Work In Scotland After You Study

With a world-renowned reputation for excellence in education Scotland is proving to be a popular destination for overseas students and there’s plenty of reasons to stay on and work in Scotland after you complete your studies.

Scotland welcomes bright, talented, hardworking people who can make a positive contribution to the Scottish economy. Scotland has some of the best universities and colleges in the world and in turn working here allows international graduates to stay on to apply their new skills and boost their future career prospects through the Fresh Talent Working in Scotland Scheme (FTWISS).

We believe that adding to Scotland’s diversity brings benefits – new ideas, new blood and new ways of thinking. Scotland has a history of welcoming those from other cultures and Fresh Talent demonstrates that Scotland continues to be a welcoming nation.

Fresh Talent aims to attract skilled people to live, work and learn alongside five million native-born Scots. So far over 8,000 international graduates have gone on to work and live in Scotland after their studies under Fresh Talent.

There are currently over 33,000 international students studying in Scotland. With 15 universities, six specialist higher education institutions and 43 further education colleges across the country, there are plenty of places and courses to choose from, whether you want to learn in a big city or on a remote Scottish island.

Living in Scotland

As a country Scotland also has so much to offer and manages to cram an incredible amount into such a small area. Scotland’s towns and cities are modern, thriving and dynamic centres of activity. Glasgow, Stirling, Dundee, Inverness and Aberdeen are all hotspots of culture and entertainment and Edinburgh’s international arts festivals are some the biggest in the world.

In Scotland business is booming: more than 800 electronics companies are based here, including multi-nationals Hewlett-Packard and IBM. Our life science industry is the fastest growing in Europe. Aberdeen is Europe’s oil capital and a global hub of the international exploration and production industry. Two of Europe’s top ten banks have their headquarters here too, including the Royal Bank of Scotland, the fifth largest bank in the world.

The country has some of the largest areas of unspoilt wilderness in Europe within easy access to cities and its landscape is rich in historic battlefields, cathedrals, castles and stately homes.

Here’s what some participants in the Fresh Talent Scheme have to say:

Long Wang and Yanlu Guan from Wenzhou, China: Long Wang and his girlfriend Yanlu Guan, both graduates in B.Eng, came to Scotland together in December 2003 to take their Masters degrees at Dundee University. They graduated together as MSc. Eng by research in 2005 and are now working as Civil/Structural Engineers in Glasgow under the Fresh Talent Scheme for W. A. Fairhurst & Partners, the largest private partnership of consulting engineers in the UK.

Long Wang’s FT visa finishes in November but his employer has applied for a 60 month work permit. Yanlu is still enjoying her job as a Graduate Engineer and hopes to move onto a HSMP work permit (Highly Skilled Migrant Programme). “There are good career opportunities in Scotland and we enjoy living here very much among people with differing cultures and countries in peace and understanding,” said Long Wang.

Luqman Kondeth from Kerala, India: Luqman Kondeth came to Scotland in September 2003 to take a course at Napier University in Edinburgh. "I arrived in Scotland as a student in September 2003 without a good idea of the country," said Luqman "I joined Napier University for Msc Advanced Networking. I believe the course was the best in its category in the whole of the UK and it trained me perfectly for my current job." Luqman graduated with distinction and was awarded the University Class medal for outstanding performance in June 2005.

After achieving his degree in Scotland, Luqman was delighted to be able to join a Scottish company in a job that allowed him to use his skills and experience to the best advantage. "It is a win win situation. I definitely feel, this scheme has made it easier for highly skilled persons to enter Scotland, obtain a work permit and contribute to the Scottish economy, culture and nation," he said.

Luqman was offered a permanent post in September 2005 as a Network Engineer in Dundee. "The cost of living in Dundee is much cheaper compared to Edinburgh. It is a small place, has a rural touch to it, which is the sort of places I like and it's easy to get out of the city and be in the middle of green. "When it comes to the right mix of people, place and life, Scotland is the best so far, after my native village in India, of course.”

Twenty-first century Scotland is a great place to live, learn and work. Scotland is justifiably proud of its history, but at the same time is conscious of not living in the past. Not only does Fresh Talent help inject new blood into the country’s population and economy but it helps to confirm Scotland’s colleges and universities as some of the best in the world. To find out more about Fresh Talent and why there’s never been a better time to learn, work and live in Scotland visit www.scotlandistheplace.com