Biochemistry post graduation opportunities as an interational student

Student Lounge International Students
1

I’m studying biochemistry at DePauw University. I need to get a decent paying job after graduation to pay off my student loan. I plan on staying in the US on either a work visa or an F1 visa for grad school. I plan on working in the healthcare department, probably a management position because I know research with just a bachelor’s is a long shot, especially as an international student. So here are my questions:

  1. What are the options for entry level jobs for biochemistry graduates? I’m in the Science Research Fellow Program so I do have some valuable research experience on my hands. Will it be enough to pay off my loan? (loan is about $15k total)

  2. Are there any pharma/biotech companies that sponsor H1B visa? If yes, do any of you know of them or has anyone ever received a work visa through a biotech company?

  3. What minors would be best for future employment: computer science& math, computer science& business administration, math& business administration? If there are any other combinations or just one minor, which one would it be?

2

Biochemistry is a popular pre-med major. And since most pre-med students decide in the end not to apply to med school, there are many grads in this field looking for work after graduation. You may have a hard time finding companies willing to sponsor you for a work visa, with many available qualified Americans competing for the same jobs.

3

Your own department and career center ar best positioned to advise you about this. Speak with them, and find out where students like you have found jobs for their OPT. Your best option is to find an employer for your OPT, and then apply to grad school when that starts to run out. I have known several biochemists with H1B visas. All of them had PhDs, post doctoral research, and professional experience in other countries.

4

BS-level positions at biotech/pharma companies are usually posted with the footer “not eligible for work status sponsorship now or in the future.” It will be very unlikely any company will hire you even on OPT unless you use CPT to do an internship and they love you. An academic lab is the most likely to be open to hiring someone like you on OPT, but they would be unlikely to sponsor H1B.

If you really want to stay in the US, the F1 for grad school is probably the most viable. And afterward you’ll have a better shot at employment, but the majority of PhDs I know got their green card through the EB (extraordinary persons) visa.

H1B is really hard to get these days with the quota. Unless you’re in a quota-exempt position, it’ll usually take more than 2 cycles to get the H1B through, and you might run out of time on OPT and become unemployable.