As a graduating senior in her last semester, Lucie Bernatkova should be excited about what the future holds for her. Yet these past few months have been more frustrating than enjoyable.
“I’ve spent the last four years being a good and diligent student,” said Bernatkova, an Honors student who speaks five languages and studied abroad for a year in the London School of Economics.
“I have a lot to offer, but don’t have the venues to do so because so many reputable corporations and organizations are not looking to hire international students,” she said. “Sometimes it feels like all my hard work doesn’t even count.”
For international students, the search for a job in the United States is filled with financial and legal obstacles, at times making the job hunt even more challenging than the experience of their American counterparts.
The State Department has a three-month time limit for international students to find employment to keep their visa status. The State Department gives out 65,000 visas per year, according to their website.
International students make up about seven percent of the student population at AU, according to Fanta Aw, assistant vice president of Campus Life and director of International Student and Scholar Services.
Over 40 percent of international students at AU have said they want to work in the United States after graduating college, according to a survey done by the ISSS office.
Semhar Okbazion, the immigration specialist at the ISSS office, says she has not seen a notable increase in immigration issues in recent years. However, she said employers must provide a significant amount of money to apply for a work visa.
“Considering the filing fees and additional expenses, including hiring an immigration attorney, the cost to apply for a work visa alone ranges from $3,000 to $4,000,” she said. “And this is only for the application itself — there’s no guarantee that it will be approved by the immigration office.”
After graduation, international students are able to pursue a federal program called Optional Practical Training, which allows them to work in the United States for a year. After OPT, employers must be willing to sponsor an application for an H-1B work visa, which is not a simple or cheap process.
“If a domestic and international student had the exact same resumes and applied for the same job, the American would get the job,” said Jake Chan, a senior in SIS from Hong Kong. “It’s just cheaper to hire the American.”
Karina Sigar, a graduate student at the Washington College of Law, said she believes American companies also prefer to hire their own citizens, especially “with all the controversy about outsourcing jobs to foreign countries and employees.”
Deepika Chandiramani, a senior in the Kogod School of Business from Brazil who holds Indian citizenship, has also encountered difficulties in her own job search.
“A lot of big firms and companies directly stipulate in their policies that they will not sponsor work visas,” Chandiramani said.
Some international students choose to explore other paths.
Over 26 percent of graduating international students would like to pursue advanced degrees, according to a survey done by the ISSS in April 2009.
Over 24 percent of international students at AU said they plan to go back to their home countries after graduation, according to the survey.
ISSS currently offers sessions that educate international students about finding jobs back home and the cultural transitions they may face after being abroad for college.
Some international students they may have certain advantages over domestic students, such as language skills and overseas experience.
“For those of us in the D.C. area, having an international background is a huge advantage,” Sigar said. “We’ve lived and studied abroad, we have at least one other language that we’re fluent in, and we contribute to the diversity of the employer.”
The ISSS office regularly brings in immigration lawyers to hold employment information sessions. It also invites international students currently working in the D.C. area to host networking sessions.
Bernatkova said AU should do a better job of helping international students find employment opportunities, especially in the AU Job and Internship Fair, held every semester by the AU Career Center.
“If you look at the list of the participants of the last few years of the fair, there are maybe two to three that are looking to hire international students,” she said. “The vast majority of visiting organizations are federal, and we can’t apply to them.”
Bernatkova added that some academic advisors in AU lack the necessary information to work with international students when it comes to employment.
“It’s ironic that AU and SIS are always advertising about how international they are, but from my experiences, most advisors in the SIS advising office don’t even understand the processes and requirements unique to international students,” she said.
Finding a job is tough with the current economy, regardless of one’s status as an international student, Okbazion said.
“Students who are very active and aggressive about getting work experience here tend to achieve their goals,” Okbazion said. “For both American and international students, the key is to work hard and make yourself indispensable.”
