Turning your qualifications into a scholarship, a licence or a job
A practical walkthrough of the steps that usually decide whether study and work already completed abroad counts where you live now — written for the people we advise every day.
Rebuilding a career after displacement is rarely about learning something new. It is almost always about proving something old: that the degree was completed, that the licence was valid, that the years of work were real. Every system you encounter — a university admissions office, a professional regulator, an employer's human resources team — asks for that proof in a different form. The five steps below are the ones that come up in almost every case we handle, in roughly this order.
Gather your documents first
Before applying for anything, collect what you can: diplomas, transcripts, mark sheets, professional licences, certificates and proof of work. Photograph or scan each one at full page and keep a list of the originals you still hold. Where a document is missing, a written statement describing the study or job — with dates, institution names and subjects — is often accepted as a starting point. Knowing exactly what is missing early saves months later.
Get your qualifications evaluated
Universities, licensing bodies and employers in a new country rarely read a foreign transcript directly; they rely on a credential evaluation that compares your study to the local system and states its equivalence. Ask the admissions office or regulator you are applying to which evaluation they accept before paying for one, and request sealed copies of your transcripts sent straight from your previous institution where that is required.
Find scholarships that accept international credentials
Search for scholarships aimed at refugees, displaced students and newcomers specifically, not only general international funding. Read the eligibility rules for two details that rule people out most often: whether the award requires a completed credential evaluation, and whether it covers fees only or also living costs, books and travel. Deadlines are usually six to twelve months before a course begins, so work backwards from the intake you are targeting.
Plan for licensing and bridging programmes
Regulated professions — medicine, nursing, teaching, engineering, accounting, law — usually require a licence exam, a language test and sometimes supervised practice. Many regulators run bridging or adaptation programmes for people with foreign training. Ask the regulator directly for the full pathway in writing, then map the cost and timeline of each step, because the language test and exam sequence often decides how quickly you can work in your field again.
Apply for work without a local network
A résumé that shows what you achieved, in the local format and in plain language, travels further than a job title from another country. Translate your experience into results — systems maintained, teams supervised, volumes handled. Apply to employers who hire on demonstrated skill, ask a mentor to refer you where possible, and treat internships, placements and short contracts as the fastest route to a first local reference.
Where to start
If you are not sure which of these steps applies to you, start with the documents you already have and a description of the work you want to do. That is enough for an advisor to tell you which pathway — education, licensing or employment — is closest for you, and where the realistic next deadline sits.
Bring this to a first call
- Photographs or scans of every diploma and transcript you hold
- A short list of the jobs or studies you left behind
- The field you want to work in here
- Any deadline you already know about
