Scholarship for USA » OPT http://www.scholarshipforusa.com Academic and employment resources for international students in the USA Fri, 31 Dec 2010 05:46:39 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Give Yourself 5 Months to Find a Job Before Your OPT Starts http://www.scholarshipforusa.com/2009/03/give-yourself-5-months-to-find-a-job-before-your-opt-starts/ http://www.scholarshipforusa.com/2009/03/give-yourself-5-months-to-find-a-job-before-your-opt-starts/#comments Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:27:47 +0000 Scholarship for USA http://www.scholarshipforusa.com/?p=679 Everyone knows that the US economy is in the pits and it is extremely difficult for anyone to find a job. Companies are laying off their workers by the thousands and those that are not have gone on a firing freeze. I was talking to a friend the other day who is responsible for interviewing candidates for a SQL programmer position that has opened up at her company. This is an entry level position. What surprised her was that candidates who had in excess of eight years of experience had applied for this entry level position. One candidate had eight years experience and a double Masters degree. They were all ready to work for $42000/year. The market is flooded with job seekers all vying for a few open positions. In such a market, it is very difficult for a recent college grad with little to no experience to find a job. Your problems increase ten fold if on top of being a recent college grad, you are also an international student who needs sponsorship to work in the US.

The Optional Practical Training (OPT) allows international students to work in the US for twelve months. If you are on a STEM major, then you are eligible to get a 17 month extension. However, there is a catch. If you are unemployed for more than 3 months combined during your OPT, then your OPT automatically gets cancelled and you will have to leave the US. Therefore, it is very important that you give yourself ample time to find a job before your OPT even starts. There is a way in which you can give yourself 5 months time to look for a job after you graduate and before you start your OPT. All this requires is a little planning in advance and some time management skills.

Before I explain any further, let me tell you some laws regarding international students that many of you probably already know. You have a sixty day grace period to leave the US after you graduate. If you choose to stay longer, you will need to get a new I-20 or apply for OPT before the sixty days are up. When you apply for OPT, you can set your OPT start date to be 3 months from the day you apply. Once you apply for OPT, you will be in status even if your sixty days are up.

I am sure most of you have caught on by now. The trick is to apply for OPT almost two months after you have graduated. In the application form, set you OPT start date to be three months from the application date. So the two months grace period plus the three months OPT processing time will give you five months. You can utilize these five months to look for a job which is much better than having your OPT in hand but no job offers.

I think a few words of caution are in order here. Don’t wait until the 60th day of your grace period to apply for the OPT. You may not have all your paperwork in order or the day might fall on a weekend. Its too risky. Give yourself at least a week of slack time to apply for the OPT. Also, immigration laws change all the time. Make sure you speak to your Designated School Official (DSO) about your plans way in advance so you don’t get any nasty surprises later on when its time for you to file your application.

Do you know of any other ways that international students can utilize their OPT work permit effectively? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Further reading: Companies that Hire International Students & Sponsor H1B

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