Job search with limitations

pratikshyaprasai·Oct 01, 2023

Hi everyone! I am new here and wanted to quickly come here and share my story. I am a recent graduate from a US college and am looking for new graduate software engineering positions. However, I am on a visa and require visa sponsorship in the future which limits my ability to apply to a lot of available jobs. Moreover, since I graduated this month, my visa has ended and I am on a grace period for finding a job and have to leave the states if I don't find one within the next two months. I feel incredibly nervous and I would appreciate any sort of advice and help with networking and finding opportunities. I am very thankful to be a part of this amazing network!

Iynna·Oct 02, 2023

Hi Pratikshya, visas are the worst worst worst. I am/was an international student so definitely was in your shoes a few years back. First and foremost, since you just graduated, you should be eligible to apply for an OPT that will take you for a year unless you did a STEM major (SWE is deff STEM) so you have three years OPT! How come you're already on your grace period? Or did you use it up with a CPT in your last year of uni? You should check that because you likely have more time. Otherwise, a combo of things that i've seen people do: apply for a grad school program to get higher chances of an H1B lottery (once you have a grad degree you're in a different pool that's slightly less competitive because you have a graduate degree) of course that incurs a cost unless you also get a really good scholarship? explore other visa options (H1B is not the be-all and end-all). As for job opps, take a look here as some companies actually sponsor elpha.com/jobs

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