Beyond Graduation: What You Need to Know About Hiring International Students
By Frida Matta
Fall 2023
50 pounds, maybe, 100 pounds (if you can afford two documented pieces of luggage) will be all the allowed weight you can bring along to start a new life, in a whole different country if you decide to study abroad. International students leave their country with the dream of quality education and just as important: building a future and a career.
Those pounds you would bring along with you are just the beginning of the journey. Then you would be tasked to adapt to a new country, (probably) a new language, a new diet, time zone, and in the majority of cases you will not be surrounded by any member of your immediate family. I forgot to mention you have to do it all while maintaining a full-time student status because that is what you're in the country for.
In the United States, international students are those foreign individuals whose main purpose is to study in a US-accredited university, generally under visa F-1, M-1, and in some cases J-1 defines the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). Each international student visa includes benefits and restrictions.
What the Student and Exchange Visitor Program doesn't mention is that student visas include challenges for free: you will have limited-to-null access to brands and products you are familiar with, and you will need to learn how to go to lessons, study, and test in a new system. Things that are part of what any International Student in the US (and probably all over the world) will have to go through.
On the positive side, as an international student, you will learn to open new doors by yourself, and you will make new friends. These friends will most likely share with you the good and the bad moments. They will create memories with you, and you will complain to them about that unfair professor or that very hard test. They will cry, and laugh but foremost they will be with you, and you will be with them. The challenges of breaking cultural barriers can be present but most international students are able to socialize with domestic students, which reflects their willingness to diversity and multicultural environments, while Americans have more difficulty socializing outside of their culture.
For domestic or international students, four years (more or less) will pass by, graduation time will approach and the next big question comes: Now what?
Each type of student will face different questions. In the case of global students this will be more challenging. What is the next step for an international student who invested their time, effort, and passion into a major(s), into a school, a team, or a country? Are you supposed to pack your belongings (that by now are probably more than 100 pounds), and leave?
There is no right or wrong answer, among the options, you can work, continue your education, or leave the country. Whatever the decision it will require time, effort, and most likely funds.
F-1 to Optional Practical Training (OPT)
In the case of Javier Suarez, an International Student from Spain and a graduate of North Central College, these answers were clear. However, Suarez's journey to success was unclear. He had decided to stay in the US, find a job, and pursue a career. "Javi" as most of his friends call him decided to participate in OPT after graduation. His F-1 student visa "turned" into an Optional Practical Training (OPT) visa, allowing him to stay in the country if he had an approved job related to his field of study. Easy to say but not so much to do.
Recently graduated students interested in participating in OPT need to work very closely with their institution in order to understand the forms and fees they will be responsible for (in 2023 the OPT application fee was $410)
US Citizenship and Immigration Services regulate the temporary employment opportunity to F-1 students. Post Completion OPT allows applicants to participate and gain directly related experience to their major area of study for 12 months per educational level. Once OPT is approved applicants should receive a full-time offer within their field not going over 90 days unemployed.
Turning your F-1 visa into an OPT is not the most challenging for many but to find a job in your field of study is. Javi shared with many of his friends including me that he spent over six months applying to different jobs. In his words, "I probably did over 300 hundred applications, and after a while, I was no longer looking for my dream job, I wanted any job." Javi found himself in a very tight situation, graduation day was very close, he was only contacted by three employers from the hundreds of applications he turned in. With no offers yet, he was getting ready to go back home.
Javi graduated top of his class as a Mechanical Engineer in the Spring of 2023 but all the "A"s would not give him a job. Statistics show that only about 23% of foreign students who obtain master's degrees in the U.S. end up staying. For those who get bachelor's degrees, that number is just 11%.
Javi finally received an offer, which allowed him to work in a position that would become one of his passions later on. His first day at his new job was close, but his employment authorization card was not. At that moment while financially struggling, and while he was unable to work he took the decision to expedite his application for a fee that was a little more than three times the original cost of the application. This was of course, costly but getting his offer rescinded was not an option.
He also explained how during this time, he received little to no support from his employer, his parents, or the school. The only option was to wait, which had a big price, from housing, transportation, and food. "Every step outside my room had a cost" says. Javi even considered the idea of returning to Spain, to save on living expenses while he waited for his EAD card.
Before meeting Javi and learning about his journey, my knowledge regarding OPT job hunting was minimal. After working in the HR field for over three years, reviewing I9 forms, and completing employment verifications as part of my daily duties; I never came across an OPT candidate. I then learned and investigated that not all companies are open to international candidates because they will require sponsorship after their OPT time frame is up.
"I probably did over 300 hundred applications, and after a while, I was no longer looking for my dream job, I wanted any job."
Sponsorships
Kimberly M. Larsson, Executive Director of the Center for Global Education at North Central College believes that educating employers could help to facilitate the student's job search journey. From her experience, she assumes that "sometimes an employer doesn't see the true skill sets of an international student and their valuable contribution." She points out how the vast majority of international students are bilingual (or even trilingual), and they also have multicultural skills. They are able to adapt to change, take risks and they have experience making decisions by their own.
In her position, she supports global students from the moment they come and even after they find a job. She calculates that in 2023, North Central College had around 165 international students from 54 different countries' a small population compared with the national numbers SEVIS reported. In the US in 2021 there were over 1 million international students pursuing degrees in higher education. F-1 and M-1 students come from every continent in the world and from more than 224 countries and territories.
Darlene Swanson, MOL, PDSO, Director of International Student Services at Olivet Nazarene University, recommends students advocate for themselves with employers in order to have them understand how committed they are to their jobs and to the position, which leads to them "getting a chance." However, in the case that students are not able to find a job and want to stay in the States, she explains how another option could be to volunteer in their major to stop the unemployment clock while continuing to look.
After OPT time is up (36 months for STEM majors and 12 months for non STEM majors) candidates can be sponsored by their employer to receive a temporary work visa.
The sponsorship process requires companies to complete a petition with USCIS on behalf of their international worker. this petition allows the candidate to participate and potentially obtain a temporary work H-1B visa. The fees the company will be in charge of covering will vary depending on the size of the company and field from $470 to
$7,000. All the candidates applying for the H-1B visa are put into a pool and randomly selected. It is basically asking candidates to let their "luck" take over their future.
Global candidates take on unnecessary burdens while trying to build a career and their future, it should be understood that international students:
Bring a diverse global perspective.
Often they are proficient in multiple languages
They receive authorization for both unpaid and paid training opportunities.
They may be hybrid or fully remote.
Are often open to relocating.
At no cost to the employer, while in OPT, their academic institution sponsors the student.
In a study performed by Michel Beine, Giovanni Peri and Morgan Raux it was found that thanks to the major efforts of "US universities' thousands of international students contribute to the high skilled labor supply in US labor markets". International students represent a benefit rather than a disadvantage. It is time they are supported rather than discouraged. While OPT offers a pathway to employment, there could be many different obstacles such as limited support and employer resistance to sponsoring visas, international students' journeys take on after academic achievements and their transition to the workforce could look different if employers decide to do so.
I must provide the disclaimer that this blog post does not intend to provide legal, career, or student advice. It intends to provide the space to a topic that many (including myself) have little to no exposure to. Constant changes to the process described and legislations tied to those can and will occur, potentially leaving this information obsolete.
Call to Action
Support global education with your donation to the International Institute of Education (IIE) Emergency Student Fund (ESF). The ESF provides vital grants to international college students in the United States facing the disruptive forces of natural disasters, war, or other crises that threaten their education. Studying abroad often comes with financial strain, where students might be forced to return home or abandon their studies due to circumstances out of their control. The IIE intervenes, offering students the opportunity to remain at their current institutions while covering essential needs, and basic living including medical expenses. Everything counts and when you complete your donation you can select the cause that you identify the most with.
Frida Matta is a senior at North Central College, double majoring in HR Management and Marketing. Frida strives to do her best regardless if it's at work, at school, or with her family. Currently working as a Human Resources Assistant while working towards her degree, she also volunteers her time to support other transfer students like her, while participating in as many cultural and academic activities as possible. She moved to the US in 2017, and since then she and her family have adapted to a new life, welcoming and supporting those who just started their journey, her goal is to build bridges between people, fostering an environment where diverse perspectives enrich her understanding of the world, always with a warm smile and a genuine interest in others.