Post-graduation Career

Haochen (Andy) Long

As an international student graduating and entering the workforce soon, I feel the pressure and anxiety of transitioning from my identity as a student to a young professional. In fact, this type of confusion and stress is commonly shared in the international student community as they leave college and move on to the next stages of their life. While domestic college graduates also have to face similar challenges, there are some unique elements in this process that contribute to the mental health concerns of international students. Therefore, international students, myself included, often find the post-graduation transition process extra difficult and intimating, which calls for support systems and resources. 

In the 2013 research journal, Key Relationships for International Student University-to-Work Transitions, a survey study revealed that “approximately 70% of international students reported that they would like to remain in this country permanently post-graduation” (Popadiuk, Arthur, 2013). As a member of this international student group trying to gain more work experience in the country, I am also experiencing a series of obstacles. For instance, international students often have a harder time securing a job and need to deal with legal processes around OPT/CPT applications and sponsorships. Optional Practical Training (OPT) and Curricular Practical Training (CPT) refer to a period during which F-1 students are permitted by the USCIS to work for one year on a student visa towards getting training to complement their education. Besides, international students also have a more challenging life adapting to a working lifestyle. They have significantly fewer support systems and resources in workplaces than in college since they lack familial support and possess minimal social and cultural capital compared to their domestic peers. 

The research found mainly six effective relationships that could help alleviate the stressful situation and improve the mental morale of international students. The first element is to build strong friendships that incentivize and support the student’s decision to stay. The second and third factors are obtaining collective support in career-decision making and opportunities-seeking from families, supervisors, and mentors. Next, it is also crucial for international students to establish relational networks that could help with hunting down their first job, which is often the hardest first step to launching a career. Lastly, the study revealed that most students that have been successful in this transition process have developed helpful connections early in their undergraduate programs and have received mentorship from international alumni as their role models (Popadiuk, Arthur, 2013). 

Figure: UCSB Career Fair

I resonated with these six elements as I have personally experienced the importance of having these relationships in my own job-hunting process. For example, I benefited greatly from the connections and networks I developed with my accounting professors and Economics department faculty, who offered me invaluable insights and advice in securing a job and building an impressive professional image in the financial industry. I also actively searched out and utilized career resources on campus, such as Career Services, Handshakes, Career Connections, and other professional student organizations. Moreover, I also found it helpful to just talk about and share my career plans with friends and families. It is often the conversations that inspire me to make key decisions in the career planning and development process.

Therefore, as an international student advisory board, we should continue exploring ways to better assist our international gauchos in their post-graduation transition process by helping them develop these beneficial relationships and support systems. ISAB and the Office of International Students and Scholars have already made impressive progress toward achieving this goal by offering more career-related and professionally focused advising services. Our next step could be to build annual workshops that offer career path planning and case-building help in international students’ third and fourth years of studies, which are the most critical periods for undergraduate students’ professional development. By fostering these connections and relationships, we could help effectively improve the post-graduation experience of our global gauchos.

Reference 

Popadiuk NE, Arthur NM. Key Relationships for International Student University-to-Work 

Transitions. Journal of Career Development. 2014;41(2):122-140. 

doi:10.1177/0894845313481851