I’m a prospective freshman at a top LAC and as an international student, I’m curious about the availability of jobs for international students, especially for CS,physics, and engineering majors from a top LAC (a top 20 LAC). I hear that it’s generally difficult for INTL’s but I sometimes hear that it’s actually quite easy for CS majors. To what extent is this true? Can anyone share their experience? And will the situation be significantly different for holders of PhD in those fields?
How easy it is to find a job depends on the availability of work visas at the time you’re applying for jobs. What that will look like in 4 years is anyone’s guess.
This past year, USCIS conducted a lottery for work visas because there were more applications than available visas. You would have had a 1-in-4 chance of getting drawn. If you don’t get drawn, there isn’t much even the most motivated employer could do for you.
Under the current visa rules, a PhD would have significant advantages over a Bachelor’s degree.
- There’s an additional allotment of H-1B work visas for workers with advanced degrees from US universities.
- A PhD would qualify you for an academic job, and universities are exempt from the H-1B cap.
- A PhD may also qualify you for an employment-based green card in a way that a Bachelor’s degree would not. To sponsor you for a green card, you employer would have to document that they were unable to find a qualified American worker to fill your position. Much easier the more specialized your skillset.
Again, that’s current rules. Immigration reform appears to be one of the priorities of our current government. There’s no telling yet what that may look like in 4 years. (Work visas for recent college graduates are particularly controversial. Some think we should retain foreign talent after educating them, others think that they take entry-level positions away from American college graduates.)
If you really do want to work in the US after college, marrying a US citizen is by far your best option.
@b@r!um So in order to work in the US, not only do I have to get the attention of an employer who’s willing to hire me, but I’ll also have to be ‘lucky’ enough to get drawn? And does the competitiveness for work visas typically increase every year? And how is that dependent on my major? How is CS better in terms of employment after graduation for CS majors?
From what I hear, many of the consulting comani3s are grabbing up many of the H1b visas. Most companies are not likely to go through the hassle of trying to get one for anew hire from undergrad.
Exactly.
Yes, the demand for work visas has been increasing in recent years, but the visa allotment has stayed constant.
The work visa process is independent of your major. In some industries employers may be more willing to try their luck, but your personal chances don’t vary. Employers know that not everyone with a job offer will get a work visa, and may sponsor a larger number of applicants than they intend to hire.
Okay, and in the last year only 25% with bachelors got work visas? How are the chances for those who have masters or PhD? And is it ‘easy’ to find a job if you’re only planning to work while on your opt?
Only 25% of applicants- of all qualifications- got work visas.
Getting a work permit as an international has been brutally difficult for years, and it’s only getting worse. The H1b process has been all but taken over by about 4 companies (for IT roles), but it appears that the rules are about to change again- possibly substantially.
The take-away message: no matter what your undergraduate qualification, you are unlikely to get a work visa in the US. Your odds go up from teeny-tiny to just small if you have a PhD- and there a CS or engineering degree will be more favorable than (say) biology or a humanity.
I’m not sure. The numbers are published in such a way that that number cannot easily be teased out.
No. Most employers won’t even consider your application. In all honesty, most international students who want to stay in the US after college will go to graduate school. A few lucky ones will get jobs straight out of college (with or without prospects of visa sponsorship), but the vast majority will not.
Seems like I shouldn’t have high expectations. Okay, so what other countries would not hate to have international students unlike the US? And should a degree from a top US college help me greatly finding a job in those countries? Maybe Canada, Europe or Australia? I have no idea at all. The problem is that my major isn’t that useful in my home country and it will be problem if I have to come back. Also, is this lottery thing completely random? or are factors, such as major, taken into consideration?
Currently it’s completely random - the only factor that’s considered is whether or not you have an advanced degree from an American university. It does not matter what you majored in or who your employer is or what salary you were offered. However, the selection algorithm could be changed at any time in the future. (E.g. some have proposed to give the visas to the applicants with the highest salaries, to keep the system merit-based. That would be bad news for recent college graduates with limited work experience.)
Canada and Australia have historically been more generous with work and immigrant visas for prospective immigrants with college degrees. There’s no telling if this will still be true in 4 years though. What will happen to the EU in the next 4 years is anyone’s guess. Multiple EU countries have been threatening to leave the EU if the immigration system doesn’t get an overhaul. Whatever the current immigration policies, they will probably change in the next 4 years.
Australia’s also cutting down on work visas: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/immigration/457-visa-numbers-slashed-in-crackdown-on-foreign-workers/news-story/4c85bb7c56467a6ce3e791082a424dd7
And for those who pursued PhD straight after doing their bachelors, will they be put in the ‘masters’ pool with it’s separate 20,000 visas?
Yes, the extra visas are for applicants with any advanced degree from a US university: Master’s, PhD, JD, MD,etc.