Alumni Job Search Stories

Degree: B.E.E., Electrical Engineering
Graduation Date: Fall 2019
Employer: VSI Labs
What was helpful for your career development? Being involved in Small World Coffee Hour. I learned leadership and communication skills that impressed my employer.

Degree: B.S.B. MIS, CSOM 
Graduation Date: May 2014 
Employer: A Power-generation Product Firm (MN)
Position: IT Business Analyst

What is your job?

I am an IT business analyst in a power-generation project company.

How did you get the job? 

I followed the on-campus recruiting process. I met with them at the Career Fair, and attended the information session after that. We interviewed on campus for the first round, and then had the second round interview over the phone almost 6 months later.

What was helpful for your career development?

All schools at the University offer Career Services, and they have these wonderful services that no one knows about. They check your resume and make it more suitable for your major, and you can talk to them about what you're looking for. Having a job right after school isn't for everyone; some people want to do research or they want to do graduate school. Career Services can really look at your resume and tailor it according to what you want.

What advice do you have for current international students?

Start early! Know what you're going for because, like I said, getting a job after school isn't for everyone. Start getting in touch with people early and use the resources, your colleges and career coaches. Start building your network and reach out to people. The response rate isn't going to be a hundred percent for informational interviews but keep at it. The more time you spend on it, the better you get.

Degree: B.S. Computer Science, CSE
Graduation Date: May 2014
Employer: A Software Development Company (MN)
Position: Software Developer 

What is your job?

My job is developing programs to help providers efficiently distribute energy to people. I work as a program developer. I am developing and debugging and learning other things.

How did you get the job?

I regularly attended career fairs with friends and asked a fair amount of questions (to the employers there), like: "What are some positions left to be filled?" "Do you sponsor international students?" "I want to further study about mobile phones. How much investment have you been making?" "Is this area promising?" "What is hot in the field these days?" I asked diverse questions and gained important tips.

What was most helpful for your career development?

Some good companies come to campus and invited students to interviews. I had conversations with them on my expertise and experience, like what I am good at and what I have tried working on. If they like some of the students, they ask for a formal interview the next day. Talking to employers was very helpful.

What advice do you have for current international students?

Students need to prepare well for job search by learning how to interview and write resume. Like in our field, students need to keep studying programing problems. It is good to spend a lot of time to prepare. International students also need to be distinguished from other Americans in order to be even considered. It is helpful to have some practical capabilities, like showing homepages or application you made or something to appeal your abilities and specialties. But I know it is very difficult. All the seniors I know applied for A LOT of jobs. Compared to how much we applied, it is a small number of interviews that we had. So do not give up until the end. Think of applying for 200 jobs.

Degree: B.S. Mechanical Engineering, CSE 
Graduation Date: May 2012 
Employer: An Engineering Company (CA)
Position: Sprinkler System Designer

What is your job?

I am a sprinkler system designer. I design new sprinkler system, the automatic fire extinguisher systems in new or existing buildings.

How did you get the job?

I started an internship in 2011 and when I graduated, they offered me a full-time job. I moved to California for a different company, but I have the same job.

What was helpful for your career development?

For me, friends were most helpful. One of my friends got a job in a company, and he recommended me to his boss. He helped me with knowing all about their company. I went to career centers on campus too, but I got the best results when I consulted with my friends in the field in terms of securing interviews. I met my friends in class, and we were together in a computer lab all the time. We went out together and got really close. Most of my friends were born here in the U.S., and they were the most helpful for my job search.

What advice do you have for current international students?

Make friends! Be friends with classmates or meet people in campus events. I went out with classmates and got to be their friends. Friendship happens outside of class.

Besides that, I would say 'Don't give up'. There are many turn downs, and you could doubt yourself. But really keep trying until you get an offer. Being persistent is really important when you job search.

Another tip is to be flexible and take the opportunity that comes first because that can get you to another opportunity. You need to be balanced between what you want to do and what comes to you.

Degree: B.S.B. Accounting, CSOM
Graduation Date: May 2014
Employer: A Social Media Company (China)
Position: Analyst

What is your job?

I support the entire sales team by doing some data analysis, but I also work closely with our manager, who is basically in charge of the sales team and the whole HR unit of the organization. I do his scheduling, his meeting minutes, and anything that I can do to support the sales team.

How did you get the job?

I talked to my mentor, and he said that I should use my connections on LinkedIn, so I went to their website and found out that they were hiring people from China. Then I reached out to their HR, and they said that they were hiring people in Beijing. So I emailed them my resume. So I waited for interview and they got back to me.

What was helpful for your career development?

Mentors were helpful. They told me to use connections to ask for referrals. Thinking back now, I needed to hear that I should be patient and have faith in myself. I wasn't looking for any opportunities from them directly; I was looking for some comforting from them, basically, to tell me that I have the strengths and I should wait for the job that I was looking for. The support from mentors was helpful.

What advice do you have for current international students?

They should start building good relationships or connections with whom they have met on campus, especially their professors, mentors and classmates. Also, they should start making connections in school, whether it is at career fairs or any other professional events. Whether they are looking for jobs in the U.S. or they plan to move back to their home country, they should maintain those relationships with people in the U.S. just for better international connections.

Degree: B.S.B. Accounting, CSOM
Graduation Date: May 2012
Employer: A Social Media Management Software Company (NY)
Position: Associate Analyst

What is your job?

I am an analyst within my company's Strategy & Analytics department. I provide our clients with a range of services ranging from strategic frameworks around how to utilize social media to achieve business objectives to actually analyzing complex data sets to garner insights into how audiences perceive a particular brand.

How did you get the job?

I cold-contacted several industry professionals in the Social Media space, one of whom ended up referring me to a position within the company. The position wasn't even made public at the time and my background in Accounting was, certainly, out of the ordinary, but fortunately I was able to show how my skillsets were directly applicable to the position.

What was helpful for your career development?

Building relationships with different groups of people was most helpful for me. I joined several cultural groups and a Fraternity during my freshman year, and I met a lot of the people who were successful in their respective fields. It helped me both with my technical and interpersonal skills. These experiences forced me to grow as a leader and get used to operating in high-pressure environments; a lot of these extra-curricular activities were actually harder than my schoolwork!  Answering the interview question "Tell us a time when you experienced...." became easy as I had plenty of stories to pull from.

What advice do you have for current international students?

Figure out a general direction of what you want to do early on and how the visa rules impact that. Don't just learn the mechanics of the job search process (writing a resume, applying, etc.) but be genuinely curious of the fields you may be entering. Recruiters will definitely spot you if you come to an interview without real questions for them... This signals that you're just applying to get any job you can vs. expressing a real interest. Finally, build experiences... not resume bullet points. These will give you the necessary background/skillsets to pull from and get you comfortable in sharing your story with people.

Degree: B.S. Biology, CBS
Graduation Date: May 2012
Employer: A Biochemistry Laboratory (MN)
Position: Lab Assistant (part-time)

What is your job?

I am a lab assistant for a biochemistry laboratory. It is a part-time job while I am preparing to get into a graduate school. I am volunteering in a hospital as I would like to study public health in near future.

How did you get the job?

I found my current position at the UMN Health Care Job Fair through advertisement and recruiting people. I asked questions about the job. They said that if I had certain document to work in the U.S. then I could apply.

What was helpful for your career development?

Recruiters were not familiar with my visa situation, so I came to ISSS to know about Optional Practical Training (OPT) and researched online myself too. It was hard, because I told them I have a student visa and recruiters were not sure if their work could work with my visa status. I had to come to ISSS for information and explain it to HR. They then said 'Oh okay'. The ISSS and USCIS websites are helpful for this matter.

What advice do you have for current international students?

International students can start off volunteering to gain some experiences and learn about work environment here. Later on for paying jobs, they will need to know about Curricular Practical Training (CPT) and OPT, they will need to be able to explain the related regulations to recruiters or employers.

Degree: B.S.B. Accounting, Finance and MIS, CSOM  
Graduation Date: May 2015
Employer: A Consulting Firm (MN)
Position: ERS Consultant

What is your job?

I am a consultant focusing on technology risks. I advise on the company's financial information systems based on compliance requirements and risk appetite.

How did you get the job?

Through a series of networking events and with my previous consulting internship experiences, I was recruited as an intern. The company extended my appointment with a full-time offer, and I accepted it.

What was most helpful for your career development?

I used numerous resources to help me along the way. The most beneficial one, I believe, is the Undergraduate Business Career Center in Carlson. The staff members were helpful, and the opportunities they provided were invaluable. They organized some mentorship events, which I believe were very helpful to my career search. With my mentors, I was able to explore various career paths.

In addition to the career resources, I was involved in numerous on-campus and off-campus professional organizations. I obtained invaluable experiences through these involvements, which enhanced my skills and knowledge.

What advice do you have for current international students?

My advice for current international students would be to get involved. I realized that some students are too intimidated to break out of their social circles. It is important to discover something that you are interested in. Finding people with same or similar interests and drive that passion into success is very critical. Being engaged in activities that are challenging will help one grow.