U.S. Jobs Becoming Scarcer for Students From Abroad
By DAVID KOEPPEL
Published: January 16, 2005
USANNA HUANG appeared to have credentials that almost any company would find strongly desirable in a job candidate. Ms. Huang, a second-year M.B.A. student at the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University, has maintained a 3.9 average, has five years of experience at a management consulting firm and speaks both English and Mandarin.
But after six interviews and a prestigious internship at a Fortune 500 electronics company, she has yet to receive a job offer. As Ms. Huang is discovering, this is an especially difficult time to find employment as an international student.
"There are less companies hiring international students," said Trudy Steinfeld, executive director of career services at New York University. "It's a huge hurdle. Many come here so enthusiastic, wanting a job in the American workplace. But they're having a difficult time. It can be heartbreaking."
Along with the emotional turmoil, red tape makes life for foreign students more difficult, school officials say. The biggest problem is that for fiscal year 2004, Congress cut the number of work visas by two-thirds, to 65,000 from 195,000, heightening already intense competition. Foreign students are dependent on employers to sponsor and help them get these visas, which allow them to continue working for three years after their student visa and "optional practical training" visa expire.
That last visa allows students 12 months of internship or work experience that can be used before or after graduation.
Ms. Steinfeld and other career professionals said some companies had cut back sharply on hiring international students. Many foreign students said they were finding the job market less hospitable, especially when contrasted to the heady 1990's. Ms. Steinfeld said that while most American students can allot 2 to 6 months for a search, international students should give themselves at least 10 months.
Years of a downsizing economy have also hurt job prospects, as companies find it more difficult to justify hiring foreign-born students. Some counselors have started advising foreign students to consider returning home to work.
In the 2003-4 academic year, the foreign student population dropped 2.4 percent, to 572,509, according to the Open Doors Report from the Institute of International Education in New York.
Michaela Jacova, a Slovakian native who is a Princeton University senior majoring in political science at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, arrived a week before Sept. 11, 2001. She has been a strong student, held summer internships around the world and speaks four languages. But she was disheartened by the results of on-campus recruiting interviews in the fall and the harsher realization that many companies refused even to meet with her.
"I never thought it would be different for me, but I'm slowly realizing that to a certain extent we're at a disadvantage," Ms. Jacova said about international students. "Many companies don't want to hire us because of sponsorship issues. They consider it inconvenient, too much paperwork."
Ms. Jacova said that some of her recent interviews were uncomfortable. There was the recruiter who told her he was surprised that she had no detectable accent.
And her unfamiliarity with American private schools, she said, put her at a cultural disadvantage in a second interview. The recruiter asked her to solve a hypothetical problem regarding an American private school. Because she grew up in Slovakia, her frame of reference was government-administered education, and she said she felt she did not come up with the answer the recruiter wanted.
Cultural differences are hardly new, but career development professionals say they always create an important gap for foreign students to overcome. Both Ms. Jacova and Ms. Huang say they are less adept than their American counterparts at selling themselves aggressively.
Danielle Hopkins, assistant director of international graduate career development at the Fisher College of Business, said foreign students must work harder to achieve the same goals as domestic students.
USANNA HUANG appeared to have credentials that almost any company would find strongly desirable in a job candidate. Ms. Huang, a second-year M.B.A. student at the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University, has maintained a 3.9 average, has five years of experience at a management consulting firm and speaks both English and Mandarin.
But after six interviews and a prestigious internship at a Fortune 500 electronics company, she has yet to receive a job offer. As Ms. Huang is discovering, this is an especially difficult time to find employment as an international student.
"There are less companies hiring international students," said Trudy Steinfeld, executive director of career services at New York University. "It's a huge hurdle. Many come here so enthusiastic, wanting a job in the American workplace. But they're having a difficult time. It can be heartbreaking."
Along with the emotional turmoil, red tape makes life for foreign students more difficult, school officials say. The biggest problem is that for fiscal year 2004, Congress cut the number of work visas by two-thirds, to 65,000 from 195,000, heightening already intense competition. Foreign students are dependent on employers to sponsor and help them get these visas, which allow them to continue working for three years after their student visa and "optional practical training" visa expire.
That last visa allows students 12 months of internship or work experience that can be used before or after graduation.
Ms. Steinfeld and other career professionals said some companies had cut back sharply on hiring international students. Many foreign students said they were finding the job market less hospitable, especially when contrasted to the heady 1990's. Ms. Steinfeld said that while most American students can allot 2 to 6 months for a search, international students should give themselves at least 10 months.
Years of a downsizing economy have also hurt job prospects, as companies find it more difficult to justify hiring foreign-born students. Some counselors have started advising foreign students to consider returning home to work.
In the 2003-4 academic year, the foreign student population dropped 2.4 percent, to 572,509, according to the Open Doors Report from the Institute of International Education in New York.
Michaela Jacova, a Slovakian native who is a Princeton University senior majoring in political science at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, arrived a week before Sept. 11, 2001. She has been a strong student, held summer internships around the world and speaks four languages. But she was disheartened by the results of on-campus recruiting interviews in the fall and the harsher realization that many companies refused even to meet with her.
"I never thought it would be different for me, but I'm slowly realizing that to a certain extent we're at a disadvantage," Ms. Jacova said about international students. "Many companies don't want to hire us because of sponsorship issues. They consider it inconvenient, too much paperwork."
Ms. Jacova said that some of her recent interviews were uncomfortable. There was the recruiter who told her he was surprised that she had no detectable accent.
And her unfamiliarity with American private schools, she said, put her at a cultural disadvantage in a second interview. The recruiter asked her to solve a hypothetical problem regarding an American private school. Because she grew up in Slovakia, her frame of reference was government-administered education, and she said she felt she did not come up with the answer the recruiter wanted.
Cultural differences are hardly new, but career development professionals say they always create an important gap for foreign students to overcome. Both Ms. Jacova and Ms. Huang say they are less adept than their American counterparts at selling themselves aggressively.
Danielle Hopkins, assistant director of international graduate career development at the Fisher College of Business, said foreign students must work harder to achieve the same goals as domestic students.
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