Why a Malaysian dreams to

have his own Bubble Tea Shop?

1000 CVs are a MUST to land

yourself a job in UK!

WhyaMalaysiandreamstohavehisownBubbleTeashop

B : Since you’re from Malaysia why did you decide to open a Bubble Tea shop rather than a Malaysian café? E : The Malaysian culture and the Taiwanese culture are a bit similar in some ways. My parents took me to one of the Malaysian night markets when I was a child and there I drank my first cup of Bubble Tea, you know children don’t really like the taste of tea but the blend of tea and milk in Bubble Tea was so tasty I wanted to have my own Bubble Tea shop! I never imagined my dream came true after I’ve finished my Degree in Computer Science at University of Hertfordshire, by opening my very own Bubble Tea shop it felt like as if I traveled through time and went back to my childhood.

B : So will the Bubble Tea in your shop a bit different from the traditional Taiwanese Bubble Tea?

E : The Bubble Tea at MooBoo has a really rich blend of milk and tea, because I believe only good quality ingredients can produce good quality products. For those of you who are a big fan of tea itself, you’ll find the tea at MooBoo is slightly light and sweet which brings out each flavor of the Bubble Tea.

B : No wonder even one of our Bubble Tea team member who doesn’t drink Bubble Tea loves the Bubble Tea at MooBoo! But why is MooBoo’s first store in Camden and not in Chinatown like most other Bubble Tea shops?

E : Camden is quit a high end district in London and the residence in Camden have a high demand on high quality products, and so it’s quite a challenge for MooBoo and I want MooBoo to take up this challenge to proof that we do high quality Bubble Tea.

MooBoo

84,Parkway,NW1 7AN, London Borough of Camden

020 7428-3351

www.moo-boo.com

Facebook: MooBoo Bubble Tea

Aren’t Taiwanese students lucky? Bubble Tea shops are all around London and they can grab one easily whenever they want. We have to admit, Bubble Tea seems to have become one of Taiwan’s international icons these days even some McDonald’s in Germany started to serve Bubble Tea! The Bubble Tea shop MooBoo in Camden Market London makes such a high quality cup of Bubble Tea, even our Editor from Taipei thought that he was back in Taiwan after he took his first sip! So this issue’s Bubble Tea Magazine digs into a story of Eric – Fonder of MooBoo on his experience of being a international student in UK and how hard it was for him to find a job after he graduated also a few tips and tricks for you guys to land yourself your first job in UK! ( Hopefully… Fingers crossed!) CHEERS!

PapayaGreen Apple

Taro

B: Bubble Tea Mag E: Eric - Founder of MooBoo

1000CVsareaMUSTtolandyourselfajobinUK!

B : So Eric before you opened MooBoo you tried to find a job after you graduated at University of Hertfordshire. A lot of international students complain that it’s really hard for them to find a job in UK. E : The unemployment rate in UK now is around 8% and so the UK Government puts pressure to companies who hires international students rather than the locals. This is very understandable but most international students like myself would really want to gain some working experience or placements in UK before we go back to our home country. You might not believe me but when I graduated I sent out at least 1000 CVs but I only eventually got one feedback! At first I thought it might be because I didn’t have a local English accent, but after living in UK for ten years I realized it’s not mainly the language problem that causes the companies to back off.

It’s because most UK companies are willing to spend time and money to train their new staffs, they don’t feel very convinced for the company to spend the money to train international students as it’s most likely for them to leave the country after their visa expired. But in the end I found out there’s a little trick to it, I high suggest international students to have an English name and use that name to apply for any job vacancies. Because of the high unemployment rate each job vacancies will receive hundreds of applications and human resource department will often firstly filter out foreign names because they want to avoid the visa problem I mentioned before, so if you have an English name there’s a chance for them to think that you’ve been living in UK for a while and is more likely to be a UK citizen. As long as you pass this filter process and hopefully gain a chance to go in for an interview, it’s all up to your communication skills and performance that determines if you will get that job.

B: It’s hard to imagine even the English name is one of the key things on a CV! But is language barrier another major issue?

E: I really think it’s a matter of having the guts to speak English, if you’ve got Spanish or Italian friends you can see that even if their English level is not great they still make their best efforts to speak English and practice as much as they can. I think it might be just me or Asians in general but we intend to run away from problems or things that we know we’re not good at. British people are generally really friendly towards foreigners and they’re willing to be patient and try to understand what we say because they understand that English is our second language. So my advice is really not to be shy and don’t give up on trying to make friends or find a job in UK, if you have what it takes the door will eventually open up for you like it did for me.

British VS Asian ways of doingthingsB : So Eric what are the differences in working in Asia and UK?

E : Though I can’t speak for all Asian countries or international students, but from what I observed from living for ten years in UK, British people really respect and treasure their private and family time for example if you’re on vacation, no one in the office will call you unless it’s a really really important matter which only you know how to solve; but in Asia it’s almost a normal practice to pick up calls from the office every now and then even when you’re on vacation somewhere outside of the country! I’m not saying which side’s working ethic is better but it really takes time to be used to each culture and it’s working ethic especially when there will be times where you will have to work with people from all around the world in UK.

Another thing might be due to the different education methods in UK and Asia. In Asia parents, friends and teachers will always tell you what to do and define right from wrong; but British people thinks that there are multiple ways of solving the same problem so it is up to you to find which way you think is best. We’re often given steps and exact procedures as students in Asia to do research or discussions, but in UK they’re often given an open ended question and everyone has to find their own way to research on that.

B : Have you embedded any skills or culture you learnt in UK into MooBoo?

E : Malaysia doesn’t have a very long history and so we’re very open to other cultures. When I first opened Mooboo customers were put off by the looks of the pearls cause they think it looks like tadpoles, but after spending a few minutes and hear me explain what is really is, they were really open and willing to try this new product. I’ve also recently added cupcakes in the menu so that customers are encouraged to drink Bubble Tea and have a cupcake during Tea time.

B : Where do you usually go when you get homesick for Malaysian food?

E : For those of you who got the change to go to Malaysia you have to try our carrot cakes! It’s a salty dish that is crispy and tastes sooooo good!I do miss beef soup noodles in Malaysia but I have grown fond of the Taiwanese Braised Beef noodle and there’s this restaurant in Fulham Broadway called Formosa which makes the best Taiwanese Braised Beef noodle.