Hi, I’m Alex Godwin, a BSc Computer Science graduate from Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Moving to the UK for university was already a big step, but figuring out how to actually get a job here felt like a whole different challenge on top of that. I had no idea how the UK job market worked, how to write a CV properly, or even how interviews here were structured compared to back home. That’s where Surrey’s Careers and Employability team came in.
When I first arrived in 2023, I had a lot of questions. How do I apply for jobs? Can I use experience that’s not directly relevant? How do I stand out as an international student? Rather than just guessing, I decided to use the support that was right there on campus. I booked a CV review session with a careers counsellor, a 45 minute one-to-one where they went through my CV and gave me specific, structured feedback. I made the changes and straight away noticed how much sharper it looked.
From there I started showing up to events the careers team organised. Employability seminars, company events, careers fairs. At one of these I attended a talk by a Microsoft employee and honestly it inspired me. I spoke to her after and found out about placement opportunities. But when I tried reaching out to more Microsoft people on LinkedIn, getting replies was tough. That’s when I found Surrey Connects basically Surrey’s own alumni platform built to connect students with graduates who’ve been in their shoes. Through Surrey Connects I got in touch with Surrey alumni working at Microsoft, had proper conversations, and built real connections rather than just cold messages going nowhere.
When the Microsoft placement role came up on Surrey Pathfinder, Surrey’s careers portal, I applied on the first day with a referral from one of those connections. Then came the next hurdle. Interviews. I booked a mock interview session through Pathfinder, shared the job description beforehand, and did a full 45 minute practice interview followed by 15 minutes of tailored feedback. The main thing they told me was to keep my answers more concise and offer to go deeper if the interviewer wanted. That one piece of advice genuinely changed how I performed in interviews. I got the offer from Microsoft.
I did my placement year there, came back for my final year, and kept using the same support throughout my graduate job search. Cover letter sessions, LinkedIn workshops, Surrey Connects again. Earlier this year I landed a graduate role at Revolut as a Technical Product Owner, and recently I got the chance to come back and speak at a Surrey Employability session, sharing my own story with current students.
If you’re an international student reading this and feeling unsure about where to start, just start. Book that first session. The support is genuinely there and it works.
