It is lack of jobs that leads international students to leave Denmark – not lack of willingness to stay, says Nikita Gavrilovs. However, he believes there has been a culture change in companies.
When Nikita Gavrolovs attended the last semester of Multimedia Design at KEA, he chose to start his own company as a video producer. The company worked as a student job alongside his studies on what was then called E-design, and he also got a job at KEA as a student assistant.
"It was a good start. I come from a small town, so for me Copenhagen is a great city with many options. Through my studies I made many friends and a large network – I became known as 'the video guy'. Actually, I still am, but now I also do advertising, graphic work and much more," says Nikita Gavrilovs, who celebrates his 11th anniversary in Denmark and is now married and has two children.
Nikita Gavrilovs helped start the now defunct KEA TV:
"It was a big project for me and an incredibly fun project because we were a hub of creative people at KEA who did journalism, TV and video projects – in a basement at KEA. When KEA TV ended, we moved out of the basement and into some real office space. At first, we did a lot of work for free, but eventually we attracted more and more paying customers. It was very organic."
Last year, Nikita Gavrilovs gave a few presentations on Digital Concept Development. The students were happy and it was fun to be back – now as a teacher.
So, when a part-time position as a video teacher was advertised on Design & Business at KEA, Nikita Gavrilovs seized the opportunity.
"It's still new, but it's great to teach."
Politically, international students have been under intense fire and have given cause for great debate. On the one hand some people believe that foreign students just want free education, which they can bring back to their home countries, but on the other hand others such as Danish businesses believe that foreign students are crucial to Denmark's ability to grow and obtain international success.
"It is my clear experience that when foreign students go home or to other countries such as the UK, it is not because they do not want to stay in Denmark, it is because they have not been able to find jobs. Denmark is very attractive because there are more opportunities and often also better work-life balance. It is about companies giving international graduates a chance – for example, graphic designers can do at least as good a job, even if their Danish is not perfect," says Nikita Gavrilovs.
However, his impression is that things have improved a lot now. That a change of culture has taken place:
"There are many international companies in Denmark and many Danish companies with an international outlook that hire international employees," says Nikita Gavrilovs.
"Many companies are global or have English as their business language - for example, I get assignments written in English now. I see a more internal perspective and thus greater openness and a greater need for a staff consisting of several different nationalities.
