How The Era Of Instant Gratification Is Impacting International Students’ Careers

Last year, the H-1B visa reached its maximum threshold of 85,000 visas in just four days.

There were 236,000 petitions submitted.

This shows how difficult it is for foreign workers to secure a job in the US, but it’s not the only challenge international students are facing.

Dishonest practices are emerging that promise students jobs and internships if they pay the right price.

Still, ninety-nine percent of the international students I’ve worked with know it takes dedication and focus to land a job or internship. If they put in work, it will pay off.

But there’s a segment of the community that’s adopting a quick-fix mentality when job searching.

I once met an international student whose goal was to work at a big consulting firm. He spent about five months in our program, and he ended up getting an offer from a consulting firm in LA. It wasn’t the big firm he’d been dreaming of, but it was a great opportunity — and they would sponsor his work visa.

He thought he deserved something better, and his parents were pushing him to get something “better.” So he turned down the opportunity and went back home.

He’s part of a growing trend of international students with unreasonable expectations about what they need to do to get a job in the U.S.

And unfortunately, companies are surfacing that take advantage of this attitude.

They prey on students’ desire for instant gratification and their ignorance of how the system really works. Not only are these business models affecting international students, they’re also quickly evolving into disingenuous schemes.

As an international student, you have to be aware of these practices:

The Pay-For-A-Job Model

Companies using this method promise international students an automatic job — if they pay enough money.

They bypass the normal expectations for students, like developing skill sets, focusing on their education, and building relationships with a network.

Students are told they can simply pay a third party to land a prestigious job.

The problem — other than a myopic perspective on self-development — is that these companies overpromise. The students come in with very high expectations, and the companies don’t fulfill their promises. They can’t meet those expectations because the system doesn’t work like that.

No placement company can promise you a job at a specific company.

To protect themselves, the companies end up giving poor excuses for why the students didn’t get what they were promised — and the students leave disappointed, disillusioned, and empty-handed.

The Guaranteed Internships Model

Other companies promise students a guaranteed internship with a top-tier company.

Let’s say — just as an example — JP Morgan. Getting an internship there is extremely difficult for even the best of the best.

So, these companies reach out to individual employees (unofficially) and ask if they need help with a task. It can be practically anything, but it’s usually focused on a small project. The student works on that particular task, and when it’s done, the company tells them, “Congratulations, you just interned for JP Morgan!”

Of course, if the student puts that experience on their resume, it could actually get them in trouble.

They didn’t officially work for the company because the HR department was never involved. It’s really disingenuous, and it puts the students in a tough spot. Do they risk putting it on their resume, or lose out on the time and money they invested?

The Paid Referrals Model

Referrals should come from people who know a student well.

There’s a relationship that exists, and the referrer knows the student’s ability, skills, attitude, and capacity for learning.

But there is another group of companies that deal in referrals from top companies. Students come to the referral company looking for a job. The company sets up a phone call between the student and an employee at a company the student wants to work for.

Supposedly, after a brief conversation, the employee will refer the student for a job at their company. Which in most cases, is highly doubtful.

I know someone at Facebook who received one of these calls.

She told me she felt very uncomfortable because she spoke with a student for half an hour, and at the end of the conversation, the student asked her for a referral. She didn’t know what she was going into before the conversation — it was a smoke screen.

No one who values their job feels comfortable giving a stranger a referral after speaking with them for 30 minutes. But that’s what these companies are promising students.

While the companies offering these shady services are new, the root of the problem is not.

It all come back to a sense that personal development and hard work aren’t necessary for success. Some students want a certain result, and they’d rather try to buy it than work for it.

To be clear, this isn’t a problem with most international students. The vast majority of students understand they have to put in hard work to get a job.

But there is a segment of the community whose first thought is to throw money at a problem.

Personally, I have turned down students or parents when I realize their expectations are unrealistic. Taking them into our career coaching program creates a lose-lose situation.

This idea of paying someone to get a job teaches students the wrong lessons. It teaches them to just throw money at any problem, rather than learning, developing, networking, and going through a process that will help them throughout their careers.

Students who take the fast track have to learn this the hard way, and they usually wind up feeling ripped off.

Because if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

Matt Wilkerson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Paragon One, a career advisory network that has helped hundreds of students and recent graduates land competitive jobs and internships.

For business and career advice, follow him on Twitter and Quora.