Ghanaian national Owura K. Kuffuor, a political science graduate student at Eastern Illinois University, wants to work in the U.S. after graduation. To achieve that goal, Kuffuor has frequented the university’s career center, which he says advises students on everything from proper job attire to expectations in U.S. job interviews.
“I have seen a career center counselor a couple of times to get my resume updated to the U.S. standards,” says Kuffuor. “The center was very helpful.”
U.S. university career centers can be useful to international students who are looking for internships and volunteer or postgraduation job opportunities.
Prospective international students who plan to remain in the U.S. and work following their studies may want to evaluate schools’ career centers and the resources devoted to assisting international students. Here are three factors to consider.
[Be sure to evaluate career help before applying to U.S. colleges.]
1. International career services: Many university career centers, like at Eastern Illinois, serve all students with a range of support services, while others have dedicated staff to directly assess and address job-seeking international students’ needs.
Jing Han, a career counselor for international students at the University of California–Berkeley, provides one-on-one career counseling. She says the school also offers “tailored workshops and events supporting international students every semester,” such as providing an understanding of the U.S. job search landscape, including recruitment and visa regulations.
Other universities, like Ohio State University–Columbus, have discipline-specific career services for international students, which may have more industry-focused connections and resources than typical career centers.
OSU’s Engineering Career Services helped Indian national Md Fahad secure internships at an automotive company during his sophomore and junior years. “Mock interviews with ECS helped me strengthen my interview skills,” says Fahad and led to internships and then a full-time job.
“I am currently working as a manufacturing engineer at Hirschvogel Automotive in Columbus, Ohio,” says Fahad, who graduated in May with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering.
Universitywide, discipline-specific and international-student-focused career centers can all provide useful job-related information for international students. But Indian national Sushruth Venkatesh, a 2015 chemical engineering graduate of the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, says a career center with international-student-focused staff may be more beneficial.
“Several times during my job search, I found companies that had fantastic positions but were not able to hire international students to those positions,” says Venkatesh.
He believes career centers with staff devoted to international students may be more equipped to guide them toward companies that hire international students. Christine Bautista, career counselor for international students at San Jose State University, says during the school’s recent Just in Time career fair, staff “redirected students to employers who were open to hiring international talent.”
2. International career services webpages: Prospective international students can visit each school’s career services webpage to determine the types of services it offers to prep students for working in the U.S.
For example, St. John’s University in New York has a career services page for international students that lists workshops for them on topics like small talk and networking through informational interviews.
The University of Kansas‘ career center similarly has a separate webpage for international students and provides information on everything from career exploration to Western resumes and interviewing.
[Check out four ways international students can explore job opportunities in the U.S.]
“The University Career Center offers a variety of services that we tailor to the career development needs of international students, including one-on-one counseling, group workshops, and print and online resources,” says Rachel K. Davis, the center’s assistant director.
While a website can give prospective international students a comprehensive look at available career services, Venkatesh encourages students “to actually use the career center” and visit periodically, once enrolled.
3. International student services that partner with career services: At some universities, international student services and career services offices work together to ensure international students have everything they need to work in the U.S.
Angela Froistad, assistant director of the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering’s career center, says international students often use the university’s International Student and Scholar Services in conjunction with the career center when job searching. She says ISSS “specializes in visa issues as well as more of the cultural expectations associated with a U.S. job search.”
[Learn what to look for in international student services.]
At the University of Miami, Anna Kenney, Toppel Career Center’s assistant director of internships, says the center offers sessions each semester with the school’s ISSS on the curricular practical training and optional practical training processes. CPT allows international students to work in a job before graduation for training either required for a student’s degree or to receive academic credit, and OPT provides a 12-month work period for students to complete before or after graduation.
Allison Frees-Williams, interim director of career services at Eastern Illinois University, says the career center works with the Office of International Students and Scholars “to assist with the preparation of required visas to be eligible to work in the state both during school and after graduation.”
Kuffuor is currently working at the Eastern Illinois University ISS office as a summer intern. Following plans to pursue a doctorate, he hopes to work in the U.S. higher education field.
“I think the career center will equip me with the skills needed to get a job in the U.S.,” says Kuffuor.
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Research U.S. Universities’ International Student Career Services originally appeared on usnews.com
