Advice for international student aiming for unpaid Winter internship
Hey guys,
I am an international student and am in the process of sending out mass emails to IBs to see if they are willing to take on an unpaid intern for the winter session (Dec/Jan - 4 weeks). The goal is to impress them and perhaps land a summer SA position.
However, I am on an F1 Visa. I have a few questions to those who have been in a similar situation
1) Do you think that applying for OPT to get 4 weeks of work authorization is feasible at this point if I do secure a position? How long did it take you to go through the the whole process?
2) Do you think IBs would take on an unpaid intern who do not have work authorization? aka I'll be sort of an 'informal' unpaid intern. How feasible is my plan?
Would appreciate some advice.
you don't need opt for unpaid.
Hey jec, thats what i thought when i was accepted to my pwm sophormore summer internship (Merrill). Later I found that they required authorization even though it was unpaid. I had to rush and get a CPT. Now I'd like to find out if IBs are as strict for unpaid interns.
Here is the deal:
1) You DO need an OPT or CPT even if it's unpaid. Takes ~2-3 months to get it. You can get CPT if the internship is a part of the curriculum, and you already have an offer.
2) They will. Unpaid internship does not require any paper trace from the bank, and most do not have a clue about immigration nuances. If you get it that way, you will not be able to put your internship on the resume when they will start your H1B process, because that would be a violation. This in turn can make things more difficult for your employer justifying why they need to hire you for the position instead of an American.
3) Theoretically, all unpaid banking internships are violations of labor laws. Most are not "internships" in a sense of DOL term. In terms of DOL they are "unpaid employment". If you are a foreigner, you are scrutinized a lot more, so you risk a lot more if it surfaces. As a foreigner on F1 you cannot do anything off campus without OPT or CPT, you can only do useless volunteering - like feeding the bums. Anything that involves any benefit to you (even in terms of experience you can put on your resume) is illegal employment.
P.S. Illegal employment will get you deported if you get caught, and depending on circumstances you might get up to a lifetime ban on entry to the US.
Etherlord,
Thanks for the input. To build on what you wrote, does this mean that if I do get an unpaid winter internship, which leads to a summer position then a FT offer, this could make things difficult when applying for H1B, however it won't affect chances of me getting a SA position (or a FT)? Say I get a FT offer, would it be possible to provide the firm with a new resume that excludes the winter internship for use when they sponsor my H1B?
Yes. Unofficial unpaid internship can get you in the door. Then you'll apply for CPT/OPT for your official Summer Analyst Internship. And the later will be the one that you'll put on your resume when the company will petition for your H1B.
P.S. We are discussing a hypothetical situation, of course. I'm not giving you advice. Getting an internship without a CPT/OPT is illegal (unless it's part of your class curriculum AND unpaid).
hey moneymonger - how did this work out for you? I am in a similar boat i.e. international student too looking to get experience. in my case, no chance of the cpt as i am a poli sci major [i've decided against law school and am now looking at breaking into the business sector]. let me know man; would be very helpful to hear your experience/insights with this.
Pack your suitcases, son. IBD in the US ain't gonna happen. Neither will anything remotely corporate. I'd say go practice consulting cases, but I see you are a nontarget, so forget it.
Your only chance to stay in the US might be working for some wacky nonprofit (Ayn Rand Institute? Center for American Progress? Black Panther Party?) if you get lucky. That's apart from getting married to an American citizen, of course.
American citizen sounds nice. where do i sign up for the mail order bride catalogue for a nice southern belle? besides, black panther party is not quite my style unfortunately.
but in all seriousness, thanks for the reality check/hard news. why do you say though that anything remotely corporate is out of question? do you think i would stand a better shot if i came through duke's mms program? i.e. their brand + the skills from the program [no matter how lite it may be considered + the international student issue. Ideally one of those graduate leadership/rotational programs that most f500's have for undergrads that is semi-management track.
here's a url to my resume if that might help give a better picture. hopefully, no more bad news mate! http://www.razume.com/documents/30041
Because it is almost impossible to get an H1B with, for example, a marketing major because it is not considered specialized enough. Pol. sci. is even less specialized and needed in any company. So why would a company bother?
To get an H1B you have to be: a) a specialist with education matching the specialized position exactly; b) there should be no Americans with similar or better qualification in line for the position. As you probably realize, neither of these conditions will work in your favor.
On Duke and F500 rotation - yeah, that would be very helpful. You'll have a relevant degree, you'll get 12 months of OPT for the F500 rotation, and then you can leverage that experience and education in your H1B application.
Do you reckon the Duke Masters and having 12 months with the F500 will help with the h1b application? i.e. will it least meet the standard of specialisation? I'd suppose by virtue of being hired, the f500 would be implying that I'm the best candidate for the job i.e. no other American who applied was?
Were you in a similar spot i.e. needing to get a h1b? Could you tell me what your path was? You're in corporate finance right? How did you get into that [if you needed a h1b too]?
Anything else in general you reckon I could do to give myself a better shot of getting a job + h1b. I've got about 15 months till I would start the duke program so I am trying to get the best preparation/skill-set/qualifications I can have so I'll be a good prospect come 2015 when I'd be looking to start a job.
Also - what about graduate certificate programs, in like finance or management or marketing? Would they help in giving me more specialisation? I know T'Bird does them online in a 3 for the price of 2 deal, and so to do a lot of Ivy's and Berkeley too. I know they are generally trashed at other places on WSO but would they have any value in this context?
Thanks again etherlord. I really appreciate your help.
1) Graduate degree in management and a year of experience will definitely help with H1B requirements for an entry level managerial position. 2) No. That's what they have to prove to immigration authorities in order for you to get H1B 3) Yes. I have multiple graduate degrees (including a PhD and an MBA), and landed an offer from a biotech company, where this combo was very handy. 4) Nothing in particular. Do the same stuff that Americans do to land a position. Just keep in mind that the deck is seriously stacked against you in their favor. 5) They won't. Legit bachelors or a legit graduate degree with some kind of specialty occupation as a major is what counts, unless you have tons of relevant experience (which you won't).
Thanks ether. Am well aware the odds are stacked against me, but oh well, that is part of the American dream for the non-americans haha. Last question re. no5) Duke's MMS - considered a legit graduate degree?
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