career counseling with international students...
TRANSCRIPT
Career Counseling with
International Students:
Understanding the Rules to
Improve the Odds
Michele Moylan, Ph.D.
International Student Career Consultant
Career Services Administration
International Job Search As “Game”
• “Game”: a physical or mental competition
conducted according to rules with the
participants in direct opposition to each other
• In games those who understand the rules
best have the advantage
• In complex games, the ability to strategize
and plan ahead provides an advantage
Do Our Students (Do We?) Know the Rules of
This Game?
• Many students’ sense of the rules is:
– I get to intern
– I get to work for 1+ years after graduation
– Best test scores wins the job
That Sense is Both Inadequate and
Incorrect!
• What We Will Cover Today:
– Internship Rules and Implications
– OPT Rules and Implications
– H-1B Rules and Implications
Key Rules
• Formal: work ability is inextricably tied to
academic study (major!)—unlike domestic
students
• Informal: International hiring is high risk, so
follows U.S. labor shortages
Internship Rules: CPT means “Curricular
Practical Training”
• Rule 1: Internships MUST be in the area of
the major
• Implications:
– Think MAJORS—not minors, not competencies
– Think DOUBLE-MAJORS to improve odds
– Choose (at least one of the) major(s) with an eye to
functions friendly to international hiring
– Declare Major EARLY (they can always change, but
an undeclared student cannot intern!)
Internship Rules: Continued
• Rule 2: Student can only intern if required by
curriculum (of the major or a course)
• Implications:
– Make sure your college has easily accessible
courses that require an internship or experiential
education experience for ALL
– Make sure there are plenty of seats available
– Make sure they are offered every term
OPT Rules: OPT means Optional
Practical Training
• Rule 1: OPT MUST be in the area of the
major or majors
– Implications: Same as for CPT
• Rule 2: Non-Stem OPT runs 12 mos. no
matter when it starts
– Implications: No great reason for putting off start
date (can begin 0-60 days after graduation—but
H-1B comes in April) and delayed start date can
lead to loss of job offer
A Difficult Timeline: Putting Off OPT Filing or
Start Date (No Gain)
OPT Rules Continued
• Rule 3: students can work for pay, volunteer,
or start their own businesses, students can
change positions/employers
– Implications: Students who really want to should
be able to stay in the U.S. for OPT
STEM OPT Rules and
Implications• If a student has a degree in a STEM certified major, and the
role is STEM-related, and the employer is e-verified, OPT is
eligible to be extended for an additional 24 mos. (12+24=36
mos. total)
• Implications:
• Allows employers to avoid H-1B risk so could increase
willingness to hire. Make sure students can explain their OPT
situation!
• Encourage students to consider majors with STEM designations
in functions friendly to international hiring (maybe actuarial
science instead of accounting?) Make sure you know what your
STEM-Designated majors are!
• Encourage graduate school in a STEM-designated field
H-1B Rules and Implications
• Rule 1: Only 65K available per year for general
pool (many of which go to off-shore companies)
+20K for candidates with graduate degrees form
American Universities
– Last several years over-subscribed so allotted by random
lottery
– Last years’ odds of getting an H-1B were about 20% for
undergraduates and about 50% for graduate candidates
• 60% of companies say they won’t hire international
students and 15-20% say they can’t
H-1B Rules: Implications
• Implications for limited supply:
– encourage them to go to a highly-ranked grad
program in an area of the country with robust H-
1B hiring. Reputation matters in international
hiring and geographic proximity to the costs
where more H-1B hiring happens helps
– Encourage them to go to Canada or Australia for
graduate school (contributes to their points-
based work immigration program)
H-1B Rules: Implications
• Two-path approach: – For the big companies with a policy of hiring: be the top
student in a field of U.S. labor shortage, like accounting,
software engineering, or data management (with strong
soft skills like communication, leadership, and group
work skills)
– Be a master networker and convince a small company
without a policy against hiring international to take it for a
try
H-1B Rules: Implications
• Know where your international alumni have
gone domestically, and get them involved in
supporting current students
• Know what to recommend to your students
who don’t get chosen in the lottery
– L visa
– another graduate program with FT CPT
Cap-Exempt H-1B Rules and
Implications• Universities and some research-oriented non-
profits can apply for H-1B visas in a cap-exempt
category (no limit to number, no lottery, no need to
file at a particular time of year)
• Implications:
• Know which local employers (Hospitals? Research
Centers?) can hire under this category
• Make sure your students can explain this option to
employers
H-1B Rules and Implications
• Rule: H-1B filings open on April 1 and are held
open for 5 days (and for several years have been
over-subscribed during those 5 days)
• Implication:
– Students must have their jobs by late February or early
March of their OPT year if they will make the filing period
– December graduations DON’T work well for many non-
STEM international students (not enough time to find
work before the only filing date of their non-STEM OPT)
Take-Away: Help our students learn
to “play smart!”
• Our international student offices are
responsible for making sure students
understand their visa rules. In career centers,
we need to be responsible for helping our
students to understand how they can
strategically maximize their opportunities
within the rules of the U.S. visa system.
Further Resources
• U.S. Immigration Services Codes on Disciplines Eligible to Receive the
STEM Designation:
https://www.ice.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Document/2016/stem-
list.pdf
• Explanation of New STEM OPT Rules:
https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/03/11/2016-
04828/improving-and-expanding-training-opportunities-for-f-1-
nonimmigrant-students-with-stem-degrees-and
• Understanding the H-1B Lottery System: http://redbus2us.com/what-is-
h1b-visa-lottery-process-what-has-uscis-done-that-in-past/
• Understanding the Cap=Exempt Category of H-1B: http://www.immi-
usa.com/h1b-cap-exempt-jobs-non-profit-h1b-visa/