Foreign MBAs: Boost U.S. Job Odds

H-1B

In fact, in this particular scenario, managing two job searches would come at the expense of putting maximum focus on trying to secure an awesome offer from a top U.S employer. The art is in diagnosing the likelihood of employment in the U.S., and putting a plan in place to make it happen. Other MBAs, on the other hand, may benefit from managing two job-search plans concurrently. So again, it depends, But again, while a “hedge my bets” kind of job search strategy may sound good in theory, it has proven to be extremely difficult for international students to execute on.

Something else to pay attention to is the split of time if one decides to search for a job at home and in the U.S. concurrently. Are we talking about a 50/50 split of time, or 80/20 split, with 80% of effort around finding a U.S position and 20% around finding a job at home? Understanding the split of time is critical. It’s like taking medication. You hope your doctor is not only prescribing you the right medication but that he’s also getting you to take the right dosage of the right medication. Such decisions are critical, and international students should seek help from their career advisors to discuss what makes the most sense. They should not make these decisions alone. 

What workarounds are available if someone doesn’t get an H-1B visa?

It’s tough to get creative with the H-1B. I always get these types of questions from students when I do training at universities. In addition to the strategy above, there may be a couple of strategies for international students to consider. Again, check with an immigration attorney! Some international students start a new degree and essentially continue working by using full-time CPT once they start their new degree. This is definitely something to be discussed with an attorney.

Unfortunately after the fiasco with the H-1B lottery last year – 233,000 H1-B applications for a total pool of 85,000 visas – if you are an international student on OPT right now, you have to be working with the possibility that you will not get selected by the lottery. So what do you do? Well, I think you need to plan ahead. I’d consider the following:

• Talk to your boss before the lottery results about what may happen to you if you don’t get selected by the lottery. Engage your attorney if needed to see if he or she may have any ideas (they may not). This is mostly a business-strategy conversation and not a legal one. Depending on the type of job you have, it is possible that your manager may allow you to work from an office outside of the U.S. This is do-able in certain cases. Facebook and Amazon send their programmers to Canada and London sometimes when they don’t get lucky with the lottery.

Smaller firms may have similar options as well. One international student, Judith, took this route. She did not get lucky with the lottery, but her employer did not want to lose her. Since her job required interactions with Asia (China in particular) she was relocated to the Shanghai office and may later on come back to the U.S on an L-1 visa. Anant did not get lucky securing his H-1B visa either. But as with Judith, his employer did not want to lose him. After receiving bad news regarding the H-1B lottery, Anant relocated back to his home country, India, and continues to work for his company from there.

Questions about this article? Email us or leave a comment below.