America has been regarded as the land of opportunities. Many students from other nations apply for scholarships in U.S. colleges and universities. Scholarship applications are usually for undergraduate or post graduate courses. This means that most people believe that the education offered in the institutions of learning in America is of the highest possible standard. Most of the international students who seek to attend the U.S. colleges do so with the ultimate believe that they will have a higher probability of acquiring quality jobs within the U.S. borders. However, in spite of the fact that the current U.S. Immigration laws allow international students to gainfully work while pursuing their educational interests during and even after completing their studies, finding work as an international student is at all times a daunting task. In as much as the international students taking up studies in the United States institutions of learning are accorded opportunities to work, those opportunities are highly regulated and they eventually manage to find work after undergoing considerable difficulties as compared to U.S. citizens.
The fact that international students are neither American citizens nor permanent residents and the fact that regulations that usually complement the immigration laws vary from time to time make it very hard for an international student to even carry out a job search. This is because many employers are usually reluctant to hire foreign nationals even if they are qualified for a job. Accordingly, international students are not allowed to work in either federal or state government agencies or even private employers who obtain government related contracts. Most student visas allow students who are studying practical courses in the U.S. to work for only up to twelve months in employment whose scope is related to their fields of study (InternationalStudent.com 2013). This kind of restriction is usually borne by the F-1 visa which is commonly held by international students.
Accordingly, international students who are willing to remain in the U.S. after completing their training are required to apply for another visa to enable them extend their stay. For instance, the students may apply for the temporary visa H-1B which allows them to extend their stay. Nevertheless, the application of the H-1B visa has its regulations as such application must be supported by an employer. Accordingly, very few employers are willing to go through so much paperwork just to have a ‘foreigner’ remain within the American borders. In addition, most employers are unwilling to employ a person who they know would be leaving the employment after twelve to eighteen months unless they are willing to vouch for such employees to enable them acquire the H-1B visa.
It is also important to note that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) allow the international students the opportunity to be employed within their institutions of learning. It should be borne in mind that the USCIS seem to allow international students to be employed within their learning institutions because job opportunities in learning institutions are limited. Further, it is noteworthy that most of the job opportunities within learning institutions may not be of much benefit to international students since they are highly unlikely that the jobs are related to their specific studies.
Consequently, most learning institutions require international students to obtain permission before they can take up such jobs. Such permission is usually sought from International Student Offices. It is usually unlikely for such permission to be given to the international students who are in their very first semester of their first year in college (Brain Track 2013).
The other option for an international F-1 visa student is what is regarded to as the Curricular Practical Training (CPT). The CPT denotes employment outside the precincts of campus (Brain Track Universities Colleges and Careers 2013). Nonetheless, the opportunity to work away from colleges pose difficulties as the eligibility of a student is based on various factors, for instance a student must have enrolled in the institution for at least one year on a full time basis while holding a valid F-1 visa and must have been experiencing financial difficulties. Further, the international students who demonstrate that they are undergoing severe economic hardships must meet particular criteria. Some of the criteria to be met in order to qualify for the Curricular Practical Training include the fact that a student must be of good academic standing, that campus is not sufficient or that there are no available jobs within campus and that one has made efforts to obtain on-campus employment without success.
On the other hand, economic hardships in the context of international student employment arise where there is loss of financial aid, inordinate rise in the cost of living or tuition fee, unprecedented abrupt change in the source of financial support for the student and unexpected and substantial currency and exchange rate fluctuations. These conditions are very difficult to prove and only make the process of job search miserable to the international students. However, the good thing regarding the Curricular Practical Training and the Optional Practical Training opportunities is that employment through the two programs is not based on the academic qualifications and that regardless of the duration of work, the two programs do not distinguish the twelve-month work opportunity afforded by the F-1 visa (Social Security Administration 2013).
There are also the challenges relating to cultural and social differences while conducting a job search and even during interviews. For instance, every job seeker is usually required to write a resume and a cover letter, some international students fail to present resumes that are in consonance with the U.S. style hence end up losing job opportunities for their perceived incompetence.
Language is also an issue that negatively affects the international students’ prospects of obtaining employment. This is precisely because most international students may not be able to articulate issues clearly in English and may also have listening difficulties where a student is not able to understand rapidly what an American employer is saying. In such instances, most employers use the spoken English to assess the written English and vice versa. Before submitting the resume and the cover letter it is usually advisable to have a native English speaker review the same. In the alternative, international students who are not native English speakers are forced to learn American English in a bid to improve their English language abilities. As such, the whole process of looking for a job is in itself taxing.
The fact that international students are willing to work is enough reason to let them do so. This is because in trying to fulfill their dreams of working in the United States, they provide a labor market for private corporations and other working opportunities. By contributing their labor in the American market, international students end up benefitting the country since those who are employed remit their taxes hence contributing to the public coffers just like the Americans citizens taking into consideration that the students are benefiting from American institutions.
Work Cited
Brain Track Universities Colleges and Careers. Employment in the US After Graduation. Brain
Track 2013. 28 Nov. 2013. http://www.braintrack.com/international-studies-in-us-colleges/articles/working-in-us-after-college
InternationalStudent.com. Working in the USA. International Student Web. 28 Nov. 2013.
http://www.internationalstudent.com/study_usa/way-of-life/working-in-the-usa/
International Students Seeking Employment in the U.S. Brandeis Cross Disciplinary Boundaries
Web. 28 Nov. 2013. http://www.brandeis.edu/gsas/career/career-tip/job-search-international-students.pdf
Social Security Administration. International Students And Social Security Numbers. SSA
Publication No. 05-10181, 2011. 28 Nov. 2013. http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10181.pdf
