Long time lurker here. Should def contribute more to WSO going forward.
I was wondering if any of you did buy side recruiting while on OPT. Any advice?
With the headhunter meeting season kicking off, I’m trying to plan out how to best approach them. Ofc I’ll be straight with them concerning the Visa situation.
Background: target, lower BB, looking for tech/consumer growth equity / late stage VC / corpdev at tech, geography agnostic
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Generally speaking, PE firms tend to fall into 3 categories 1 - want to recruit the best talent available and is willing to do whatever it takes (ie. will recruit people on OPT) 2 - want to recruit the best talent available and is willing to go through some extra work and incur some additional costs in order to recruit the best candidate as long as there's a reasonable expectation that the candidate can obtain his / her work authorization by the start date (ie. willing to recruit internationals as long as they have already secured a H1B or has access to easier Visa (ie. Canadians, Australians, Singaporeans)) 3 - does not want to deal with internationals.
In my experience, most funds will fall in the 2nd category with a significant numbers of funds in the third category and a handful in the first. I am assuming you were unsuccessful with your petition last year and your bank will try again this April. Assuming that's right, it cause a bit of an issue with timing as recruiting keep starting earlier and earlier (and will 100% kick off before April) so I would be truthful when asked about your status and reinforce the fact that you should be able to get the H1B and port it to your PE job (which is easy and straightforward). Obviously, with the odds at ~30%, anyone hiring you before you actually land the Visa is taking a pretty significant risk so don't be surprised if you get limited traction until you actually have the Visa secured.
Appreciate the reply. Been talking to headhunters these days, and that's the feeling I got as well. Relaying what I heard from them for anyone who's going through the same process:
Most smaller firms wouldn't consider internationals, unless they're EMEA / Asia focused to begin with. It's case-by-case basis anywhere between $1bn and the megas. And most megas sponsor. This year recruiting kicks off early to mid Jan, shoot for off-cycle or try again next year Shoot for opportunities outside of US, those are usually off-cycle anyways
If I am an Australian / Singaporean with access to their "easier" visas but am still currently on OPT, would most megafunds/MM firms still be willing to consider me? My understanding with these visas is that even if I obtain the Visa at my current firm, I would still have to reapply when I get a new position due to the change in employer - do firms care about that at all? Because in effect, unless I'm misunderstanding, the visas mean nothing if I have to reapply after switching firms.
Would the same also apply to private debt / credit positions?
Thanks!
I'm not an expert on the topic (so other feel free to correct me if necessary), but here's what I gathered from Singaporean / Aussie friends. Singaporeans get a special quota for H1B (5,4000 annually) and they usually do not get all taken so no lottery and you get your visa. H1Bs can be ported to a new employer with limited paperwork.
Aussies have access to a special visa (E3) that function like an H1B, but have a separate cap (10,500 annually) and it usually doesn't fill up. My understanding of the visa is that is it employer specific, but it's a pretty straightforward process and as long as the quota hasn't been filed, you know you will get your visa. The E3 also have the added benefit of allowing your spouse to work without any restrictions.
Frankly, I would ensure that you know the specifics, but I would think that most firms would be willing to hire you on both scenario.
Thanks! So if I'm Australian, because the E3 is employer specific, would buyside funds even care if I have the E3 visa currently with a bank? Seems as though whether or not I currently hold an E3, I would have to reapply for a new E3 visa specifically under the buyside fund regardless, rendering my current E3 with the bank useless. Is that the correct way to think about this?
In a perfect scenario, they wouldn't care, but I think the E3 isn't well known so you might encounter some resistance with headhunter / funds (either because they don't know about the visa or because they don't care to educate themselves). If you can get your current employer to get it for you, I would think it would be worth it (even if you have enough of an OPT runway to complete your analyst program). Otherwise, just make sure that you know EVERYTHING there is to know about the visa process so that you be convincing that it's not an issue.
got it - yeah I just thought I might as well wait for the H-1B with my current firm if the H-1B makes recruiting easier... otherwise, I can get the E3 now, even though I'll have to reapply with a new employer... thoughts?
As I said before, I think the only benefit of getting the E3 now is that is shows it's easy to obtain for future employers so that it reduce or eliminate the worries people might have.
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