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Temi & Obim

Financial aid and grad school

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5 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

With your current household income, you will not qualify for any need-based federal financial aid.  You may qualify for subsidized loans, but not grants.

he wont qualify in the first place. He needs to be at least a resident in order to apply for federal financial aid. his AOS is still pending. 

Edited by SB5130

Pinoy Ako! ^_^

 

 

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13 hours ago, carmel34 said:

Business school dean here.  I would suggest that if you are fluent in English and have some work experience, that you use the time while waiting for your work authorization to look for jobs in business or communications.  Do research on jobs and qualifications in your area.  Degrees from universities abroad are less important than work experience.  Doing another graduate degree in the US would be expensive and the return on investment is not worth it unless you want to change to a different career path.  Talk to some employers, interview for jobs you are interested in and qualified for, and tell them that your EAD is coming in the next few months.  Ask them if another graduate degree would strengthen your resume.   Without knowing more about your background, work experience, and jobs you are interested in, it is impossible to tell you if you can get a job or not.  Good luck!

About this...

When I got my EAD, I tried to look for a job. I never got an interview. My gut feeling was telling me that my resume got tossed because my credentials are from outside the country. The 5.5years work experience as a Senior Software Developer of a major US based company didnt helped at all. 

 

However, when I enrolled for my masters, it boosted my resume (added it in my resume with "expected graduation"). I got an interview immediately a month after school started. And I had been attending back to back interviews from different companies.The university's IT department even offered me a job. 

 

Therefore, I'd say it helped. Even just one semester made a difference.

Edited by SB5130

Pinoy Ako! ^_^

 

 

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32 minutes ago, SB5130 said:

he wont qualify in the first place. He needs to be at least a resident in order to apply for federal financial aid. his AOS is still pending. 

I realize that.  Once he is eligible to use the FAFSA, he will not qualify for aid based on need.

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An employer's willingness to accept a degree or work experience is highly variable.

 

My wife had no issue at all even before she got her EAD (she was hoping to expedite based on job offer). She had 2 applications, 2 interviews, and 2 job offers. In her profession (critical care RN), licensing was required so she needed to have credentials validated. Once that was complete, employers looked at her experience and didn't care where the education was obtained.

 

I am a USC via birth, but I work in IT (solutions arch, cybersecurity, senior software developer/engineer, sysadmin....each skill as needed for the project) and have done plenty of interviews. I also work for a fairly small business. My experience is that we only check that somebody has a minimum degree (anywhere) and then the rest is experience + interview.

I know others in the same field who put in their resumes and heard nothing back time & time again - both immigrants and USCs. It's such a mixed bag in the field, and much of it depends where you apply.

 

As for the OP's field, I have no clue what the "norm" is there, or if there is better luck/acceptance in smaller or larger businesses. I generally think smaller businesses, or those with staff aug & contractors, are more willing to only look at experience and the interview. Honestly, having "new" immigrants is a welcome breath of air in the office and a great conversation starter (social skills are needed to get hired...otherwise great devs that can't hold a conversation won't fit in well).

Edited by geowrian

Timelines:

ROC:

Spoiler

7/27/20: Sent forms to Dallas lockbox, 7/30/20: Received by USCIS, 8/10 NOA1 electronic notification received, 8/1/ NOA1 hard copy received

AOS:

Spoiler

AOS (I-485 + I-131 + I-765):

9/25/17: sent forms to Chicago, 9/27/17: received by USCIS, 10/4/17: NOA1 electronic notification received, 10/10/17: NOA1 hard copy received. Social Security card being issued in married name (3rd attempt!)

10/14/17: Biometrics appointment notice received, 10/25/17: Biometrics

1/2/18: EAD + AP approved (no website update), 1/5/18: EAD + AP mailed, 1/8/18: EAD + AP approval notice hardcopies received, 1/10/18: EAD + AP received

9/5/18: Interview scheduled notice, 10/17/18: Interview

10/24/18: Green card produced notice, 10/25/18: Formal approval, 10/31/18: Green card received

K-1:

Spoiler

I-129F

12/1/16: sent, 12/14/16: NOA1 hard copy received, 3/10/17: RFE (IMB verification), 3/22/17: RFE response received

3/24/17: Approved! , 3/30/17: NOA2 hard copy received

 

NVC

4/6/2017: Received, 4/12/2017: Sent to Riyadh embassy, 4/16/2017: Case received at Riyadh embassy, 4/21/2017: Request case transfer to Manila, approved 4/24/2017

 

K-1

5/1/2017: Case received by Manila (1 week embassy transfer??? Lucky~)

7/13/2017: Interview: APPROVED!!!

7/19/2017: Visa in hand

8/15/2017: POE

 

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Filed: AOS (apr) Country: Nigeria
Timeline
6 hours ago, SB5130 said:

About this...

When I got my EAD, I tried to look for a job. I never got an interview. My gut feeling was telling me that my resume got tossed because my credentials are from outside the country. The 5.5years work experience as a Senior Software Developer of a major US based company didnt helped at all. 

 

However, when I enrolled for my masters, it boosted my resume (added it in my resume with "expected graduation"). I got an interview immediately a month after school started. And I had been attending back to back interviews from different companies.The university's IT department even offered me a job. 

 

Therefore, I'd say it helped. Even just one semester made a difference.

Thank you, I started thinking about grad school because I'm super bored and for the longtime to get into professional field. 

5 hours ago, geowrian said:

An employer's willingness to accept a degree or work experience is highly variable.

 

My wife had no issue at all even before she got her EAD (she was hoping to expedite based on job offer). She had 2 applications, 2 interviews, and 2 job offers. In her profession (critical care RN), licensing was required so she needed to have credentials validated. Once that was complete, employers looked at her experience and didn't care where the education was obtained.

 

I am a USC via birth, but I work in IT (solutions arch, cybersecurity, senior software developer/engineer, sysadmin....each skill as needed for the project) and have done plenty of interviews. I also work for a fairly small business. My experience is that we only check that somebody has a minimum degree (anywhere) and then the rest is experience + interview.

I know others in the same field who put in their resumes and heard nothing back time & time again - both immigrants and USCs. It's such a mixed bag in the field, and much of it depends where you apply.

 

As for the OP's field, I have no clue what the "norm" is there, or if there is better luck/acceptance in smaller or larger businesses. I generally think smaller businesses, or those with staff aug & contractors, are more willing to only look at experience and the interview. Honestly, having "new" immigrants is a welcome breath of air in the office and a great conversation starter (social skills are needed to get hired...otherwise great devs that can't hold a conversation won't fit in well).

Thank you.

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Agree with geowrian above. Another major factor is the city that you are living now.

 

I live in a small sleepy city. Nothing much is going on. So it isn't surprising to find very limited job opportunities in my field.

 

And I agree with him on this statement "social skills are needed to get hired". However, how can you show your social skills when you can't even get one interview? Again, this applies if there are very limited opportunities available.

Pinoy Ako! ^_^

 

 

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