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Ask HN: Is it hard to get hired on F1 OPT?

1 points by aportnoy ↗ HN
I'm a recent graduate in math (BS) and am working full time as a statistician at a university lab. I am on an F1 visa and have the option of getting an OPT STEM extension so I can work for 3 years total. I love my current job but I want to transition to industry and have a higher pay than what a university can offer. How hard is it to get hired at a startup/company to do stats/data science/machine learning while on F1?

Are people at all interested in hiring someone who only has 3 years of legal presence guaranteed?

How common is it for startups/companies to hire a person on OPT with the goal of sponsoring an H1B later?

Would be grateful to hear HNers' takes on this topic. See my profile if you'd like to email me.

3 comments

[ 4.7 ms ] story [ 14.8 ms ] thread
wfwefwef32
not hard at all. usually you apply jobs and doing interviews on F1. Once landed a job, discuss a starting date with the employer and apply for opt, might take 4 months. once have opt, you can start.

once start, you can apply for h1b. the time for filing h1b is April, so ideally you should land a job offer before April, otherwise you will have wait for April of the next year.

bigger companies are more likely to sponsor h1b, whereas smaller ones and startups will probably won't do it. there are requirements on the ratio of citizen employees vs foreigners and minimum payment, smaller companies usually won't be able to meet the requirement.

aportnoy
Thank you! In your experience, where approximately is the cutoff 'small/big company' for the purposes of getting an H1B sponsored?
wfwefwef32
more than 500 employees I guess.

This is something you can ask when applying a job. They will tell you if they sponsor.