"You don't sound like a foreigner," an interviewer for a consulting firm said to Michaela Jacova '05, who listed English as a second language. But accents can be deceiving. Jacova speaks fluent Czech along with English and her native Slovak.
Like many other international students, Jacova left her homeland to attend school and find work in the United States.
Jacova, a Wilson School major, is knee-deep in the uncertain and often unsettling task of finding postgraduate employment. For the next few years, she said she hopes to work in consulting, business or research, and then pursue a law degree before returning to Slovakia's diplomatic corps.
Seniors often juggle schoolwork with interviews and career information sessions — hoping to land a job before thesis work intensifies — and international students are no different.
While interviewing with a Venezuela-based oil company, Shern Frederick '05 explained how his international background helps him relate to different types of people.
Frederick, an ORFE major pursuing certificates in finance and engineering and management systems left Trinidad to study at Princeton. He said he hopes to stay in the United States or Canada — where he also has citizenship — to work in finance or consulting.
Piqued by his international background and experience, interviewers asked Frederick about carnival in Trinidad and wanted to know more about his travel experiences in Venezuela as a member of the Sea Scouts — an ocean-based organization affiliated with Boy Scouts of America.
The ability to adapt to other cultures, fluency in several languages and extensive travel experience work to the advantage of many international students who are looking for employment.
But for international students, the process can be a bit murkier than for U.S. citizens.
Not all employers are willing to obtain work visas for non-U.S. citizens. Regulations also limit the number of work visas, which international students must acquire to stay in the country before their student visa terminates. Only 60,000 work permits are available per year.
Jacova said difficulties in finding employment often depend upon the field.
"I think it is a huge problem for international students majoring in humanities and social sciences," she said. "I suppose it is much easier to find a job if you are in science and engineering."
Global firms, she added, can also be more amenable to hiring international students.
"Working for an American company does not necessarily mean that you work in New York City," Jacova said. "Foreign offices of these global firms are eager to hire people with local knowledge and excellent education."
Frederick said he believes international students have another recourse in large firms.
"The top firms don't have a problem sponsoring the visas," Frederick said. "I would say some of the smaller firms are the ones that limit their jobs to internationals."
Job limitations
Rachel Baldwin, assistant dean of undergraduate students and undergraduate international student adviser, is responsible for advising international students on visa and immigration matters as well as helping to maintain the students' legal status as they travel and work throughout their undergraduate years.
She said many not-for-profit organizations only offer positions for U.S. citizens.
"It's unfortunately a problem many universities have because of the programs that they're choosing," she said.
For Jacova, who has studied economic development and national security, the doors to many government positions are closed.
"Of course, all the U.S. government jobs are unavailable, including some exciting opportunities such as in the foreign service and intelligence jobs," she said. "Also, many think tanks and nonprofits require citizenship or permanent residency."
International students are also deprived of some of the resources offered by the University to graduating students.
"Needless to say, as an international student, I am not eligible for most of the grants and fellowships offered to Princeton students," Jacova said.
Mehmet Paksoy '05, an economics major who is also contending for a consulting or investment banking job, hopes to return to his native Turkey after 10 or 15 years working in the United States.
"I'd say there's pressure to stay in United States from my family and some of my friends," said Paksoy. "They just think working in the United States is an opportunity that I shouldn't pass by."
U.S. regulations set limitations on this opportunity for many international students.
The student visa covers four years of study at Princeton in addition to 112 months of optional practical training (OPT). The government approves OPT time — which is used for off-campus summer internships in the United States — based on whether it relates to the student's course of study. Any remaining OPT time goes toward the student's residence in the United States post-graduation.
The primary reason employers prioritze U.S. citizens is the high cost of verifying and approving a work visa, Baldwin said.
Employers may also be deterred because the United States government limits the total number of work visas, she added.
Employers also take into account the nature of their work, the client environment and their own hiring policies, said Beverly Hamilton-Chandler, director of Career Services.
Career opportunities
Career Services has tried to accommodate the special interests of international students, she said.
"Our counselors have offered programs to international students on all aspects of the job search for both summer and post-graduation employment," she said.
There are many opportunities out there for international students, Baldwin said.
"It's just a matter of getting the information posted where students can see," she added.
Baldwin said she hopes to create a more integrated relationship with Career Services to ease the job search process for international students.
The International Center in Frist also reaches out to students, offering career-themed seminars in conjunction with Career Services and the Consortium of International Center Student Organizations. The seminars focus on subjects like "networking for your job search and beyond" and "mastering the interview."
Adapting to America
International students are constantly engaged in the process of reconciling American cultural attitudes with their own background and personality, said Paula Chow, director of the International Center.
"The longer you stay here, you learn to accommodate differences or fuse them and become bi-cultural," Chow said.
One of these differences, she noted, is that "Americans want people to sell themselves."
Paksoy said this cultural gap has affected his interviews.
"Coming from a more reserved background, sometimes I find it hard to make a quick impression on people during the interviews," Paksoy said.
International students may also have difficulty relating to the interviewer's life experience, he added.
Jacova agreed, saying she too sees a difference in how international students approach the job search process.
"I was advised by one of the interviewers from a consulting firm to be more confident about my credentials and accomplishments during the interview and presumed that my attitude was largely affected by cultural differences," Jacova said.
Yet there are also many advantages to having an international background, setting many international candidates apart from their American counterparts.
"Being international also gives you more stories to tell, stories that the interviewer has never heard before," said Frederick. "It's always more exciting for me to talk about myself, why I chose Princeton, etc., because it's often times for a reason that people have never heard before.
For Frederick, the hassle of the job search process is well worth the trouble.
"The United States is the place that I feel I can be best compensated for the skills that I have developed, as I think the job market here is a meritocracy," he said. "With the skills I can acquire here I can return to my native country and enter an organization at an extremely higher level."
"Altogether, being international is a plus," he added.
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