• Employability and entrepreneurship skills of Chinese students boosted by new online interactive tools – designed by University of Warwick
• Free, open-access resources enable Chinese students to develop skills, knowledge and experience to enhance their career
• Prepare2GetAhead gives students a step-by-step guide for developing and creating a career plan
• Innovate2GetAhead provides an introduction to innovation skills, both for use in the workplace and becoming an entrepreneur
• Over 60% of Chinese students come to the UK with only basic career ideas
• Warwick is a UK leader in supporting the employability of Chinese students

The employability and entrepreneurship skills of UK-educated Chinese students has been boosted, thanks to new online interactive tools – the only resources of their type in the UK - designed by the University of Warwick.

Two free, open-access resources - Prepare2GetAhead and Innovate2GetAhead – give students a practical guide to planning their future careers, plus information on gaining the necessary skills and experience to stand out in a competitive market.

Prepare2GetAhead is for students who want to develop their employability and create a career plan – it offers step-by-step instructions, interactive learning activities and advice from graduates.

Innovate2GetAhead contains similar features and is designed for students planning to join a business or start their own – helping them to develop an innovative mind-set and entrepreneurial skills.

Both resources were developed by Warwick’s Student Careers & Skills office, but are freely available to students anywhere across the world.

With information written in both English and Mandarin, the resources are simple to use, and the professional language employed can help Chinese students to understand more about the language and mind-set of potential employers.

According to Warwick research, over sixty percent of Chinese students at UK universities have only basic ideas about future careers, so these tools are a first step in revolutionising the way in which students prepare themselves for future employment while studying.

“Enhancing the employability of UK-educated Chinese students is a core area of focus for us and we have embraced the use of new approaches to provide innovative interactive resources to help support the careers outcomes for Chinese students,” said Professor Lawrence Young, Vice President, University of Warwick.

Warwick is a leader in the UK for enhancing the employability of Chinese students.

Earlier this year, the University hosted a careers fair for Chinese students from universities across the UK, allowing over 1,500 students to discover job opportunities in China and network with 25 major employers who have roles in the country.

Prepare2GetAhead and Innovate2GetAhead were designed with the cooperation of Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Peking University – and the Chinese Ministry of Education has already expressed interest in being involved in their future development.

The creation of these online resources – as well as Warwick’s overall mission to make its Chinese students more employable – is made possible thanks to the UK FCO Prosperity Fund.

The Chinese Government has a clear commitment to Mass Innovation and Entrepreneurship, so developing students’ innovation and entrepreneurship skills is vital.

There are numerous links between the University of Warwick and China.

In August 2016, a ‘Collaborative PhD Mobility Agreement’ was signed between Warwick and the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), allowing specially-selected students from SUSTech to enrol on Doctoral Programmes at Warwick, eventually receiving a doctoral degree from Warwick.

This was the first agreement of its type made between SUSTech and a European university.

Warwick also signed a research and training collaboration with Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC) – focussing on the development and delivery of new anti-cancer drugs, digital pathology, precision medicine and the training of specialist oncology nurses.

21 April 2017

Further information, contact:

Luke Walton, International Press Officer

+44 (0) 7824 540 863

+44 (0) 2476 150 868

L dot Walton dot 1 at warwick dot ac dot uk