Internships in USA (With CPT)

Let say you are an international student studying in United States. It is not that easy for F-1 VISA holders working in United States, no matter it is a paid or unpaid internship. Following are simple steps you may follow to get internship opportunities in USA.

During my first semester in USA, I fortunately got an summer paid internship offer from one of research companies. Unfortunately, I had to stop working for the company on my second day because of CPT problem. I did not know about any of following steps at the time...Poor things... About a week later, I went back to Korea...

NOTICE: THIS IS A GUIDE ONLY FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WANT OFF-CAMPUS INTERNSHIPS.

1. Finish at least more than two semesters of your study in USA. If you have studied in USA less than two semesters, you are not qualified for applying any internships(both paid and unpaid) in USA. It is illegal.

2. Make sure whether there is an undergraduate/graduate internship class in your major. This is important because you will not be able to get CPT without enrolling internship class in your school.

*CPT?

:Curricular Practical Training. Alternate work/study, internship, cooperative education, or any other type of required internship or practicum which is offered by sponsoring employers through cooperative agreements with the school. CPT must be directly related to the major and an integral part of an established curriculum.

3. Write your resume and cover letter.

* Sample cover letter
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NHK

Piedmont Dr. Apt.

Port Jefferson, NY 11745

(631)428-xxxx

namheekang@hotmail.com

Mr. Kevin

Director of Manufacturing

400 Road Extension
Malta, NY 12170

(518)305-xxxx

Dear Mr. Kevin:

I learned about the TD Test Development Engineer position from my friend Young keun Im, who currently works for your company. I am highly interested in applying for the position because working at XXXXX, which is one of the famous global companies, is a great opportunity and perfect start for my career. I am currently going to Stony brook University, and expected to graduate with Bachelor in Engineering, specialized in electrical engineering on December of this year. I am a responsible, passionate, skillful and hardworking student who would be agood fit for the position of the TD Test Development Engineer position at XXXX.

My undergraduate course works and internship experiences have helped me to be ready as an engineer. I studied at University of Seoul before, and now am studying at Stony brook University as a part of dual degree program between two schools. I have taken many valuable and practical engineering courses at these two schools. Based on what I have learned, I have worked at Stryker Corporation and College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering as an intern. In the former company, I worked in Regulatory Affairs & Quality Assurance department, writing the latest endoscopy technical documents. Also, in the latter company, I worked with Dr. Huang analyzing the spectrum of a semiconductor sample by using photoluminescence and electroluminescence. From these internship experiences, I was able to learn professional ethics, current semiconductor technology trends, and how to handle the equipment.

Furthermore, I have been active in many programs and organizations. These experiences have given me a chance to improve my communication, leadership, and management skills. I was a leader at a Dale Carnegie leadership training course for a year. As a leader, I always collaborated with our team members to get through given missions. For two years during my army service, I cooperated with other soldiers to complete our missions and when I became a senior soldier, I took care of subordinates in my unit as a counselor. I also paid careful attention to my academic work at the University of Seoul and received scholarships for three semesters. I believe that these above experiences will help me to get along with other employees and accomplish challenging projects.

I feel confident that my education and experiences would make me an excellent candidate for this position. Please review my resume at your earliest convenience. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Namhee Kang

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4. Research internship openings related with your major(you cannot do just random internships because of CPT requirements).


5. Apply as many as possible, as early as possible. If you are looking for internships during summer vacation, you must remember that many applications start from early February at earliest.


6. Once you got an offer from a company, register a summer/winner internship class and pay the tuition fee.


7. You may need a recommendation letter from your professor you enrolled for internship.


8. Bring the official offer letter from the company and your recommendation letter with you to your international adviser in your school. The offer letter has to clearly say about the employer's name, address and phone number, start date, end date, and other detail information.


9. If all of your documents are ok, the international adviser will issue new I-20 for CPT. You must bring this new I-20 on the first day of your work to process employment.


10. Learn a lot, enjoy your rest of vacation.




Good luck everybody~!!