The United States attaches great importance to its education. Up to now, it has carried out many reforms in education.Things to note when studying and working in the United StatesWorking as an International Student in the United States, ,Working as an International Student in the United States, ,Studying abroad and working as a migrant worker exploits the United States, ,How to work while studying in the United StatesThe problem.
Things to note when studying part-time in the United States
1. Try to work on campus
According to the regulations of the US government, foreign students do not need to apply for special permits to work on campus, but they must register to maintain full-time student status. The weekly working hours during the semester are generally limited to 20 hours, and can be up to 40 hours during the holidays. This means that a registered foreign student can work freely and legally on campus.
In fact, schools are places with many job opportunities. There are many places such as libraries, gymnasiums and school cafeterias that need American students to work. Chinese students have just entered school and are not familiar with the local situation. Therefore, they should focus on the job opportunities on campus.
2. Use your own strengths to find a high-paying job
Many students blindly believe that part-time jobs mean working in restaurants or grocery stores. This is a big mistake. For most international students, part-time jobs are a way to understand society and reduce financial pressure. Such jobs can be combined with their own interests and specialties, which makes the work more interesting. Everyone actually has strengths. When looking for part-time job opportunities, the key is to find a job that can make full use of these strengths. Such jobs are not only less intense than jobs in restaurants, but also often have higher hourly wages.
The actual hourly wage of students in work-study programs also depends on the job position, technical level and even language level of the students. For example, if you can type in English at high speed, do secretarial work in an office, or maintain computers in a library, your starting salary will be much higher. In addition, no matter what department or position you work in, the law guarantees that your salary will gradually increase based on the accumulated hours you work.
3. Work in various forms
With the popularization of the Internet, a large number of jobs can be done through the Internet. Some jobs can be done beyond geographical restrictions. For example, many students who study computer science do programming for companies. After programming, they can send the program to the company. Such work can be done completely at home, without wind and rain, with very flexible hours and quite good benefits. This type of work has a certain advantage of saving time compared to part-time jobs that require actual office work. International students should consider themselves and see if there are such jobs to choose from. "Working for Han while in Cao's camp" is also an important way of working.
4. Sign a contract to protect your rights and interests
Try to sign an employment contract with your employer and read the contract terms carefully. Look for the corresponding wage standard in the contract. If you find that the salary given by the employer is lower than the minimum wage standard, you can seek legal advice from the relevant department.
5. Keep good working time records
Keep a record of your work hours and working days. Keep a record of your work hours to avoid disputes over non-payment of wages.
6. Ensure work attitude
Don't be late or take a break without reason. During the working period, you can't be absent from work or be late without reason. If you have something to do, you should contact the other party in advance, otherwise you will be fired.
7. Don’t panic when you encounter problems
If you have a problem with the place where you work, you should first talk to the person in charge calmly. If that doesn't work, you should complain to the relevant department.
Don't panic if an accident occurs during work. If the accident occurs at the workplace, contact the person in charge immediately and request immediate medical treatment. If you encounter a traffic accident on the way, remember to ask the police to intervene. If the person in charge of the workplace refuses to provide medical treatment or compensation, be sure to ask the relevant authorities to help mediate.
8. Don’t delay your studies
Many American students working part-time have tasted the sweetness. After eight hours a day, they can not only earn a fixed hourly salary of more than 50 US dollars, but also receive a lot of tips. This has greatly increased the confidence of many students in making money through part-time jobs. Not only do they increase their working hours, but they even skip classes to work. This becomes very unprofitable. Students should have a clear concept that it is completely unrealistic to want to earn a lot of money through part-time jobs. If their academic performance is not good, they may even need to pay more money to the school to make up the exam or retake the course, and it will affect their residency in the United States. International students working part-time must control themselves well, control their working hours to a range that their studies and health can accept, and work rationally.
Extended reading: Analysis of the new policy for studying in the United States
1. OPT Extension
After completing a full academic year of study in the United States, you can apply for a formal work permit, which is the OPT we are familiar with. As long as you are an adult student, generally studying for an undergraduate, master's or graduate degree, as long as the time qualifications are met, you can apply.
The new policy states that students studying in mathematics, engineering, natural sciences and technology can directly extend their 12-month application to 29 months when making a formal application. This way, they do not need to renew their visas frequently and can basically maintain their stay until graduation.
2. H1B Increase
The issuance of work visas has also been changed. A trial run was carried out in the 2020 fiscal year (October 1, 2019 - September 30, 2020). The screening will first give 65,000 general places, and then increase 20,000 places for those with a master's degree or above.
In this way, international students in the United States, especially those with a master's degree or above, will be given priority for review when submitting their applications, and their probability of passing will be higher. Moreover, as highly educated workers, they are highly recognized by society and are able to get more worthy jobs.
3. Rising costs
On May 22 last year, the U.S. ICE announced a notice of an increase in visa application fees. This was mainly due to the increase in operating costs for the SEVP (Student and Exchange Visitor Program), which needed to be shared among each student applying. This has now been fully implemented.
The major increases include the I-901 SEVIS processing fee for international students' F and M visas, which has increased from $200 to $350; and the service fee for J visas for travel and work applications has also increased from $180 to $220.
IV. Current situation of studying abroad
After years of development, studying abroad has also undergone relatively large changes. Currently, international students' application choices have become more and more reasonable. They no longer only look at the rankings when choosing a school, but also examine the school's hardware and software. This has also avoided many adverse effects caused by blind obedience.
The choice of majors is no longer limited to popular business and engineering. More and more students are choosing their favorite majors, and previously unpopular subjects such as art, literature, history, and law are becoming increasingly popular.
Further reading: Tips on paying tuition fees for studying in the United States
1. How to pay tuition fees in the country
When students apply to American universities, the schools generally require students to pay some tuition or deposits before applying for visas. Most of the payments are made in three ways: wire transfer, money order, and credit card. Among these methods, credit cards are the most convenient, but if students want to use this method, they need to first ask the school whether they can pay tuition with a credit card, or ask whether there are any requirements for which credit card. Only then will they know which credit card to apply for. However, credit cards actually have an upper limit for foreign currency consumption, so if you need to pay more fees, you cannot use this method to pay tuition. In this case, students can only choose wire transfer or money order. If it is from the perspective of security, it is the wire transfer method. The advantage of the money order method is that it is very affordable. But it should be noted that some schools can only use money orders, so everyone should ask the school in advance which method of paying tuition can be used.
2. How to pay tuition after arriving in the United States
After paying part of the tuition, the rest can be paid later. First, students can apply for a US bank card and transfer money to this account every month. If you don't want to open an account, you can transfer money directly to the school's account every month. There are other ways, such as checks and accounts, and this also allows parents to transfer money directly in China, but the fees for these methods are very high.
3. When to pay tuition fees
Generally, the school will remind you to pay 1-2 months before the due date. If the time is exceeded, there may be a small fine. The tuition fee for a semester does not need to be paid all at once, but can be paid in 2-4 installments. Moreover, it is better to pay the tuition fee in several installments according to the major, so that you can save some money if the exchange rate drops. Although there may be some management fees for paying the tuition fee in several installments, the money saved by the exchange rate drop will be higher than the management fee.
4. Cost of Studying Abroad
How much tuition a student needs to pay to study in the United States depends mainly on the location of the school and its ranking in the United States. Generally speaking, the amount of expenses such as textbooks and accommodation fees is about 15,000 US dollars a year.
Summary of Things to Note When Studying and Working in the United States
After understanding the issues that students studying in the United States need to pay attention to when working, you will also need to prepare a VPN tool to bypass the firewall and return to China when studying in the United States.For many Chinese who go to the US to study and work, they still like to watch some Chinese TV series and programs in China, and they are more accustomed to use some domestic native apps to listen to music, watch videos, play games and so on. However, due to copyright reasons, most of the popular programs are only allowed to be accessed by mainland IPs. In such a big background, theVPN back over the wallQuickFox Return to China Accelerator/Return to China VPN helps you return to China easily, removes overseas geographical and copyright restrictions with one click, and accelerates access to Chinese websites and applications. It supports watching TV series, listening to music, live broadcasts, games, office work and stock trading, and can be used on mobile phones, computers, and TV boxes.
