An International Student's Guide To Networking

You apply for a job opening and you’re selected for an interview. “Finally,” you think to yourself, “the opportunity that I’ve been waiting for.” You prepare for the interviews, eagerly awaiting the day when you can say you’ve landed a job.

During the interview, the recruiter asks questions that you’re prepared for:

Tell me about yourself.

Why are you interested in this role?

Why this company?

You nail those questions. However, the one question you were dreading comes up at the end:

“Do you require sponsorship?”

The interview ends, and you receive an email a few days later with a rejection letter.

A feeling of defeat overcomes you as you wonder why you didn’t get the position. Was it the answers to the interview questions? Was it because you require sponsorship?

Have you felt this way as an International Student trying to find a job? Throughout the past few years, I’ve worked with several international students who have felt this way and who have amazing talent, experience, and potential but are filtered out because they require sponsorship.

In this article, I’ll go into full detail about how you can put yourself in the best position as an International Student. By providing this article, I hope that you'll be able to turn from an underdog into a winner.

Identifying Companies Who Sponsor

The first part of your search should be identifying companies who sponsor International Students. You can identify these companies by looking at external sites that provide insight on which ones do.

E-Verify (Credit to Maria Fernandes)

• E-Verify is a web-based system that allows enrolled employers to confirm the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States. E-Verify employers verify the identity and employment eligibility of newly hired employees by electronically matching information provided by employees on the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, against records available to the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
• Simply go to E-Verify Employers and search the Business name, Primary Industry Type, Hiring Site Locations by (state), and account status.

Example; Business Name: Cisco, Hiring Site: California, Account Status: Open

My Visa Jobs

• Gives an overview of types of USA visas and new jobs hiring for H1B Visas
• Go to “New Jobs” and search LCA for whichever employer you’re interested in.

Nova Credit

An article that goes over what is a H-1B visa, qualifying for the H-1B visa, top companies that sponsor H-1B visas, finding companies to sponsor your H-1B visa, and other takeaways.

Finding Professionals Who Come From International Backgrounds

Reaching Out To International Professionals

How do you find professionals who come from International backgrounds?

Groups: Wonsulting International Underdogs Turned Winner Page. The Wonsulting international underdogs turned winner page has 2,000+ members which consists of students and professionals from International backgrounds.

• Go through the group members and find people who work at the company you’re interested in. Simply go through the list and then CTRL + F = Cisco to find all those who work at the company. Let’s say you’re interested in working in the Tech Industry at Cisco (Shameless plug). You’ll find people who currently work for the company in the group. To identify if they come from an International Background, go to their profile and check their “Education”. Why? See below.

If you take a look at their Education, International Students/Professionals usually take their Bachelors in their homeland and come to the States/other locations for their Masters/MBA. Select their Bachelor’s university and check which location it’s in.

As seen through this picture, this person went to university in Mysore, Karnataka which is located in India. Thus, we can assume that they come from an International Background!

Send them a personalized invite

After identifying the professionals, always send a personalized invite. Why?

• Introduces yourself: Gives a quick background of who you are.
• No one does it; most people simply click “connect” without adding a note. Do this to stand out!

Personalized Invite Structure:

International Underdogs Into Winners Group Reach Out

• Hi (Name), hope you’re staying safe during these times! My name is (your name), (position/occupation/university). I saw that you’re part of the International Underdogs Into Winners Community group. Coming from an international background, I’d love to connect with you to share stories and insights. Thank you!
• Example: Hi Jerry, hope you’re staying safe during these times! My name is Jonathan Javier, 4th year Marketing Student at Texas A&M. I saw that you’re part of the International Underdogs Into Winners Community group. Coming from an international background, I’d love to connect with you to share stories and insights. Thank you!

Company Inquiry Reach Out

• Hi (Name), hope you’re staying safe during these times! My name is (your name), (position/occupation/university). I saw that you come from an international background and now work at (company). Coming from an international background, I’d love to connect with you to share stories and insights. Thank you!
• Example: Hi Jerry, hope you’re staying safe during these times! My name is Jonathan Javier, 4th year Marketing Student at Texas A&M. I saw that you come from an international background and now work at Cisco. Coming from an international background, I’d love to connect with you to share stories and insights. Thank you!

Conducting a Profile Analysis

Check their About Section

In their About Section, they will have a quick background of who they are and may have the following information:

• Their career story
• What they’re passionate about
• What skills/experiences they have
• Their contact information

In the example above, I’ve separated it into sections after doing an analysis on their About Section on how to reach out: 

• Section 1: Hi (Name), thanks for connecting with me on LinkedIn! Really appreciate connecting with a (student/professional/recruiter) from an International Background.
• Section 2: Quick background about myself: (Talk about your International Background Story and tie in something you found interesting about their profile)
• Section 3: I’d love to chat with you sometime regarding your story and how you were able to make it into your respective career. Please let me know if you’d be available to chat, as I can be flexible based on your schedule. Thank you for your time!

Example:

• Section 1: Hi Jerry, thanks for connecting with me on LinkedIn! Really appreciate connecting with a professional from an International Background.
• Section 2: Quick background about myself: I’m a first generation student who came from the Philippines in 2017 not knowing what to expect when I attended university in the United States. Although there have been many challenges and struggles coming from an international background, I was always determined, focused, and committed to learning, leading and leveraging ideas and outcomes just as you have.
• Section 3: I’d love to chat with you sometime regarding your story and how you were able to make it into your respective career. Please let me know if you’d be available to chat, as I can be flexible based on your schedule. Thank you for your time!

Why do you do this?

1. You’re showing you did your research on their profile and are acknowledging that they’re not only from an International Background but you are too.
2. You openly share vulnerability and your story, which can be relatable to the professional.
3. You tie in their About Section to how it applies to your own story/experiences.

The Phone Chat/Informational Interview

Ask questions such as:

• Tell me about your story coming from your homeland to the States.
• What are some struggles you faced as an International Student, and how did you overcome them?
• How were you able to get your foot in the door at (company)? 
• How do you get into (company) as an International Student?
• What are some benefits of being international within (company)?
• Can you tell me about a time when your international background helped you make a major contribution at (company)?

How to Get a Referral + Insight

During the last part of your chat, say this:

• "Hi (name), thanks for taking time to speak with me. As mentioned during our chat and my experience, I'm interested in (function) at (company). While on your careers website, I came across the (role) at (company). I'd love to get my foot in the door. How do I get an interview?"

Two scenarios can happen:

1. Person will say "I can refer you"
2. Person will give you advice on how to get an interview

If the 2nd scenario happens, say this:

• "Thank you for the advice. Who would you suggest I connect with that would know more about the role?'

By doing this, you can speak with another person and repeat the same cycle (from above).

Overview

• Before your chat: research positions to reference that are applicable to your experience. Know what you want and have an "ask".
• During your chat: ask questions where you can exemplify your experience/interest.
• After your chat: send a thank you/follow-up.

Follow-Up Structure

• Hi (name), thank you so much for taking time to chat with me! I really appreciate how you spoke about your story, specifically (what you found interesting about their story). I’m looking forward to what the future holds and hope that I can follow in your footsteps as an International Student.
• Hi Jerry, thank you so much for taking time to chat with me! I really appreciate how you spoke about your story, specifically how you immigrated from Korea when you were 2 years old and were the first to go to college just as I was. I’m looking forward to what the future holds and hope that I can follow in your footsteps as an International Student.

International Students To Follow (Wonsulting Mentees)

• Alvin Meledath: Alvin is all about community building; he currently leads our Wonsulting International Community and has worked on many initiatives including our #ProudToStandOut challenge and more!
• Basant Shenouda: Basant is the Founder of Basant Blast and is an Incoming LinkedIn BLP Associate. She has accumulated 24,000+ followers on LinkedIn through her content regarding her career journey as an International Student, having spoken at events with thousands of attendees. #BasantBlast
• Sang Le: Sang is a current student at University of British Columbia currently interning at ecobee in Product Marketing and Product + Growth at Jupiter. She previously worked at Cisco, LinkedIn and ZaloPlay.
• Olaseni Adeniji: Olaseni is currently interning as a Product Manager at Microsoft and work on product management initiatives at Wonsulting. His story is inspirational, coming from Nigeria and currently attending University of the District of Columbia and President of NSBE UDC.
• Sol Bee Park: Sol Bee is a graduate from University of California Berkeley (2019) with an interest in Product Design. She currently works as the Marketing & Design Lead for Wonsulting, working on all social media including LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. She previously worked as a Marketing Coordinator at Dang Foods and other marketing positions.
• Heidi Chen: Heidi is a recent graduate from the University of California Riverside and currently works at Free Logic Media as a Digital Strategist. She creates LinkedIn content with her hashtag #heidivelopment and is always giving back to her communities through initiatives.
• Tanya Raja: Tanya is currently a student at University of British Columbia and working as a Business Strategy Analyst at Wonsulting. She currently interns as a Digital Strategy Engineering Co-op for UBC Engineering and is an aspiring consultant who has built relationships with many companies/organizations.
• Chris Dang: Chris is a currently an Economics student at UCLA and Product team Lead for GenZ Designs. He lived in Vietnam for 14 years before moving to the states, being involved in multiple communities across UCLA and extracurriculars.
• Blessing Adogame: Blessing is a current student at Drexel University and interning at Microsoft as a Product Manager. She is the Founder of Boundless Brand and Co-Founder of Students of LinkedIn with her hashtag #BoundlessBlessing which has helped hundreds in their goals/endeavors.
• Ledornubari Nwilene: Ledo is a current student at Drexel University and is the definition of a community leader/story teller. She is a 2020 Google Women Techmakers Scholar and Adobe Research Women-in-Tech Scholar as well as a Regional Leader for Rewriting the Code. She interned at JPMorgan as a Digital Analyst, Co-Founder of Students of LinkedIn, and Forbes Under 30 Scholar.
• Richard Clement Kusuma: Richard is a recent graduate from UCLA with internship experience at Slickdeals in Business Development, Okta as a Partners Intern, and Accenture in Tech Consulting. He was also an International Student Ambassador at UCLA representing Indonesia.

Conclusion

Although not limited to International Students, I hope that these strategies can be utilized by you to get into your career. Wonsulting is here for you, and I hope that we can turn you from an underdog into a winner, especially during these times.

--

About the Author: Jonathan Javier currently the CEO/Founder of Wonsulting, which mission is to “turn underdogs into winners” and leads Professional Development for Cisco’s Early Career Network. He's also worked in Strategy and Operations team at Snap, Google, and Cisco. He works on many initiatives, providing advice and words of wisdom on LinkedIn and through speaking engagements. In total, he has led 120+ workshops in 8 different countries including the Mena ICT Forum in Jordan, Resume/Personal Branding at Cisco, LinkedIn Strategy & Operations Offsite, Great Place To Work, Talks at Google, and more. He's amassed 45,000+ followers on LinkedIn as well as 15+ million impressions yearly on his content. He's helped thousands of International Students turn from underdogs into winners in their careers.

If you’re interested in getting into your dream career, helping underdogs turn into winners, or our Wonsulting Services such as Resume Revisions, LinkedIn Strategies, Job Search Strategy/Opportunities, or Interview Prep, please send an email to hello@wonsulting.com or visit wonsulting.com. Would love to see how we can work with you and turn you into a winner 😊

Resources:

• Wonsulting Website
• Wonsulting Job Board
• Wonsulting Video

#JWoW #Wonsulting