Foreign MBAs: Boost U.S. Job Odds

UCLA Anderson School of Management

I focus on reminding international students that right now there are U.S. employers out there eager to hire individuals with the types of characteristics international students have. International students’ work ethic, intelligence, and thoughtfulness are only part of the most obvious aspects of the profile of many international individuals sought after by U.S. firms. That’s what everyone talks about. But there’s much more to this story. For example, the ability to repurpose old ideas and concepts, combine these with some other ideas, and create something new, is often available to international students.

The questions is: are our international students ready to present themselves as a different kind of hire? Are they ready to get noticed in such a way? There’s a real opportunityfor international students to exercise their uniqueness, intelligence, and fresh thinking, and watch U.S hiring managers fall in love with them because they are nothing like the other seven candidates they interviewed before. What happens when we study and work overseas is that it is easy to only apply concepts that our host country considers “acceptable.” It’s tempting to only want to repeat what we learned via our American textbooks. I ask international students not to let their newly acquired U.S. knowledge blind them. International students become stronger job seekers when they combine the knowledge and experiences they brought with them prior to coming to the U.S. with their newly acquired experiences as international students.

U.S. employers react very positively when international students present a message to them with just the right temperature. International students should project a sense that they fit, yes, but equally as important is to be able to swiftly convey to hiring managers that as an international employee they can provide more than what they were expecting out of their new hire.

The fact that our international students were born and raised outside of the U.S. gives them true competitive advantages when job searching. These are advantage that often cannot be duplicated by their competition. Yes, we are in the U.S. – tight storytelling and strong marketing skills will be needed to get U.S. recruiters to appreciate the unique talents our international students have to offer. But none of this is hard to learn. The real tough question that needs to be answered by international students is: do they view their international background as baggage or as an asset when job searching? 

It takes courage to say that their international background is an asset. I realize that. I don’t even believe that as newcomers to the U.S. our international students are ready to see this world this way. But I can assure you that those who take this position can become irresistible and unstoppable. They can not only secure a great job in the U.S. but also achieve much professional success and fulfillment. They can have a real and meaningful impact in whatever industry they decide to be a part of.

The challenges that businesses and a variety of other organizations are facing today from a recruitment standpoint don’t have much to do with a shortage of skills and/or technical competencies that students learn in classrooms or on the internet these days. The real challenge for organizations is to find individuals who see and interact with the world around them in a meaningful way. This is not something you see written on a job description, but when you find a hire that delivers on this you feel that this is what you have been searching for all along. I think international students definitely have the potential to feel this gap. They would be leaving money on the table if they did not try. 

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