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Swedish graduate want a job in England

I will graduate with a degree in Bachelor of Business(M.Sc)..(4 years of full time study)...from Linkoping University(situated in Sweden(ranked 2-5 nationwide).(will be 22 years old).and I have no idea what my job prospects will be in England. There is nothing on google,and no one from swedish forums have a slightes clue.

Is it realistic to expect an immediate recruitment as soon as i set my foot in England with an annual salary of GBP 24000?

How would i fare against other british students? Would an application from me and an application from a student from nottingham be deemed equally in the eye of a recruiter(assuming the grades and other non-curricular activities are equal)? And is it important to have good grades from a swedish university?

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Reply 1

EURUSD

Cmon...please help me :/ Any help would do it.

Reply 2

JennLlama

In my opinion, no, that would be unrealistic. You're not going to be head-hunted or snapped up as soon as you set foot in the country I wouldn't have thought; similarly £24k is a reasonably high starting salary so I think your expectations may be a little unrealistic (unless you're only considering London, in which case perhaps). However, there's nothing to stop you applying for jobs before you get here, and there are graduate jobs which will pay you that amount so it's certainly possible.
I'm not sure if you'd be considered on an *exactly* equal footing to a British student, mainly due to the potential lack of knowledge of the recruiter, but if you put some context on your CV (e.g. "I got x grade - roughly equivalent to a British x") then that should help them out. And I can't see why it would be any less important to have good grades from a Swedish university than it would from a British one, but - as you've mentioned - there will be other factors considered too.
Please don't consider me an expert on any of this - I'm not a recruiter or anything like that - but if you're looking for an opinion that would be my answer based on my (obviously limited!) experience.

Reply 3

EURUSD

What would be a reasonable starting salary? Im thinking about working in all the big cities,preferably london. But at the same time it might be harder to get a job there?

By the way,how low could the living expenses be in London if you are smart and stingy? And in other smaller cities?

Reply 4

Speedbird2008

I suppose it depends on what area of business you want to go into. What about consultancy or investment banking? They get paid around £30K for a starting salary and huge bonuses (there is a thread in the investment banking sub-forum detailing this), so if you want the money, that may be a place to start.

A reasonable starting salary for a graduate in London would be about £20K to £24K, but expect more from huge companies like Goldman Sachs...

Hope that helps. :smile:

Reply 5

EURUSD

speedway

ounds ok i guess...especially working as a consultant. Is it fairly easy to get employed as one, or is the competition fierce like all the investment bank jobs? (it doesn't have to be management consulting where the competition is really fierce as well).

What are the hours generally?

Reply 6

Speedbird2008

I am in no real position to comment to be honest, but hard consultancy jobs at Deloitte or KPMG are very difficult to get into.

Hours for IB are like 18 hours a day on average (I read that in some blog) and I am guessing they will be the same for a big consultancy job.

Reply 7

Omni

Hi. I'm not a graduate yet but I have to comment on this IB thing. To get into IB you have to have top grades (probably VG in every single subject if that is the topgrade at Linköping) and I don't think they think so highly of our universities to be honest, except maybe SSE (Swedish School of Economics - Handels högskolan i Stockholm, which is our Nr1 Economics university). And your extracurricular activities have to be good, if not exceptional. Normally you have to come from a top10 university in England, and the forementioned qualifications, to have a good chance to get into a trader position.

If you don't have these qualifications you can still try ofcourse.

How grades are seen upon by employers is different (of what I've seen and heard - this can be wrong), English employers seem to care more about grades than Swedish ones.

Oh and if you want a better chance to get into jobs with a starting salary ~£24k, get onto a Masters program in England (You should still have 3years of CSN support left).

Reply 8

EURUSD

Speedbird: So there are esentially no jobs in London that cater for those who also want a private life?.. I think 8-11 hours a day would be ok, or possibly 8-11 hours 7 days a week if there are jobs that allow you to set up your own schedule like that( as i want to be able to trade currencies for about 4 hours when coming home)

Andrew-Sweden: Well, i will soon take my bachelor, and i emailed Warwick, who told me that the grade G(which is our pass level) is translated to 2:1 and (VG)(which is our pass with distinction) translated to first honours..so academic wise i should be qualified...as the required grade was 2:1 for their masters.

Any ideas on what more places i should apply for? I was thinking about: oxbridge,cambridge,UCL,imperial and warwick..but maybe less ranked universities would be fine as well? Or better than having a master from a University of Linkoping?
.

Reply 9

Speedbird2008

I suppose IF you wanted to study here, and ultimately want a job here, you should get a postgrad from the UK. More people know about UK universities, as well, unlike in Sweden.

What about an MBA from Oxbridge or LSE?

And in the City you work (very) hard, and play (very) hard.....

I really would suggest you read up in the IB section of this forum, or re-post this in there.

Hope it helps. :smile:

Reply 10

Omni

SpeedBird2006 you might be giving him/her the wrong idea - an MBA is not something you can take up directly after studying a bachelor course. Most often you work in a business/management related job for 2-3 years and then you study an MBA.

Oxbridge/LSE are competative, especially when it comes to MBAs. I'm not saying that it is impossible, but for a MBA there. I'd say without workexperience and/or coming from a top university, it'd be next to impossible. And also the funding for the course would probably be a problem.

EURUSD, you should try to apply for a Masters. All the universities you mentioned are really good universities and would give you a perfect start, however, if you want to do Economics, LSE should be on that list too :smile:

And whether a UK university would be better, it depends on the ranking. If you have the credentials to get into a top30 university, that would probably be better than doing a masters at Linkoping (no disparage intended). If you are qualified for Warwick or universities with that calibre - excellent, go for it.

I'm not really that knowledgeable about postgrad applications, so I can't advice you on that matter. But you should check it out asap - because there might be deadlines on your application forms and so on. Additionally, you will probably have to prepare a Reference (a teacher/employer/something similar who writes about your achievements, personality et cetera) and a personal statement, which will take some time to prepare.

P.S. Oxbridge = A combination of OXford camBRIDGE - so it includes both those universities :smile:

(Hopefully my last post didn't scare you, IB is really tough to get into since it is popular - Mostly because of the incredible salary+bonus you can pull)

Reply 11

EURUSD

Thanks for the answers. I will graduate with a bachelor in late december 2008, which would be a perfect timing as the application deadlines would end in januari the following year. But courses usually start in october...which basically means i would have to wait 9 months?

Additionally,if I just studied one more term after my bachelor, i would also take a master from Linkoping in the summer,same year(i've already done some of the courses). So i would end up having two masters if I continue and get enrolled in a uk university in october the same year.

Or i could just skip taking a master in UK and save 1 year and 4 months(and start working at the age of 22.5 years..or would it be worth sacrificing an additional year..ending up with two masters?

Something that is very off putting though, is the intensive hours. It's unbelievable how every job would demand you to put 11-16 hours a day ...I'm sure speedball exaggerated a little bit? Or would it be naive to believe in a 40-55hour econimc related job in a big city in England, or is this only attributable to London?

The average starting salary for graduates in Sweden is 2185 GBP,but then, you would have to work less and pay less for living expenses. But I suspect the salary figures in london ramps up far more quickly..It's tricky..there are just so many factors to consider when making an important decision.

Reply 12

Omni

EURUSD, you could apply for a MPhil (I think that is the name of the qualification) in another subject that you find interesting e.g. Mathematics. Which would be a one year course in a different subject from your BSc. For instance there is a regular around here with the nick Edders who first did a Bachelor course in 'Physics with theoretical physics' and then moved onto a 'MPhil Economics'.

Tbh, I don't know if it would be worth it, there couldn't be any disadvantage with two different masters, but two in the same subject sounds kind of weird :smile:

It would be easier to comment on what hours are realistic if you could tell us what kind of jobs you are interested in. Also it would help us tell you what would be best in choice when it comes to courses.

Reply 13

EURUSD

Andrew: I guess all jobs except accountancy..Preferably a job that is stimulating and fun..which i guess would be a job where you get to meet lots of people,advice people etc(in other words: everything that doesn't remind me of school work)...anything that would make the job feel less labourous would be advantageous.

Reply 14

Speedbird2008

EURUSD, what do you actually want to do? By the sounds of things you have no idea what you want to do, apart from earn loads of money, with having a lot of fun and not doing a lot for it.

Now, any really good job in the City, you WILL be working 15 hour days, and you will be earning a lot of money. Do you actually want that? Why not choose a career, and work towards it, rather than just do a degree for the sake of it, in order for you to get into a highly paid job?

I suggest you speak to some career advisors, and get some good advice.

You are obviously a bright guy, so I'm sure you could do a lot of jobs. Just think through stuff a bit more...

And also, PM people rather than having open convos between yourselves lol.

By the souds of things, I think you would suit a career in Consultancy, but I would suggest you speak to someone in a better position than me! :wink:

Good luck! :smile:

Reply 15

EURUSD

Speedball: Well even if we accidentally had a private conversation, i would still welcome someone else to join in and contribute(as you are contributing now to the dicussion i had with andrew). As i said in my opening post,any opinions are welcome =) However, I was afraid that I sounded a bit naive in my previous post..about having a good salary,work 40 hours a week and having fun doing it....But I wrote it nonetheless to get some feedback(which i now got)..and see whether my expectations were realistic-which they don't seem to be....but if it is possible,and there is such a job out there, why not strive for it? However..i think one thing fits the bill...working as a trader..preferably a currency trader..but im afraid such a job is closely related to bank jobs and therefore equally hard to get into.(i could still try). Consultant,advicing people on econimc matters also sounds fun.

Trading is also something i have a burning interest in(especially currency trading)

Reply 16

Speedbird2008

Yer, I would say go for it, but don't be disappointed if you don't get in. :smile:

Reply 17

EURUSD

yeah traders are known for working less(40-60 hours a week),being able to earn more than any investment banker and so on..Gold man sachs top trader earned approximately 500 000 million dollar last year...though i would be satisfied with only 24k :P

Reply 18

sweet_fluffy_nuke

EURUSD

Is it realistic to expect an immediate recruitment as soon as i set my foot in England with an annual salary of GBP 24000?

EURUSD

How would i fare against other british students?

Fairly poorly.

EURUSD

Would an application from me and an application from a student from nottingham be deemed equally in the eye of a recruiter(assuming the grades and other non-curricular activities are equal)?

No.
It is unlikely that the recruiter would have heard of your university. It is even less likely that they will take your evaluation of the quality of your Swedish university at face value. In anycase, even if it was accepted as being as good as Nottingham, you face the handicap of being from a different culture. You would have to be significantly better than an equivalent English candidate.

EURUSD

And is it important to have good grades from a swedish university?

Yes.

Reply 19

Speedbird2008

Son_of_the_sun

No.
You can expect to get a low level non-graduate job within a week if your English is reasonable. Jobs like stacking shelves, bar tending, waitering, and washing dishes are typical.

Allow between 3 to 6 months to get any graduate job.
You may have to start at 16,000 pounds a year or less.

Fairly poorly.

No.
It is unlikely that the recruiter would have heard of your university. It is even less likely that they will take your evaluation of the quality of your Swedish university at face value. In anycase, even if it was accepted as being as good as Nottingham, you face the handicap of being from a different culture. You would have to be significantly better than an equivalent English candidate.

Yes.