Looking For a Job in America? 6 Things an International Student Needs to Know

By Prashant Parikh

Most international students view America as the land of golden opportunity and career growth. With great job offers, a good pay and a better living standard, America has one of the highest number of international students, mostly Asians, migrating in for jobs.

None the less, there is also this apprehension which these student face. They often fear that their American counterparts have an edge over them and that they would have to work harder to gain the same post. This is not true entirely. As a non American, the international student may have to take a few conscious measures to prove their worth. But this is more to do with the concept of fitting in than working harder. Here are a few tips that would help to achieve greater success.

1. One of the biggest hurdles is that of language. English is a global language, yet many international students may not be that fluent with it. Just knowing English is not enough. The international student should be able to express his thoughts and communicate in fluent English smoothly. The accent also matters. In most cases, the student is unable to grasp the accent of his employers and hence, is not able to make a great impression.

2. Graduating from a top American or other university with flying colors is not enough. The work culture in America is more practical and hence the student needs to prove his worth to the company. He needs to convince his American employers of his value addition skill.

3. Apart from language, the social skills also play a very important role. Polishing the social skills and adapting the American conduct would also help a long way.

4. As the international students are not born and brought up in America, their networking is often as not as good as that of an American. Networking, professional and social, plays an important role in job hunting. It is advisable that the international student puts in greater efforts and try and network as much as possible. Maintaining a good rapport with the professors goes a long way as they have a strong professional network.

5. The international student should try getting as much work experience as possible. He should check for internship programs, part time jobs etc that would help him not only on his resume but otherwise too.

6. It is extremely important for the international student to be aware of the opportunities around him. Every university has career placement centers. Enrolling with them is imperative. Career and job fairs are also a great help.

Just enrolling yourself with job placement centers is not enough. The international student needs to take more proactive measures. Enroll yourself with an effective online job search site. Choose the site wisely. The site should satisfy the basic criteria of convenience, accessibility, easy management, interactivity, safety and other add on benefits.

Enrolling with an integrated job search site is advisable. An integrated site crawls through the top most job search sites and companies and displays all the job openings in one place.