In Progress

1) Role & Market Selection

Choosing roles with strong demand

You want to work in a field where there are more jobs than there are qualified people. This is called Labor Scarcity, and it is your best friend. Check the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook. Look for roles with a 'Growth Rate' much higher than the average (usually 5% or more). When demand is high, companies compete for you. This means higher salaries, better benefits, and a much higher chance that they will pay for your visa costs to keep you from leaving.

This is a big debate, but for early-career international students, there is a clear winner.

Start as a Specialist. It is much easier to sponsor a Cloud Security Engineer than a General Business Assistant.
Become a specialist to get your foot in the door and secure your visa. Once you have your Green Card or long-term stability, you can zoom out and become a generalist or a manager. Being a specialist makes you hard to replace, which is exactly what you want when you need a visa.

Free Resource: Blog: Specialist vs. Generalist - Which is Better?

Resources

Record your progress

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