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After growing up, going to college, and working in India, Nishanth Kadiyala moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to attend UNC Kenan-Flagler. During his time in business school, Kadiyala used his time at UNC to build his brand and relationships in the technology industry, which led to successfully landing a full-time offer post-graduation. In our interview Kadiyala shared some of the steps he took to land a role, and his advice to how international students can successfully land a post-MBA job offer.
MBASchooled: What were some of the challenges you faced in the recruiting process?
On-campus recruiting is the best shot for MBA students to land on an internship offer. International students are at a particular disadvantage because many companies are not open to H1B sponsorship. I was in a far more complex situation because I belonged to the densely populated “Indian + IT” category with just three years of work experience.
The companies that were open to international students were picking other candidates with a more relevant experience or with more years of experience. I was very disappointed when I did not get a single on-campus interview in the first 6 months of my MBA. While there was still hope that there will be more companies coming on-campus in between January – May, I was very well aware that those opportunities would be limited. I was quickly losing hope and that was definitely my lowest point.
MBASchooled: How did you overcome those challenges?
While it was uncomfortable at first, persistence was the key to overcoming them. Here are a few tactics that worked very well for me:
- I relentlessly used LinkedIn to reach out to UNC and IIT (my undergrad school) alum in different companies that I was interested in working for.
- I took part time internships to not only build on my profile, but also establish meaningful relationships that helped me secure job opportunities.
- I realized early on that establishing and expanding my network was the key to becoming successful. However, network is a two way street. It is important that I add value to these contacts as much as they did to me. By learning more about what they are working on, identifying ways I can add value to their work where possible, I built some valuable relationships over time and made that part of my personal brand.
MBASchooled: How did you change your recruiting strategy in order to land an internship opportunity?
While it was good to cast a wide net in the beginning, I soon decided to focus on my strengths and passions. For example, I was good at marketing and have a background in several key technologies like Cloud Computing and Single-Sign-On, I looked for product marketing, product management and technical marketing roles in technology companies in those categories. Lastly, I realized during MBA conferences and career fairs that I didn’t need to limit my network to just UNC.
International students from other MBA programs have navigated similar problems – be it cultural, H1B, soft skills or something else. So, I continued to use LinkedIn and other forums to talk to as many folks as possible.
MBASchooled: How did you find your full-time opportunity?
Another crucial part of my recruiting strategy was to align and focus. I narrowed down the technologies to focus on and found companies that were directly related to the technologies I worked on during my IT career. To get noticed by recruiters, I took the initiative and started writing technical blogs. For example, I worked on VMWare cloud solutions in the past. I wrote a blog on VMWare Horizon vs Citrix XenDesktop. A lot more recruiters started reaching out to me once I posted this on LinkedIn. I was thrilled to have 5 different job offers by the end of April.
During my time at UNC Kenan-Flagler, I worked on two voluntary product marketing projects for Citrix, worked on a STAR project for DELL, interned with Okta in the summer, pursued part-time internship with Okta from August to December and worked on another part-time internship with Progress Software from January till May. Progress Software even offered me a full-time position as a product marketing specialist and even sponsored my visa.
And that was once again thanks to an initiative I took to write a blog around Big Data that was used for key marketing campaigns at Progress Software. This was the high point of my MBA because it gave me the confidence that with the right strategy, perseverance and attitude, I can succeed consistently. I continue to play to my strengths, stay positive, take initiatives and show determination in everything I do. And it has been doing wonders for me!
MBASchooled: Given the challenges with H1B Visas, what are some tips you have for other international students?
Three things to keep in mind for any aspiring MBA requiring sponsorship.
- Choosing the right program: Given that H1B is based on a lottery system, it’s important to give yourself as many shots as possible to get selected in the lottery. With an MBA, unfortunately, you only get one year of work authorization, meaning only one or two shots at the H1B lottery. To overcome this, a lot of business schools are offering an MBA with a STEM focus that gives you three years of work authorization instead of one ,thereby increasing your chances at securing the visa. While this may not be of interest to everyone, it’s a good option to consider.
- Choosing the right company: Many companies with global footprint, have established processes to navigate the visa challenges i.e. moving your base location to a different country etc.,You should discuss with your potential employer, how they have dealt with visa situations in the past and what sort of resources they have that can help. Similarly companies that are not-for-profits can secure H1B without needing to go through the lottery process. If you are someone who is interested in working for the social /public sector that’s definitely something to keep in mind.
- Showing initiative: While this advice isn’t specific to H1B visa, it is even more important for an international student to show initiative no matter where you are- during internships, networking, and at work. It is important to add value and establish what you bring to the table quickly. You’ll be surprised to see how far people will go to help you, once they are invested in your career and bought into the value you bring.
To read more of Nishanth’s story, check out MBA Insider today