Career Services

Hiring international students

UW Bothell international students

Facts for employers

International students are valuable assets to your workplace

Excluding international students from your recruitment pipeline means you’re missing out on a lot of talent. International students make up 10% of UWB’s student population overall, and in some schools, the percentage is higher:

  • School of Business: 16%
  • STEM: 12%
  • Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences: 13%

International students can bring a wide range of skills and abilities to your organization, including:

  • Greater self-reliance and self-confidence
  • Ability to cope with ambiguous situations
  • Multicultural sensitivity and awareness
  • Adaptation & flexibility
  • Ability to learn quickly
  • International perspective
  • Tolerance for other opinions
  • Ability to see more than one perspective
  • Foreign language skills

But, isn’t it overly-complicated to hire an international student?

Hiring an international student is not as difficult as employers think. Most UW Bothell international students are on a F-1 or J-1 visa, which allows them to accept employment under certain conditions.

Internations students on F-1 visas are eligible to participate in internships through Curricular Practical Training (CPT). CPT is a work authorization that allows students complete internships related to their field of study. The CPT application is processed by UW Bothell once a student receives an internship offer and requires no additional paperwork or fees for the employer. Just an offer letter that must:

  1. Be printed on company letterhead and include the full address of the employer
  2. Include the exact beginning and ending dates of the internship
  3. Include the number of hours per week the intern will work
  4. Provide a detailed description of the internship duties

What about hiring international students for a longer period of employment?

International students on F-1 visas who have completed their studies are eligible for Optional Practical Training, which allows them to work for 12 months without requiring visa sponsorship. Students apply for OPT through USCIS approximately 3 months before they plan to start working, meaning they are already authorized to work by the time they receive a job offer.

Students who completed a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) degree may apply for an OPT extension, which grants them another 24 months of OPT. This means that STEM graduates are eligible for up to 36 months of work authorization without requiring visa sponsorship. You can find the list of degrees UW Bothell’s School of STEM offers here, and Homeland Security’s list of STEM Designated Degree Programs, which now includes Supply Chain Management, here.

For more information

To learn how to set up internships and recruit UW Bothell students, please visit our Internship Guidelines for Employers. You can post a job or internship on Handshake.

Use this guide for employers recruiting international students.