I was giving a presentation at Baruch College in New York City last Friday.  And as I typically do in all my presentations, I made the point that international students shouldn’t invest time trying to get a job through HR department representatives – particularly if the compay has a policy against sponsoring visas.  The reason why is because recruiters aren’t typically empowered to overturn hiring policy even if they want to.  What I didn’t have time to mention in my presentation at Baruch is that lots of HR people actually do want to.  But they can’t. 

HR recruiters like to fill jobs; many of them get paid commission based on their fills and lots of them are likely to feel Continue reading

Career fairs can be useful for getting an employee’s perspective on a company that might interest you; or maybe to get insights into what new things the company will be doing. Career fairs can also be useful practice grounds for making converation, connecting with people, practicing your English, and potentially connecting with alumni from your school.  But beyond the general company information angle, career fairs have pretty limited value for international students.  Here’s why: Continue reading

Follow up always gives people fits. And in my opinion, it’s harder than actually setting up the first meeting.  The reason why it’s challenging is because follow up communication has to deliver some value.  You’ve got to say something.  I’ve received (and unfortunately sent) many meaningless post-meeting emails like the following:  “Hi Mr. Jones, Just thought I’d send you a note to follow up.  Best Regards, Dan” 

What is the recipient supposed to do with this?  After quickly deleting the message, what further motivation does your Continue reading

When I’m presenting on campus, I get this question all the time from international students (and sometimes from career counselors).   I also heard this question from international students when I was recruiting on campus for Monster.com.  It’s a good question, and I didn’t really have a strong grasp of the answer until I was a recruiter myself.  The short explanation for why companies don’t sponsor is that they don’t feel like they need to.  Sponsoring and H-1B visa requires extra effort on the company’s part to collect data, work with lawyers and the government, and manage timing.  It’s not a ton of extra effort, but if you don’t give them a good reason to do it, many won’t.  Here’s why recruiters don’t (and I didn’t) sponsor H-1B visas.

1. The company feels like it’s getting enough American applicants- If you’re a recruiter and you’re already swamped with applicants, you’re looking for ways to screen them out, not bring in more! In this economy there are lots and lots of people applying to jobs (particulary online).  And many of those people are unqualified.  A policy against sponsoring H-1Bs helps a recruiter make his pile of applications smaller.

2. There’s a chance you could lose the visa lottery-  Typically when the economy is strong, there are many more H-1B applications submitted than there are spots available.  When this happens, the government holds a random lottery and selects winners.  If a company agrees to sponsor your visa and goes through the trouble of filing your application, it’s a real dissappointment if you lose the lottery.

3. The recruiter/company doesn’t really understand the process- H-1B visa is not a houselhold term in the U.S.  Most people have no idea how the work authorization process works for non-Americans, and they just don’t want to deal with it.   These days any topic that involves the government, immigration and lawyers is enough to make a recruiter run away in fear!

4.  Fear that you won’t stay – Campus recruiters have grown suspicious of many international students because they don’t believe students will stay with their company very long.  Many international students are looking for a few years of American work experience that they can take back to their home country and settle down.  From the company’s perspective, why go through the trouble of sponsoring a visa for someone who will probably “go back home” in a year or two?

Don’t mean to discourage you with these, but they are some of the reasons why companies resist sponsoring work visas.  There are ways to overcome all of these circumstances, but that’s for another blog entry on another day.  (But one quick tip: avoid Human Resources.)

If you’re studying in the United States on an F-1 visa and you want to work here after graduation, OPT (or Optional Practical Training) is priceless.  OPT is a 12-month work allowance given to F-1 visa holders allowing them up to 12 months of U.S. work authorization for relevant employment.  If you haven’t heard of OPT before, you should sprint to your International Student Services office to get the complete details.

Here are 4 reasons why OPT is a must have for internatinal student job seekers: Continue reading

International students always ask me how they can follow up with contacts they’ve made.  I tell them that the follow up is actually more challenging than making the initial connection.  Why?  Because good follow up has to be meaningful, and there’s very little meaning in a follow up message that says “Hi, I just wanted to follow up.”  A few messages like that, and your emails are likely to find their way to your contact’s auto-delete list.  Where’s the value?

So what do you say when you follow up?  The key to good follow up is paying attention during your initial meeting.  What interests the person?  What challenges are they facing that you might be able to help with?  What things do you have in common.  Student constantly say, “but I’m just a student.  What could I possibly offer to someone who’s already established professionally?”   The truth is, quite a bit.  If your contact went to your school, you can keep him or her abreast of what’s going on on campus.  Any cool events coming up?  Any ways you can invite the person to come and speak to other students, perhaps for a club event?  Pay attention to comments made during small talk.  Has the contact just had a flooded basement, babysitter quit, kids looking at colleges, planning a vacation, computer problems or any of a million other common challenges happen?  Do you know anyone who might be able to help with those things?  Maybe your contact is looking to fill a position that you wouldn’t be a good fit for.  Do you know anyone who might be? Continue reading

Have you ever wondered why you never hear back when you apply to a job online?  This “Black Hole” effect is the enternal frustration of online job seekers, and it’s happened to all of us.  Ok, some companies have gone through the trouble of creating an auto-response ‘thank you’ when you click the submit button, but that’s not really convincing anyone that his application is being considered.  In fact, many of these auto-responders just reinforce the “don’t call us, we’ll call you” message.  We find a job posted that looks absolutely perfect for us, decide to apply, but then hear nothing of the fate of our application.  Why does this happen? Here’s are a few reasons why: Continue reading