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3 Likes
How likely is it for international students to be hired by law firms?
september
Alum Member
Might be off topic, but what is the likelihood for international JD students to find work?
Comments
I don't think it matters if you are a qualified candidate...if your grades and class ranking are where they need to be, I'd assume you're good.
I would say largely depends on your school ranking and GPA for 1L. International students from HLS, Yale, some top T14 law schools would have huge advantage . Not sure about other T14 schools. Big firms which have oversea branch(for instance, Hong Kong) will consider local students who are familiar with both languages.
In sum, job hunting for international students is harder than domestic students in general. The document(H1B lottery) is an unavoidable issue. Comparing to STEM graduates, international law school students have lower access to local U.S. job market.
Yeah, essentially you need to find a job where your firm will endorse you to be able to get a visa. It's another challenge for sure, especially if you aren't a top tier school. It's not impossible by any means though and there's some great literature out there on other blogs about how best to navigate different situations.
Are VISAs etc. the only real barrier for international students in gaining employment after graduation? Just curious as I was born, raised, and live outside the US so I'm 'international' in a meaningful sense, but I hold dual US citizenship, meaning VISA issues don't affect me.
I would say that both H1B and language make job hunting for international students MUCH harder than it for local students. The truth is, you can find a job after trying hard, but very likely it would be much "worse" than you can find in your home country. In you home country, you might find several chance in Fortune 500s, but as an international student, you might only find a intern chance in a small/middle size firm, sometimes not related to your major.
If your goal is immigrant, going to a non-STEM school is not a good choice. Actually, I would say, even STEM is hard to find a good job. It is just relatively easy.
I disagree you are more likley to be hired as an international student from larger firms that have the resources to sponsor you than small middle size firm. Also, there are changes coming to the US labor visas and there is also the TN-Visa route.
USA is still relatively open for lawyers. If you think about it other countries impose citizenship requirements to practice as a lawyer , especailly if you want to argue in front of a judge
Try to focus on the global market. Be a global lawyer.
Easier said than done. It's not really something you can focus on being unfortunately. International law is one of the hardest fields to break into.
Yes, this is absolutely correct. The bigger the firm, the better your chances are of them sponsoring. Much of this is due to resources and, well, desire to employ you.
Not exactly too sure on the dual citizenship issue, but I'd imagine it must be preferable to someone with, say, just a non-US citizenship. Wish I could help me.
ETA: I'll ask around and see if I can find some solid literature online and get an definite answer.
Unless you mean work wherever can hire you, you'll still have to deal with visa or H1B (for US) issues. International lawyers like any other global position have to have some "home base" where they're authorized to work and subsequently pay taxes for. Every countries have different requirements for work, this is where being broad doesn't help you if you don't know the rules of where you're applying.
I know Canadians who went to T14s and didn't find much of a barrier finding a job in the states (especially in the larger firms).
It is absolutely much more difficult to get hired as an international student because:
1) Employers explicitly ask for your employment status (i.e. whether you would require visa sponsorship from your employer) during the application stage. Thus many otherwise qualified candidates are filtered out early on and do not even make it to the interviews. Note, this should not affect dual citizens as they wouldn't not require visa sponsorship.
2) Even if you manage to secure a job offer, your employer would still need to sponsor an H-1B visa, which is granted on a lottery basis since supply far exceeds demands. Based on 2015 and 2016 stats, candidates have a ~25% chance of winning said lottery.
3) H-1B visas are only valid for a total of 6 years, at which point either your then employer petitions for a green card on your behalf, or you would need to leave the country. You, of course, always have the option of marrying a U.S. citizen or a permanent citizen
As a result of the above structural limitations and associated legal costs, many large MNCs have stopped or slowed down hiring of foreign nationals in recent cycles (based on my firsthand knowledge and intel from friends who work in biglaw, tech, consulting and banking).
The struggle is real, man.