Student Union
- By Olena
Finding Work Experience in the US: What I Learned (and What I Wish I'd Known)
At this point in the year, international students like myself are starting to think about what to do for the summer. If you’re an international student and you haven’t started thinking about it yet, you should.
It’s not always easy to find a good internship or summer job that will provide you with valuable work experience, a good line on your resume, the chance to be in a different part of the country, and networking opportunities in your field.
But here’s one thing I learned from my experience finding work last summer: If you’re capable of getting admitted to an American university, you’re also capable of finding some decent work experience for the summer. You just have to apply the same dedication in how you research job opportunities and prepare your resumes.
And you should also have the same willingness to rely on the resources available to you, including people who have been through it before. Having gotten used to relying entirely on myself, I didn’t take advantage of other resources that could have helped me. In the end I did get a job I really liked working at a school in California, but it cost me a lot more pain than it needed to.
I talked to a bunch of my friends to find out what advice they could give me (and you!) for applying to jobs and internships this summer, and here’s some of what they suggested and some of what I learned through my own experiences.
Resume
You might be surprised at how much you need to modify your resume to fit American standards. When I first decided to apply to internships in the U.S., a good friend of mine, who is American, showed me her CV and then spent at least an hour explaining how and why I had to make certain changes in my resume.
I was actually converting my resume into a CV, which is what you’re expected to submit for teaching positions, and I had to add lots of stuff, such as minor part-time jobs, presentations, conferences, projects I've been working on, etc. Now my CV runs 4 pages and it will become longer in the future.
But this is not the best format for everyone’s resume. For college students, probably, your education is the biggest asset, so it should come in the beginning of the resume. It's so different for different cases. That's why university career centers can be very helpful in compiling your resume - they'll help you get the right emphasis and format for your resume.
Finding Job Openings
Internet search
Some general job sites I found useful...
http://www.usaintern.com/
http://www.uloop.com/
http://www.internmatch.com/
http://www.internships.com/
http://www.internshipprograms.com/
http://www.experience.com/
http://www.idealist.org/
http://www.simplyhired.com/
When I started looking for summer jobs last year, I knew I wanted to do something related to teaching English as a second language. I started out just looking on websites that post job listings, and found some that were specific to ESL teaching. And ultimately this is how I ended up finding my job.
I think the fact that I found some specialized job sites was important. The internet is the biggest pool to fish out a job, but the search can be overwhelming if you don’t narrow it down. You can ask your professors if there are some specialized websites containing job offers for your particular field.
Networking
But, actually, among my friends I was the only one who found a job this way. Most people I know got their summer jobs through networking. You’ve probably heard of the importance of being “in the right place at the right time,” but it also helps a lot to be connected to “the right people.”
One of my friends contacted the organization she had worked for in her home country, and they offered her a paid summer internship. Some other guys asked their fellow countrymen and got referred to particular websites or people.
I hope I’ll be able to use networking to help me get a job for this summer. The head teacher at the school where I ended up working last summer said she would recommend me for a job at another school she used to work at.
Career fairs
I should just mention career fairs as a resource for finding out about jobs. My university, like many others, holds a career fair a few times a year and invites employers from different fields to talk about their job opportunities.
A standard career fair (Photo: Gabe Chmielewski/Mays Communications)
Start early
This is probably the biggest piece of advice I wish I had taken when I was job hunting last year. I started my search in mid-April, which turned out to be too late.
Several times I found myself in the situation when I had gone through a tiring process of completing an application only to discover that the job I wanted to get had been already given to someone else. I found out that sometimes employers don’t indicate the exact closing date for applications, and leave the job posting up even if the position’s already been filled.
I got in touch with the company where I ended up working in late May, and applied to work as an English teacher for international students. But all the positions had already been assigned by the time I submitted my application. The company ended up offering me a position as a welfare leader instead. I did like the job, but it wasn’t what I had been hoping to get.
Also keep in mind...
When it comes to summer employment for international students, there are two main factors to consider: whether you will get paid for the work you will be doing (many internships are unpaid) and whether you are eligible to work for that particular organization (many employ only U.S. citizens and green card holders).
Private businesses are usually the most flexible about money and eligibility issues. In fact, most of my friends and I got their employment within private sector.
And one final thought. You might get rejected. Everybody gets rejected at some point while looking for a job. I know I did, and I’m sure I will again. Don’t let rejections frustrate you. Instead, analyze critically why you haven’t been offered this job, learn your lesson, and continue your search.
Good luck with all your endeavors! Trust yourself and believe in the best!
P.S. – Thanks to everybody who inspired me in writing this article and helped me by offering their suggestions!
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FAFSA Delays Prompt California to Extend Deadline for Financial Aid Applications
The California Legislature on Thursday voted to give prospective college students more time to apply for two of the state's largest financial aid programs after a glitch in the federal government's application system threatened to block up to 100,000 people from getting help.
California had already extended the deadline for its financial aid programs from March 2 to April 2. On Thursday, the state Senate gave final approval to a bill that would extend it again until May 2. The bill now heads to Governor Gavin Newsom.
"Clearly, our students need our help," Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes, a Democrat from Riverside who authored the bill, told lawmakers during a public hearing earlier this week.
California has multiple programs to help people pay for college. The biggest is the Cal Grant program, which gives money to people who meet certain income requirements. The state also has a Middle Class Scholarship for people with slightly higher incomes.
Students can apply for these state aid programs only if they first complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly known as FAFSA.
This year, a computer glitch prevented parents from filling out the form if they did not have a Social Security number. That meant many students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents but whose parents are not were blocked from completing the form and thus could not apply for California's aid programs.
California has a large population of adults who are living in the country without legal permission. The California Student Aid Commission, the state agency in charge of California's financial aid programs, estimates as many as 100,000 students could be affected by this glitch.
The U.S. Department of Education says it fixed the problem last week, but those families are now a step behind. Democrats in Congress raised alarms last month, noting that the delay could particularly hurt students in states where financial aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, including Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Oregon and Texas.
Advocates fear that the chaos of this year's process could deter students from going to college at all, especially those for whom finances are a key part of the decision.
The computer glitch is just one part of larger problems affecting FAFSA.
The notoriously time-consuming form was overhauled in 2020 through a bipartisan bill in Congress. It promised to simplify the form, going from 100 questions to fewer than 40, and it also changed the underlying formula for student aid, promising to expand it to more low-income students.
But the update has been marred by delays, leaving families across the country in limbo as they figure out how much college will cost.
The form is typically available to fill out in October, but the Education Department didn't have it ready until late December. Even then, the agency wasn't ready to begin processing the forms and sending them to states and colleges, which only started to happen this month.
The problems appear to have already reduced California's application numbers. Through March 8, the number of California students who had completed FAFSA was 43% lower than it was at the same time last year.
"The data most concerning me seems to suggest that these drops are more acute at the schools that serve low-income students or large populations of students of color," Jake Brymner, deputy chief of policy and public affairs for the California Student Aid Commission, told lawmakers in a public hearing earlier this week.
The issue has caused problems for colleges and universities, too. The University of California and California State University systems both delayed their admissions deadlines because so many prospective students were having trouble with FAFSA.