ISSS Podcast: Global Connections at USF
Episode #4: Work Authorization and Employment Pathways

Host: Hello and welcome back to Global Connections at USF. I am your host, Rashi Bhatt. And today we have a very important episode planned for you around work authorization and off-campus employment options. This conversation is going to be very engaging and informational as we speak with ISSS advisor Tina Ricafrente, who is a certified SEVIS administrator and whose advising population includes several undergrad and graduate students across different majors.

We'll also hear from David Gluckman, an attorney with expertise in employment authorization, followed by student perspectives from Giselle Sutjiadi and Angelica Gloria on securing successful career pathways in their respective fields.

Host: I'll start with Tina. Hello, Tina, welcome to the Global Connections at USF podcast. We're so excited to feature our very own advisor for this episode. Can you please introduce yourself?

Tina: Hi, Thank you, Rashi for having me. My name is Tina Ricafrente and as you mentioned, I am the SEVIS administrator but also an advisor here at ISSS specifically advise students in the school of nursing and health professions. And I also advise students in the MSDS program and Jeep students who are here under the J-1 Jesuit Education exchange program.

Host: Excellent. So I guess to start from the basics, what are the employment options for F-1 and J-1 international students who are currently enrolled here at USF?

Tina: So for students who are currently here under the F-1 and J-1status, they can work on campus without any prior work authorization. So if they'd like to work on campus, say at the bookstore or with our events management bona petit, they can do so without getting authorization for their F-1 or J-1 status.

And they would look for employment through the student employment website.
And then from there, they would, once they are able to get a job on campus, they would need to make sure that they apply for their social security card so that they can submit that to the student employment office.

Now, there are some regulations to keep in mind if they are currently enrolled and working on campus, they can only work up to 20 hours a week while class is in session during break, and students can work up to 35 hours a week.

Students studying under the J-1 status are also allowed to work on campus to student employment and off-campus with academic training authorization.
However, they first must obtain approval from their J-1 sponsoring agency or institution before beginning any employment, both on and off campus.

Host: Ok, great. Thank you for listing out those specifics for us and when students are transitioning off-campus from on-campus, for example, if they're looking at graduation in a couple of months, what work authorizations should they start to consider? Do you think there is a timeline you recommend to your advisees when they meet with you for F-1 students?

Tina:  Specifically, there are a few options about working off-campus. One is CPT or curricular practical training and the other is OPT optional practical training with CPT just like its name, it is curricular. So it's typically done. You would need to have a course or degree requirement that requires practical training in your major field of study. And then if you do have a course or degree requirement and you're able to find like an internship off-campus, you would be eligible for CPT and with OPT, that's a 12-month work authorization that you can use either before or after you graduate.

And so students typically like to save that 12-month, full-time benefit for after they graduate called post-completion OPT, but they can also use it before they graduate called pre-completion OPT.

And unlike CPT, with OPT, you do not need to have a course or degree requirement for practical training. But before you can be eligible for CPT or OPT, you do need to keep in mind that you must be in full-time academic F one status for at least one full year prior to your authorization. So the only caveat to this or exception to this are for students in graduate programs that require CPT or practical training right away in their master's program. But say you're an undergrad student under F-1 status and you wanted to do an internship for your course.

Using CPT, you would need to make sure that you've been in active F one status for at least one year or two academic messages immediately right before the A the authorization for CPT.

Host: Oh, interesting. So there are plenty of options that students could explore, be it during their study through possible internships and post-completion of their program. As long as they read up on the details of each of the work authorization types that they'd like to opt in for and then they can reach out to their ISS advisor to explore these options further.

Tina: Yes, definitely. If you have any questions about you know, am I eligible for CPT?
You know, when should I start applying for OPT? Our website is a great resource for that. 

Host: Yeah, I was just about to get to that. So how can ISSS help international students navigate work authorization options? I know you mentioned, meet with your advisors. Definitely refer to our web pages. I also know we can conduct some workshops. Did you wanna briefly touch on that? And some other resources you may have in mind?

Tina:  Yes, actually one of our biggest workshops or most popular workshops that we hold often is our OPT workshop that OPT workshop is actually mandatory for students who are going to request for OPT recommendation. So if you are a student and you want to learn more about OPT, you definitely are required to attend our OPT workshop and we have those online via Zoom.

And we also hold them a couple times during the semester. In person on campus, we also have our networking and interview sessions that we do in the fall and in the spring and we usually hold that in conjunction with like the career service center.

And here we sometimes have alumni come and talk about their experience looking for jobs and, and working off-campus. So this is a great way for current international students to get information directly from the source from other international student alumni. And we also have ISA, which is the International Student Alumni Network, which is part of Network USF and in ISA, you can connect with other international students and alumni who across the globe, not just here in the US, and they can share their experiences about looking for jobs all over.

So not just here in the US, but everywhere. And it's a great way. To stay connected with your alumni who are also a resource for you as you try to navigate, you know, your work authorization after graduating. And last, we also have our advisors. You can make an appointment with your advisor, your ISSS advisor. You can also email, you can call us. There's so many ways to get in touch with us. So after you've done all your your pre-work and visited our employment web pages, maybe went to a workshop or two and you still have questions.Your ISSS advisor is there to speak with you with you and give you more specific answers to your questions?

Host: Yes, definitely. And we'll be sure to link all of the mentioned resources in the episode description below. Thank you again, Tina, for speaking with us today. The conversation with you has effectively listed out the timelines. What should students keep in mind about their employment goals and the resources they can access to realize those goals like our online workshops around OBT HONEB and much more our detailed web pages with information on CBT on-campus employment FAQs.
And if you ever need more assistance, you can always schedule an appointment with your ISSS advisor and meet with them in person or online.

Host: Thank you, Tina. And now I'll be speaking with David Gluckman. He's an attorney with expertise in work authorization processes and he's helped process a variety of places for international students post their academic degrees.
Hello and welcome, David. Do you mind introducing yourself for our listeners? Tell us a little bit about your work and where you're currently based.

David: Thanks so much, Rashi. My name is David Gluckman, as she said, and I am an immigration attorney with the law firm of mccanless Holton and I'm based in Virginia, but we do cases nationwide because immigration law is federal.

So immigration law is the same in California as it is in Virginia and Guam.
So I have a great deal of expertise, helping out international students and scholars navigating their postgrad graduation journey from F one status to permanent residency and hopefully us citizenship. So, I have a great passion for helping smart people in the United States. That's what drives me to do what I do and that's why I'm here today to talk to you guys.

Host:  Excellent. Thank you so much for taking the time out to be with us today. So I guess let's start from the basics. Can you briefly tell us what employer sponsorship even means and how it is relevant for students on a visa?

David: Yeah, sure. So I think it's best to sort of back up and take a look at our immigration system, which is incredibly imperfect. Our system has not been meaningfully updated in decades and unfortunately, it's very arcane and archaic and that it is mainly based on employer sponsorship. If somebody wants to get post graduation work, visa sponsorship and then post graduation and post visa sponsorship for permanent residency. So sponsorship can mean a number of things in a of different contexts.

So and I'll talk about the steps to this sort of thinking about it as a ladder. So I graduate from, from college and then the first rung is I have something called optional practical training opt. And the next rung up on that is a longer term work visa such as the H1B.
And that's what keeps me here and working until I'm able to get to the top rung of the ladder with just permanent residency. And you'll, and as I'll discuss, there's no need for employer sponsorship in the early stage for OPT.

But if you ultimately want to stay longer in the United States after your OPT and, and pursue a green card, you're going to need something an employer to sponsor you and you know, that requires an employer a lot of times to file paperwork to attest a certain obligations.
But as I'm gonna discuss in a few minutes, by the time that comes up, you're hopefully already gonna be a valuable member of their workforce and it's gonna be a no-brainer for them to go ahead and proceed with that.

Host: Mhm. Ok. I think it's good for students to have that little bit of background context. In mind and also the latter that you mentioned while they're looking through job board sites and pay close attention to mentions of sponsorship for sure. So what can students do during their studies And while on opt to increase their chances of getting sponsored by an employer? I think you're starting to get to that.

David: Oh, yeah, I think, I think it's very important almost from day one to take the long view of your immigration journey. Ok. That will allow you to sort of plan in advance even from an internship phase from when you're doing your undergrad or graduate class work. That will hopefully lead to post graduation opportunity opt and then hopefully for sponsorship. So it's always good to start early. While you are a student, you have access to something called curricular practical training.

That is what allows you to engage in off campus work such as internships to sort of build your resume. That's something you can work with your advisor on camps on in terms of finding appropriate opportunities that the school will be able to support.
Once you do that, then it's a matter of getting opt after you graduate, making yourself invaluable during O BT and then hopefully following that pathway towards sponsorship for longer term work visas and then ultimately permit.

Host: Yeah, excellent. So I gotta start early and plan ahead. Those are helpful tips for students to keep in mind continually as we going through this process and start having this conversation with their employer.

So even before that, I guess so when the students are in the interviewing process, starting to get closer to figuring out like their work authorization options, how do you think students should best bring up the question of sponsorship with their employer?
In your experience, do you think they're open to discussing it during the interviewing process? Just your, your thoughts on this?

David: Well, it's not something that I would affirmatively raise unless they ask about it and we'll talk about this in a second because I know there's a question about how to answer that the query about whether I need sponsorship.

But I think the most important thing is to take advantage of the things that are within your control.

There are certain things not in your control like the H1B quota. The permanent residency quotas, all that stuff is not in your control.

What you can do is on day one, make yourself indispensable to that employer. And that's why OPT is such a valuable benefit. I don't think I'm overs selling it when I say that next year degree itself. OPT is the second most valuable benefit of having a F-1 status.

And the reason for that is because unlike some of the future sponsorship that we've talked about, opt does not require the employer to do anything So you pay for that application fee, you submit the paperwork yourself, you get the card yourself, you show up on day one, ready to work.

And during that time you have with the employer on opt you build a relationship with that employer.

You become indispensable to that employer, they train you, they trust you, they like you.
And when it becomes time to talk about other sponsorship like H1B, by that time, you will already have built a relationship with the employer.

So that is more when I would affirmatively raises when you feel comfortable and the value that you're providing to the employer, such that it should be a no brainer for them to agree to sponsor you, you bring it up too soon in the interview, especially if it's a less sophisticated, less experienced employer, then my fear is that it might scare them off, shouldn't scare them off because there are certain, there's information you can provide to them sort of demystify the process. But to the extent you can defer that discussion until you've already built that relationship. I think the later the better.

Host:  Hm, I see, I take advantage of the opt to start building that relationship with the employer and if the student was doing excellent in their position, the employer will be willing to keep them on. I guess not all us employers are familiar with the sponsorship process and maybe they might be on the fence about sponsoring an international student. They don't know what it entails, the paperwork and such.
So, what information do you think international students should share about, with the employers about sponsorship specifically and how they should approach, bringing it up with the employer and like them being involved in the process.

David: Yeah, that's an excellent question. And, and I have developed a handout which I distributed at my campus presentation and I just gave one at the University of San Francisco, I believe last month. And it's a handout that is entitled the easy guide to hire in foreign graduates. And I encourage anybody who wants a copy of this document to email me. I'd be happy to share.

But basically what it does is it distills what an employer needs to know about the sponsorship process, what the steps are, how long it and how much it costs so they can again to demystify it to make it more accessible.
A lot of employers are under the impression that they need to do things like advertise and prove there are no us workers available when that's absolutely not the case on OPT.

They can hire you just like they can hire any US worker you have that work hard and there's no problem with that.
The H1B there's no need to show that there's no qualified workers available. It's just a matter of you do a lottery. And I have information about them. So it really is a good document to have.

And the reason I designed it that way is so that I can empower you guys with the information that you need to answer common questions of interview because a lot of them will ask. Ok, well, how long is the week? How much does it cost? When do I have to submit a registration? And it's all on them?

Because I think that self advocacy is really gonna be key and, and if you want to email me, I can share you this document and it has my contact information on the bottom that you can share with employers. And I always talk to employers free of charge, answer questions.

They might have to sort of get them off the fence with respect to sponsorship because at the end of the day, while you should be able to answer some of these basic questions about, you know, you know, the pathway going forward, you're not gonna be able to answer them all. Sometimes a large, especially those that are doing this for the first time. They might have some additional logistical questions or other things that they might have read. That might not be true. And you can put them in touch with me or another qualified immigration expert and we can sort of walk them through the process.

But yeah, it's definitely not as scary as employers think the fact that I was able to distill all that stuff onto one page and make you guys a little bit less intimidated because the information is very accessible and it's just a matter of being prepared to answer those questions and that document. If you're interested, you can email me and I'll give you all the information.

Host: Wow. Yeah. No, I feel like I'm gonna send you an email right away for that document once, get to the point of speaking and bringing up the sponsorship question with my employer and also like excellent resource for even students to review for them to be well prepared for the potential questions that might be posed to them and then pass it on to an expert like you, if the employer wants to have like a third party, you know, like non-biased perspective and go through the specific questions that they might have for you.
So no, those are excellent resources. Thank you so much for bringing that up. I know a question that a lot of students have is what should they take off when the application asks? Do you require sponsorship now or in the future? Do you have any thoughts on this one?

David: Yeah, I mean, that's a really hard one because you know that if you answer yes, there are certain algorithms that are just gonna filter you about altogether. So the question is, is there a good faith basis for me to say no, I don't require sponsorship and I think that there definitely is because first of all, most of the time you're gonna be applying for a job and you're gonna have opt and that does not require employers sponsorship.

Like I said, that's an entirely student driven process that does not involve the employer at all. And once you have opt, I mean, you have no idea what the future holds. I mean, does anybody have a crystal ball? It very well may be that you'll get a, you'll get a marriage based green card that does not require employer sponsorship. You may get a self sponsored green card and sort of the extra inability or national interest waiver categories that doesn't require employer responses.

So there are many ways that you can say that you do not require employer sponsor because there are definitely many ways where you can on your own, get a green card and there's just no way that you're gonna be able to know at the time. You answer that question, whether any of those a are definitively going to be closed off.

Host: Mhm. I think after participating in the workshop that you were mentioning last month, I've started changing how I respond to that question because prior to this, I always thought I had to take yes, but you've changed my mind a little bit about you never know what the future holds and you can get your sponsorship in a variety of ways, right?

They it doesn't have to be dependent on the employer. So yeah, this this one is super critical one. Students pay close attention to this. So thank you so much for the practical tips.

Finally, before we let you go, what are your top three advice for international students who are looking to get more job experience in the US beyond their student visa? Just top three quick ones that come to your mind. 

David: I mean, I think we went over some of these, but number one, I would say again, start early. You know, this is a long term process. It's not like for a country that has a modern immigration law and we're, we're gonna basically stay to a green card to your diploma after you graduate. I mean, that would be great. I wish that was our policy, but unfortunately, it's not. So definitely my first piece of advice would be to start early, the second, is definitely to make full use of opt. I mean, there are billions of people around the world that would pay a lot more than the current filing fee of 400 something dollars for opt for the ability to work an entire year in the United States.

I mean, that is an unbelievably valued benefit, not only because it sure let, lets you make some money finally after you graduate.

I mean, that is an unbelievably valued benefit, not only because it sure let, lets you make some money finally after you graduate. But more importantly, it allows you to build those relationships with the employers that are ultimately gonna need to be sponsoring you for longer term work, visas and permanent residency. And I guess the third thing I just say is again, just take the long view.

I mean, immigration is sort of a chess game, you know, you gotta think a few steps ahead. So while certain things that might seem good pathways, like if I'm an entrepreneur and I wanna work for myself during OPT, I mean, that's wonderful.

And I, a lot of people who have that entrepreneurial spirit, but you've got to understand that the pathway beyond OPT if you wanna be an entrepreneur is very limited.

So I don't wanna clip people's wings, but you have to understand that our immigration system is very arcane, very old and need of updating and it's not very friendly towards entrepreneurial pathways.

So in the vast majority of cases, it's gonna require an employer sponsorship and you're gonna need to know that early on. So you can, you can sort of suss out the right opportunity, find an employer that's willing to hire you, build that relationship and then hopefully parlay that into future sponsorship for longer term like the H1B for the Green Card.

I do those types of cases all the time. Don't feel discouraged if you're listening to this podcast because it certainly can happen for you.

Every single year there's far more demand for these visas and there is the supply available. So, you know, my question is why not you? And it certainly is available option.

Host: Thank you. I feel like work authorizations and visas are like such big topics and it could be daunting for students to even think about, let alone start planning ahead and look into the future. But I feel like you've made some of these options very approachable and given us some practical tips for students to keep in mind.

So thank you again for spending your time with us.

I really appreciated talking with you and I'm sure all of our listeners have found your insights to be super helpful and super practical.

Thank you. I'll be sure to mention the resources that you were speaking about and your email and contact info in our resource list.

David: Thank you so much. It was a pleasure speaking with you today. Thanks for hosting.

Host: And now to put all those tips and resources and action. I'll be speaking with two brilliant USF students who have made their career goals into reality.

We'll get to hear about how that timeline both Tina and David mentioned has played out how they utilize on campus resources and if they turn to experts in that process to always remain in visa compliance, I'll first speak with Giselle Sutjiadi.

Do you please mind introducing yourself what you study at USF and where you're currently working?

Giselle: Yeah, for sure. Hi, everyone. My name is Giselle.I am currently a senior majoring in accounting. Right now my position I'm working on an on campus job. I've had the opportunity to work as the accounting intern at the events management and guest service office. It's been a lot of fun.

What I love about my role is that even though I'm an intern, I have a lot of autonomy and control on how accounting processes are facilitated and how they're managed.

So I really love how I'm given this opportunity to manage certain aspects of how accounting is done in our office. And yeah, moving forward to the summer, I'm really excited as I'm having, as I'm having my internship lined up at Ernest and Young in L A.

So, yeah, outside of just being an accountant.

I love to spend time off of work and school and playing some spike ball at us f it's a new growing club and yeah, it's, it's loads of fun and it's a lot of fun being in the competitive team, a lot of fun meeting new people and yeah, it's just a new growing score.

It's been amazing.

Host: Wow. Yeah, it seems like you're involved with multiple different USF communities at your work, at your internship and also at this sporting club that you mentioned.

So, thank you and welcome. I'm excited to speak with you today.

So do you mind telling us where you're from? I know you said you're an international student just so that our listeners know and if there are other students from your home country that can just relate and plan out their career goals, maybe in line with where you're from.

Giselle: Yeah. So I am from Indonesia, but I grew up in China in the Bustling city of Shanghai.

Some of the measures that I took to earn the position, the job position I have today is that I really understood that it is quite high as high barrier of entry as an international student to enter in like job opportunities without work experience.
So I've really took the time to carve out some job opportunities in my home country back in Indonesia.

So I've interned at a logistics company as a secretary intern. And so I've managed it's been a lot of fun. I've managed an IPO ceremony with this logistics company.

So I've gained a lot of experience in like management and like teamwork.

And from there, I was, I also applied to a consulting internship in Deloitte in Jakarta.
So having experiences in having a lot of job experiences in my native country before transitioning and to some work opportunities in America has been a big help.

Moving forward just like the resources on campus has just utilizing the resources, has been a lot of help for me. I've had recruiters from companies from, for example, enterprise and KPMG revise my resume before I submitted my application to some internships here at SF And so, yeah, so I've also had a lot of opportunities with ISA as I've served as the finance officer being involved in ISA has been and they've offered a lot of on campus opportunities which otherwise I would not have found myself.

So that has been a big springboard and it's been, and I've been really grateful and that's how I found my events management accounting intern, it's through ISA.

And so, yeah, I'm really thankful for ISA for providing me these like job opportunities.

Host: Excellent. So just recapping all those exciting and insightful resources that you laid out there for us. You mentioned that definitely start early even as early as you being in your home country and starting to build those job positions on your resume.

So that when you're here in the US, you could be ready to apply towards your job search, be it through internships, be it through on campus work positions.

And then also like having that resume be looked at through some of those experts that visit our on campus events for recruitment and such.

So excited that you were able to kind of make the most of all of those opportunities that are available to you, not just through the experts, but also through the student organization, right?

I know you mentioned ISA and working very closely with them and I'm glad that students are able to identify different avenues where they could kind of jump in and make the most of the opportunities laid out for them.

I guess do you mind sharing which F-one work authorization option you had utilized to achieve your career goals? I know you mentioned moving to L A. Did you have an opportunity to meet with your ISSS advisor before making that move? Just to stay in compliance with your visa authorization?

Giselle: Yeah. So I have been in touch with ISSS to make sure that I am appropriately work authorized for my internship at ey one work authorization I had to apply was the CPT and that stands for the curricular practical training.

And it's basically a program where you tie an internship with a related class work that you've done that's related to your major.

So I've started planning this out, I would say two months before the beginning of my internship, which will be around mid June.

ISSS has been a big help in walking with me and what I should prepare with my I twenties and with my work authorization letters.

So that has been very smooth and more.

So what I really love about us f is the, is the workshops that they provide in like the beginning of the year or like in the beginning of the semester, they have provided opt and CPT workshops so that students have a very clear and concise timeline on when to turn things in so that you're all set up for your internship.

So yeah, really grateful for that.

Host: Yeah. Excellent. I'm glad that you were able to participate in those workshops. I know you mentioned at the beginning of the semester. So it gives you a really good idea to plan ahead and make sure that you're on top of submitting any documents or requests that you need to do and have everything ready to go for your internship perfectly in time for the summer.

And finally, before we let you go, are there three tips that you'd like to give other international students who would like to map out their own pathway?
Like you have maybe through an internship, maybe through a job opportunity. Just three tips that you have in mind for them.

Giselle: Yeah, I feel like the first tip is to be upfront as an international student. You do not wanna waste your time with a company that doesn't recruit or appreciate the international student talent.

So whenever you're on, whenever you're applying for a job, when you're applying in their portal or through like work day, you really want to scout out the companies that are CPT and opt eligible.

That way you are lining up with this with a company that will value yourself as an international student.

And on top of that, it just doesn't waste anyone's time, it won't waste your time or the recruiters time.

Secondly, definitely to plan ahead and attend the workshops that USF provides, it's really important to know which hard how long it takes for CPTs to process how long opts to process.

Because the last thing you wanna do is have an internship lined up only to find yourself in like the logistics and not being eligible to apply only because of the dates.

So last, but not least I really recommend to be in contact with recruiters so that you understand the recruiting timeline, so you can get ahead of yourself of the competition. I feel like there are a lot of competitive applicants in the Bay Area.So what really would differentiate yourself is to understand the recruiting timeline.

For example, for accounting internships, they've already started opening positions for summer 2025.

So if you're on the lookout, if you have the radar, if you're in contact with recruiters, you can apply early when the positions are open and ready.

So that's my advice for international students. Just to plan ahead, understand the, the CPT and opt timelines, do the workshops and also give yourself a competitive advantage by understanding the recruiting timeline and when these jobs open, excellent.

Host: Those are super helpful and very practical tips for a student to keep in mind. Thank you so much as well for spending some time with us and walking us through your career plans, your goals and how you're making them reality through all the various resources and steps that you've been taking on campus and before you were even here at your home country.

So thank you so much.

Giselle: Yeah, thank you for having me.

Host: And now I'll be speaking with Angelica Gloria. Do you please mind introducing yourself what you studied at USF and where you're working at currently, 

Angelica: I am Angelica Gloria. I am from Mexico City at USF I did the International and Development Economics master program.
I graduated in May 2023. And right now I work at the California Public Utilities Commission in the Energy Division and I am a regular analyst.

I'm sure as international student yourself, our listeners are going to find your successful journey to work authorization here in the US very insightful.

I had the opportunity to stay in the United States, but I had to go after a, a, an internship to have those credits for, for my, for my thesis. So part of getting the internship was also a huge help.

My, my, my thesis advisor in the summer from first to second year.
So I worked with a CPT and that I got my CPT that, that moment and I worked for open research lab.

They were doing economic research when I was talking to my professors, one of them suggested, have you checked the California Public J this commission, I know they hire international they knew.

So I, I applied for, to CPUC, I started my opt process in February and by May, I had like my E AD card, everything that's going on.

I was just missing a job. So, again, it's, it's no shame to talk about this with your professors.Sometimes they don't know that we are on like a clock, you know, after your EAD gets, I was very, very transparent about this with my thesis advisor.

I worked as a research assistant during the summer.

There was a couple of months right before I got called back from CPUC. And in this two months, this two months, I applying as to as many jobs within the industry that I wanted.

That also limited my, my chances because I was after a very specific industry you mentioned so many insightful tips there. I did not even consider being open and upfront with your professors or your thesis director about your visa status because they can be an excellent resource as well to can make you connect to like potential the jobs or for them to, you know, offer you a research assistantship.

Host: That is a really great tip for international students to keep in mind for sure. I'm gonna try and do that for my own thesis. Yeah, definitely.

Angelica: When I, when I started talking to my professor, well, my thesis advisor about this, he, he didn't know he, he was really surprised about the time limits that we have and, and so he was like, wow, that's difficult.

Well, let me see if I can help you. So he actually was very, very nice and very helpful when you were getting closer to your graduation.

Host: Did you start to consider other options for your visa sponsorship? Were you able to bring up those conversations to your employer and where they readily, you know, receptive to that? 

Angelica: Yes, I am actually right now on my opt and I would have the opportunity to extend to stem opt.

However, CPUC doesn't sponsor stem opt, they do, however, sponsor H ONE B and in my case, because I'm from Mexico, the TN Visa, they knew they, they knew my status from the beginning.

From the first interview I I told them. I'm on opt.

Do you sponsor this by then? When I had my interview with them, I had, like, practice from so many other interviews.

Host: Do you said that you took advantage of the opt? We need to find a job that's within our study curriculum. It can't be like working at a coffee shop, just a job within 90 days. It has to be a job that falls under your course, practical training requirements. Oh, do you want to give us some 323 quick tips that students could keep in mind when they map their own pathway like you have after graduation to achieving their career goals.

Angelica: Sure. Number one attend to as many job fairs as you can.

Number two have all your documents with you like all your bachelor's diploma, bachelor's don't be afraid of getting no, I mean, you will receive re rejections and that's the day to day you, you have to be aware of that.

It doesn't say anything about you as a professional, doesn't say anything about you as a person.

It's just that's the way the process works, be comfortable with getting those rejections because eventually you will get a yes and that's the end.

Host: Yeah, of course. Excellent. I love that. Eventually you will get a yes. So keep trying. Thank you so much, Angelica for spending this time with us.

And I think the tips that you've not only the tips the conversation that we've had has been very practical and super insightful for all of our listeners to try and navigate their own journeys.

But keeping in mind some of the things that you highlighted for them and how you made it happen for you.So thank you so much for spending some time with us. I really appreciate it.

Angelica: You're welcome and anything you need, let me know.

Host:  Thank you, take car. As we come to a close, thank you so much, all of our listeners for tuning into another episode of Global Connections at USF. You can find all of our other conversations and resources listed below and on our podcast web pages, please also don't forget to follow us on Instagram at @USFCA.ISSS and share your comments, topic suggestions and if you'd like to participate in one of our upcoming episodes! See you next time.