Will studying abroad have a good future? Is it better to choose overseas employment or return to work? Recently, the tutors of the Natural Light Consulting Department, the Application Department and the Arts Department also received "help" from some students. The most frequently asked question is: "Which career should I choose to earn my cost of studying abroad?" No matter what major I study abroad, no matter which country or university I go to, it will cost a lot of money to study abroad, Can a high amount of "investment" also bring back equivalent or even super value returns?

Not only this year, but also in the past, we will receive "career help" from former students. In addition, we will regularly pay a return visit to students who have gone abroad, are about to graduate, or have graduated, to see how they plan their future career direction when they are about to graduate.

This return visit includes students applying for undergraduate and master's degrees at 14-16 levels. Most of them have master's degrees because they have worked for a long time and experienced a lot. Most of them have gone through the previous stages of working, internship/entrepreneurship, entering the company, from junior staff to senior designers, and their experience has more reference value.

We have collected various answers from students. For example, some students have listed their future career development on their own planning list before going abroad and considering school selection. They have basically determined the future employment direction, and have basically followed the general direction of the previous plan after entering the school. However, some students may have mainly considered their own interests when choosing schools, or they did not have a specific career direction at that time, so there will be more room for free choice in future career choices.

But no matter what you choose, according to our statistics in recent years. Students' future employment region choices are generally divided into two types: foreign employment and domestic employment. Among them, foreign employment can be divided into employment in the country where the students study, and employment in other countries. For example, if you graduate from Parsons, you may choose to work in the United States, or go to other countries, such as France and Italy.

According to the employment direction, it can also be divided into continuing to engage in work related to the specialty; Engaged in the field of art design that has nothing to do with the specialty; As well as the work in the field of art and design, although unrelated to this major.

Will studying abroad have a good future? Is it better to choose overseas employment or return to work?

　　 Overseas employment

The choice of continuing to work abroad may, in the opinion of most people, require careful consideration. On the one hand, even if you have studied abroad for many years, you have some internship experience during your study and are well adapted to foreign life, but to really start a full-time job, you still need to adapt to changing identities between students and company functionaries. On the other hand, if family factors are taken as one of the options for choosing a career region, many students will also be more inclined to return home.

　　 Join top brands or design companies in various fields

　　e.g.-Gucci， CHANEL，Hermes，Rolls-Royce，Ferrari，Bentley，Instagram，Apple，Nendo，Frog Design，IDEO。 Through return visits and surveys, we found that most of the students who stay abroad to work and can quickly adapt to the working environment abroad in the short term have implemented their future employment as part of long-term planning before or during school.

Some students may not have determined the specific employment direction, but they will also consider whether they want to return to China for development or stay abroad. If they decide to stay abroad, they will make full use of all the resources available around them or at the school to help them gain a foothold abroad as soon as possible.

Take fashion majors as an example. In the United States, where fashion competition is fierce, even though there are many resource platforms, there are many competitors who are "only better". It is not easy to enter top brands like Gucci, CHANEL and Dior. It requires both opportunities and 200% of your real efforts.

Almost all graduates will not be the chief designers of these brands directly. They need to start from assistant or other positions. This kind of career choice will inevitably be very tired in the early stage, and the salary will not be much, and it is very fixed.

However, on the other hand, the experience and knowledge you can learn from these brands are also top level. Even famous designers like Givenchy used to work in Dior.

Not only fashion majors, but also students of other majors can choose similar planning preparation. For example, a friend of mine, who studied at MIT, applied for an offer from Apple when he was a master. Although he later chose to set up his own personal studio, his work experience at Apple also made him know his current partners.

　　 Join an international brand, design company or famous designer team

　　e.g.-UNIQLO，H&M，Zara，IKEA，MUJI，Pentagram，ID。 Here I divide international well-known brands into two categories, one of which is Gucci and CHANEL. Now we are talking about design brands, companies and individual designer teams like UNIQLO, H&M, Zara, or IKEA, MUJI, Pentagram, ID.

The career in this direction has more choices and more opportunities, especially in the direction of designer's personal studio. In fact, foreign art schools will give students many opportunities to contact famous designers or artists, because they are likely to be your tutor, visiting professor of the school, or project leader.

Generally, students will enter the personal team of designers as junior assistants or junior designers. Most of the early work is relatively basic, but with continuous efforts, you will also emerge. In terms of salary, it will not be much in the early stage, but the development prospect is absolutely considerable. Even if you quit the team later, such work experience can also become a springboard with high competitive advantage.

Like the cooperation between Natural Light and One Show before, we met Luo of the class of 2015 at the final award ceremony. He was no longer a student, but the main visual designer of One Show.

　　 Start your own business and set up a studio

Entrepreneurship is also free in foreign countries. In particular, the career planning department of some schools will also provide financial support and academic direction guidance for entrepreneurial students. As long as you have like-minded cooperative friends, are confident of each other's abilities, and have some successful cooperation experiences in the early stage, you can choose to start your own business and set up a personal studio.

Compared with working in the company, first of all, the time will be more free, but in terms of work content, to ensure high-quality cooperation with customers, the studio needs to spend more energy to run in.

For example, the work of the big companies in front, especially fashion brands, is all around the company and brands, and the division of functions will be very detailed. For example, your team is responsible for the release of new clothes in the next season. Maybe you are responsible for the printing design part, and other links will be done by other colleagues, and professional pattern makers will be responsible for the pattern printing, The final stage shooting will also be completed by a dedicated photography team.

Personal studios, especially at the initial stage of establishment, cannot be so meticulous in the division of functions. One person needs to play multiple roles, such as being both a designer and responsible for managing finance.

Most of the individual studios work on projects, and they may face Party A from various fields. Like a student of the 2015 class from MICA Maryland College of the Arts After graduating with a master's degree in photography, he opened a studio in New York with his friends in the same field, and cooperated with various partners. Sometimes, you will need to shoot promotional photos for enterprises; Sometimes I meet the need to shoot the cover of a magazine; You may also receive projects from customers in other cities or countries. In this case, you need to determine the round-trip expenses with the other party.

If you choose an individual to set up a studio to start a business, you will definitely get more pay at the beginning than the two career directions mentioned above, but you will certainly encounter many situations in the early stage, such as not being able to get a job, but the other party will break the contract after receiving it.

　　 Stay in school as a teacher

It is also an interesting career choice to stay in the school where you study and become a teaching assistant or teacher. For example, when we browse the official website of overseas art colleges and universities, and check the directors, supervisors, and professors of various departments and majors, we can often see that they graduated from the college themselves.

Although it is difficult to become a tutor directly after graduation, teaching assistants and some functional departments, such as enrollment, interview and review, can consider applying.

As a teacher in a school, there is no need to worry about the salary. In addition, teachers in many foreign colleges and universities serve as multiple identities, both teachers and independent designers. If you personally think that your energy and ability can take both directions into consideration, you can also try this option.

In particular, some students who may consider applying for a second master's degree or continue to study generally have a transitional year during the application period. During this year, they can work as teaching assistants on campus and remain focused in the campus environment.

　　 Non professional related occupation

Non professional related occupation, such as Illustration Design Study Abroad However, after graduation, I was engaged in a major related to fashion design, which is also quite common.

Most students may choose a double degree during their study; Or, after graduation, study for a second master; Or, after finishing the undergraduate course, change to another major.

However, there are also some students who are directly employed in the student union. For example, a student of the 2016 session of Natural Light, RCA, studying visual communication, became interested in new media art and interactive devices because of cooperation with students from different majors. Therefore, after graduation, he contacted professional friends in interior design, digital direction, service design, etc., and formed an art team to build exhibition installations for some art museums or art institutions.

　　 No matter which employment direction you choose above, you can't do without detailed employment planning and preparation. As I said, you need both opportunities and 200% of your own efforts.

　　 Among the returned student groups, we found that most of the students working in big brands and companies will participate in some brand internships, experience projects, or volunteer activities in their undergraduate or even high school years. One of these students is the "practice maniac". Every time the natural light releases the internship opportunity, they will rush to participate.

　　 Also, I would like to emphasize that you should not be afraid to try to use all available resources around you. For example, most foreign colleges and universities have Career Services, that is, student employment development services.

　　 The main service target is the junior and senior students who are about to graduate. If you still have no specific career plan or do not know which job to choose, you can seek the help of Career Services.

　　 In fact, the Career Services of American colleges and universities such as Parsons and FIT will provide more free employment opportunities for students from college. For example, some companies recruit students for all grades of the school. Even if you are still a freshman, you can also try to participate.

　　 For such opportunities, it is very recommended that everyone try and participate more. Even if you and the other party do not choose each other in the end, each participation may be a foreshadowing of opportunities for a student.

　　 Secondly, I can also get access to higher platforms through various fashion weeks, fashion contests with certain influence or reputation. For example, a student I was responsible for before finally got an offer of Parsons Fashion Design. In his sophomore year, he participated in New York Fashion Week through a relatively accidental learning opportunity, although he participated as a brand designer assistant, But this experience also allowed him to enter Hollywood and participate in the dress design with Anne Hathaway.

　　 Return to work

Returning to work should be the choice of most foreign students. I usually receive consultation, and often get a question from parents: Is it possible for international students to return home now, and it may not be easy to find a job? Is the degree of international students "worthless"? I see many people say that xxx% of the students cannot find jobs when they return home.

In fact, I think the answer to this question needs to be discussed according to the situation. Just as we listed several forms of foreign employment, the income from different employment directions must be different. Let's still take a look at the domestic employment options:

　　 Large companies and brands

The major companies and brands here are mainly domestic ones, such as Goose Factory Tencent, Ma Yunbao, or some of the most well-known enterprises, such as iQiyi, Youku, Zhihu, Douban, etc., as well as some Chinese branches of international brands in the Asia Pacific region, are all optional employment fields.

No matter which major or field you choose, there will be good prospects for development in this work environment. For example, Mr. Zhang, one of the team leaders of the natural light × Hamleys window design that we are currently working on, has done window design for Hermes in China.

　　 Independent entrepreneurship and establishment of personal studio

In fact, entrepreneurship in China is similar to that in foreign countries, which is to set up a personal studio and a cooperative design team. However, in the output part, there are basically two directions. For example, the first type of project is to take over work, and the team will eventually expand, which may gradually form a scale and become an influential company.

Another is to sell their own works on e-commerce platforms as independent designers, which is mainly for students majoring in fashion design. For example, if we enter the word "independent designer" in the search place of Ma Yunbao's store, countless related stores will appear.

Many students and teachers, including Natural Light, choose to create their own independent studios to sell design products after returning home. This kind of studio has more freedom than the project oriented work receiving studio. Like an old student who has a good relationship with Natural Light, he comes to Natural Light for a walk when he has nothing to do. He is very free. He almost doesn't care when he opens an online shop. We often tease him that "he is not in a hurry to make money. Every time he goes on sale, he will take one, but he can buy one for half a year."

In contrast to the more free time and less stressful working environment, development may have a ceiling. As I usually get the most frequent calls from students who have already worked about "work complaints" and "crashes", most of them work in big brands. Everyone generally reflects that the people around them are too excellent, and they sometimes have no confidence. They feel that for the same project, others' plans are always better than their own. However, it is also these students who receive the most feedback about "I have made progress again" and "I think this job has yielded too much!".

However, in terms of income, it is quite impossible to guarantee in the early stage, and it needs a period of investment and exploration. However, after a certain scale of operation, although the income varies from month to month, it is quite considerable.

　　 Become a work collection training instructor

Finally, we talked about a career that everyone may care about - portfolio tutor. Like natural light, all portfolio instructors must be from overseas art schools. Many students may ask whether I can become a tutor of overseas art works collection as long as I have a good professional background and more successful design cases.

But in fact, there is also a threshold for entry in this field, because the tutor of the portfolio is not only required to have a successful background. The requirements for interpersonal communication and teaching are as important as the tutor's personal background. It's like the screening criteria of tutors. I've written about the previous tweets. Click here to learn: Art study institutions: how to choose a suitable work set trainer? What conditions are used as the judgment criteria?

　　 Non professional related occupation

This is almost the same as working abroad, which is that the employment field chosen by students after graduation is different from their own majors. Generally, there are two situations: one is the intersection with the major; On the other hand, it has nothing to do with the major.

For example, in the first case, we can take the colleagues in the new media department of Natural Light as an example. All the colleagues in the new media department have overseas art study background. When recruiting, Natural Light also recruits according to the ability level of primary art instructors, but compared with being an art instructor to guide students, Colleagues in the new media department may prefer to express what they have learned and felt to students in words.

First of all, you must pass the English test. Second, your major must be related to art and design. Although not necessarily a master's degree, you must reach a bachelor's degree to ensure the professionalism and accuracy of tweets.

Or like our former art major, when he was studying in the UK, he especially liked to move to museums and art galleries. In the process of walking around, he found that many people were very interested in the surroundings of museums, and he himself thought that he was a senior stationery lover. Therefore, after graduation, he began to work on cultural and creative design. His experience of visiting museums and art galleries, as well as his professional study, has given him a unique aesthetic. In cultural and creative design, he often adds some interesting cultural elements. This also allows him to accumulate many "little fans".

In the second case, it does not match the specialty at all. For example, a former instructor of Natural Light, who was an illustrator, because of his business acumen and his art major, he also had a great aesthetic appreciation. He opened an online celebrity store in his hometown, and his income was quite considerable. However, this situation is also relatively rare.

　　 We mentioned the various possibilities of choosing to work at home. On the whole, working at home is easier than working abroad, but it does not mean that working at home is easy.

　　 In terms of choice direction, there is little difference from foreign countries. There are also four types: working in large companies, brands and designer studios; Start a business and become an independent designer or set up a personal studio; Become a portfolio tutor; As well as working in a professional field that does not exactly match your major.

　　 For example, the first type mentioned today, working in the top brand abroad, is an opportunity that most people can't get. But it must also be recognized that the early return on earnings is indeed very low.

　　 Like one of my former film photography students who studied abroad, he applied for a master's degree in natural light. Since his junior year, he began to run a production team under the introduction of teachers from domestic schools. He has hardly had winter and summer vacations. At first, the remuneration was only a few hundred yuan. But in this process, he has accumulated a lot of practical shooting experience in the production team, participated in the production of more than five college movies, and his understanding of lighting and photography is even better than that of many portfolio instructors who come here to interview.

　　 Finally, he also won the conditional offer Grand Slam. As for why it is conditional offer Grand Slam? Because his language has hindered the application, here is also a reminder to everyone that language achievement is also very important for art study abroad!

The students we talked about in our return visit today are almost all the former Grand Slam students. Their career paths are different and their life paths do not coincide. But they all have the same characteristics, efforts, clear goals, and dare to try for the opportunities that appear around them.

In fact, not only these Grand Slam students, students from different majors and universities in different countries, we often make return visits. There are many students who are confused and tangled about their career choices. Teachers from various departments of Natural Light are also constantly giving their combing and suggestions on future planning.

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