![Picture](/uploads/9/5/6/6/95661112/picture1_2.png?1481159070)
Is the way of finding jobs in the U.S. really narrow for international people?
Mariana Laignier, a typical mid-twenty Latina girl, who has big brown eyes containing her passion, finally got the job at Facebook company after almost three years living in the U.S. With a contented smile, she said, “Networking is one of important keys that will help you open the door to stay legally in the U.S.”
Life without having friends talking to you every weekend after a hard working week is such a boring life. Luckily, I have couple of friends from different countries that I still get in touch after we split up three years ago. One of them is a Brazilian girl. Her name is Mariana Laignier. We have not seen each other for a while and all contacts we make via text messages. So, I was very excited to have an interview with her via Facetime. She looked slightly different than the last time we met, but still displayed full energy, delight and ambition that I knew about this girl for the first time. We had a little bit chit chat before coming to the main point.
Mariana was born and raised in Brazil. After graduating from college, she had a scholarship to study Master in the U.S. After completing the course, she tried looking for job in the U.S. and now was end up with a Marketing Specialist position at one of the most advanced technology company – Facebook, Inc. Definitely, she had a lot of information that would share to me regarding to job opportunities for international people.
Mariana Laignier, a typical mid-twenty Latina girl, who has big brown eyes containing her passion, finally got the job at Facebook company after almost three years living in the U.S. With a contented smile, she said, “Networking is one of important keys that will help you open the door to stay legally in the U.S.”
Life without having friends talking to you every weekend after a hard working week is such a boring life. Luckily, I have couple of friends from different countries that I still get in touch after we split up three years ago. One of them is a Brazilian girl. Her name is Mariana Laignier. We have not seen each other for a while and all contacts we make via text messages. So, I was very excited to have an interview with her via Facetime. She looked slightly different than the last time we met, but still displayed full energy, delight and ambition that I knew about this girl for the first time. We had a little bit chit chat before coming to the main point.
Mariana was born and raised in Brazil. After graduating from college, she had a scholarship to study Master in the U.S. After completing the course, she tried looking for job in the U.S. and now was end up with a Marketing Specialist position at one of the most advanced technology company – Facebook, Inc. Definitely, she had a lot of information that would share to me regarding to job opportunities for international people.
![Picture](/uploads/9/5/6/6/95661112/picture2_1.png?1481159192)
“The more network with people you have, the more opportunities you will get to find the jobs in the U.S.”
Mariana said.
After ten minutes talking about ourselves lives, I went straight to the main point by asking her several questions regarding the way she found job at Facebook. I found out that it took her more than a year. She said, “In order to work for Facebook, I had to work in a small company first to gain experiences…”. “How did you get it?” I asked with a high tone voice as if this question was waiting to be asked for long time. With an excited face, she added, “At mean time, I frequently updated my prolife in LinkedIn and Indeed and participated in social network in my previous school. When big companies have jobs, I made sure I was one of the first people knowing about those. Then I sent my resume with LinkedIn and Indeed profile to them and wait for interview…” When she finished her sentences, I realized network in business was a really important thing that made people success in finding a job.
It looked like she had more information to share with me; taking this chance, I asked her about the job opportunities for international people in the U.S., smiling at me, she said, “It will be the same as the domestic student if you have a working permit. Based on your experiences and ability to handle the job, it is not difficult to find the job in the U.S.” It seemed to be a good news for international people, I thought, however, she added, “In order to get work permit, it is a different story…” She added it in so quickly that it stopped my thinking right away. I paused for couple of seconds and noticed that she was totally right about that.
With my big round eyes staring at her, I questioned her about the ways to get working permit and she explained that there were two ways. The first way was international people would receive the Optical Practice Training (OPT) visa by the government after they graduated from the college. With this visa, they had generally one year to find the job and work in the U.S. legally. After one year, OPT visa would expire. In order to maintain the work status, they have to change OPT visa to another type of visa. It was called H-1B visa, which was a sponsor visa from the company that they were working at. “However…”, she said, “to get approve H-1B visa from government, your company has to prove that you are unique, one the best employees and irreplaceable – the company cannot find anyone to handle the job better than you. The whole procedure could take up to six months and it is costly. But they need you, they are willing to do it for you.” That information sounded interesting to me. Now, I learned new thing that in order to keep working, I had to try my best when I had a job offer from a company then asked them to sponsor for me, otherwise, I had to go back my country after OPT visa expired. The second way she mentioned was asking company directly for the sponsorship, “… but, the company is not likely to do that because they have not known you before, what your attitude towards job is and so on. So, they don’t really want to take that risk…” Mariana said.
Based on what she said above, I guessed that she was under H-1B visa now, so I confirmed with her and got her nod with a compliment that I was smart. We both laughed and I moved on the last question by asking her, “The position you hold at Facebook and the major you earned, is it necessarily related to each other? Or can you have another position that is not relevant to your major and ask for work visa?” “This is a good question…” she said, after taking a deep breath, she continued, “The degree that you earned and the position that you get must be related to each other. Under OPT visa, you can get any job that you want and it is not necessarily related to your degree. However, when you want the company sponsor for you, your position that you have must match with your degree. Otherwise, government will not look at your case and give you H-1B visa…” We ended the conversation by a loud ring tone from her cell phone. She had appointment with her friends in next thirty minutes. We gave each other best wishes and promised to meet in person in near future.
This twenty-minute conversation helped me realized new things regarding the way to stay and work legally in the U.S. Job opportunities seemed to be optimistic for international people, especially when they have work permit. Luckily, government gives them a chance to find the job in the U.S. up to one year under OPT visa. During that time, international people have to try their best to prove their talents to companies and then asks companies to sponsor for them if they want to work longer than a year. It seems an easy plan, however, it is not. There are a lot talented-native employees in companies, foreigners must always improve themselves in order to fulfill their “American dream”
“Dreams are worth nothing unless you try your best to make them a reality” (Dojedo).
It looked like she had more information to share with me; taking this chance, I asked her about the job opportunities for international people in the U.S., smiling at me, she said, “It will be the same as the domestic student if you have a working permit. Based on your experiences and ability to handle the job, it is not difficult to find the job in the U.S.” It seemed to be a good news for international people, I thought, however, she added, “In order to get work permit, it is a different story…” She added it in so quickly that it stopped my thinking right away. I paused for couple of seconds and noticed that she was totally right about that.
With my big round eyes staring at her, I questioned her about the ways to get working permit and she explained that there were two ways. The first way was international people would receive the Optical Practice Training (OPT) visa by the government after they graduated from the college. With this visa, they had generally one year to find the job and work in the U.S. legally. After one year, OPT visa would expire. In order to maintain the work status, they have to change OPT visa to another type of visa. It was called H-1B visa, which was a sponsor visa from the company that they were working at. “However…”, she said, “to get approve H-1B visa from government, your company has to prove that you are unique, one the best employees and irreplaceable – the company cannot find anyone to handle the job better than you. The whole procedure could take up to six months and it is costly. But they need you, they are willing to do it for you.” That information sounded interesting to me. Now, I learned new thing that in order to keep working, I had to try my best when I had a job offer from a company then asked them to sponsor for me, otherwise, I had to go back my country after OPT visa expired. The second way she mentioned was asking company directly for the sponsorship, “… but, the company is not likely to do that because they have not known you before, what your attitude towards job is and so on. So, they don’t really want to take that risk…” Mariana said.
Based on what she said above, I guessed that she was under H-1B visa now, so I confirmed with her and got her nod with a compliment that I was smart. We both laughed and I moved on the last question by asking her, “The position you hold at Facebook and the major you earned, is it necessarily related to each other? Or can you have another position that is not relevant to your major and ask for work visa?” “This is a good question…” she said, after taking a deep breath, she continued, “The degree that you earned and the position that you get must be related to each other. Under OPT visa, you can get any job that you want and it is not necessarily related to your degree. However, when you want the company sponsor for you, your position that you have must match with your degree. Otherwise, government will not look at your case and give you H-1B visa…” We ended the conversation by a loud ring tone from her cell phone. She had appointment with her friends in next thirty minutes. We gave each other best wishes and promised to meet in person in near future.
This twenty-minute conversation helped me realized new things regarding the way to stay and work legally in the U.S. Job opportunities seemed to be optimistic for international people, especially when they have work permit. Luckily, government gives them a chance to find the job in the U.S. up to one year under OPT visa. During that time, international people have to try their best to prove their talents to companies and then asks companies to sponsor for them if they want to work longer than a year. It seems an easy plan, however, it is not. There are a lot talented-native employees in companies, foreigners must always improve themselves in order to fulfill their “American dream”
“Dreams are worth nothing unless you try your best to make them a reality” (Dojedo).
Works cited
Dojedo, Margie. "Dreams are worth nothing unless you try your best to make them a reality" MoveMe Quotes. N.p., 10 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.
Job Opportunities. Digital image. TycoPrinting. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.
Laignier, Mariana. "Is the Way of Finding Jobs in the U.S. Really Narrow for International People?" Personal interview. 2 Nov. 2016.
Dojedo, Margie. "Dreams are worth nothing unless you try your best to make them a reality" MoveMe Quotes. N.p., 10 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.
Job Opportunities. Digital image. TycoPrinting. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.
Laignier, Mariana. "Is the Way of Finding Jobs in the U.S. Really Narrow for International People?" Personal interview. 2 Nov. 2016.