties as in the job， you are unconstrained， and can let your imaginations and thoughts roam freely! There was a real mix of people from different backgrounds in my class， with many experienced people as well as young students. They had a lot of hands-on experience to share which gives you a good sense of what business is like in reality. Also， if you are suddenly interested in a different area， for example Investment Banking， you just talk to classmates who have such experience; if you find marketing appealing， you can attend one of the many seminars offered after class. People are basically open to anything.\"

Q: Does an international degree really make a difference to employers?

Pengbo Song: \"As a Chinese proverb says， 'travelling thousands of miles is like reading thousands of books'， but the modern interpretation might be 'travelling thousands of miles is more important than reading thousands of books'. The skills you gain from travelling thousands of miles could empower you in the competition and make you more competent to succeed. Crisis is a short-term phenomenon; your career is a life-long pursuit.\"

Q: What advice would you give Chinese students thinking of studying abroad?

Hao Wu， PhD Biomedical Sciences Research Student:\"Have a very good command of English. I think without having a good command of English [students] might have problems understanding what the lecturer is talking about during the class and then they will have a problem with doing the coursework afterwards. I think the language barrier is perhaps the single most important obstacle that newcomer students are faced with.\"

Cheng Weihang， MSc International Management student:\"You need to be very well prepared for coming to a university of very high standards， such as King's， so just be prepared for the academic pressure you are going to experience. For example， although you will probably find that the classroom has a relaxed and easy atmosphere， you will have a lot of deadlines for essays and presentations， and lots of other tasks to fulfil.\"

Q: Any tips for graduate job seekers returning to China?

Jing Jin: \"On my return to China， I found that the common experience of studying abroad has created a real connection between returnees from the UK and other countries in China. Sharing the same experience of studying and working abroad， we enjoy the discussion of educational issues and interact socially as well. Being involved in many social clubs (such as the Association of Overseas Returnees and Scholars in Shanghai)， has not only enriched my social life but also facilitated my career development through regular contact with association members.\"

Pengbo Song: \"When I started looking for job opportunities， I set myself quite a wide spectrum: marketing， sales， consulting， banking， I found virtually anything worth trying. Industry specific functions usually require in-depth industry related knowledge， which I don't have; but it seems that I'm especially appealing to consulting firms and investment banks. I succeeded in several rounds of interviews and a strict selection process to enter my current position.\"