International people who succeeded in the Boston tell their stories.
By Marilia Gordinho
International students and young international professionals have to go through many obstacles to find a job in the United States. They come to the country with many hopes, but immigration and visa issues, stereotypes, prejudice and cultural differences make it harder for them to make their dreams come. But many of them succeed. Here are their stories.
Ndéye Gnagna Marianne Konaté
Computer programmer at Fatwire Software
Ndeye, who goes by Gnagna, is originally from Dakar. She came to Boston in 2001 to study business administration and computer science at Suffolk University.
She worked as a computer programming intern at the MBTA during all five years of her undergraduate program at Suffolk.
After graduation, she briefly moved to London to work, but then decided to move back to Boston to pursue a masters degree in computer science at Suffolk.
She again interned at the MBTA during her two years of grad school.
Last spring, Gnagna graduated and had to leave the T.
"They have this policy that they don't sponsor international people," she said. "Otherwise I would have stayed there because I was doing a good job and they really wanted to keep me."
She immediately started her Optional Practical Training, or OPT, which is a period of one year in which international students can work legally in the U.S. She found a full-time programming job at Fatwire Software, a software company in Boston, and has been working there since last July.
She has only a few months left before she has to leave the country, but she wants to stay. "A new law voted in Congress guarantees graduates in science an extension of 17 months after the end of the OPT. That's what I'm planning to do," she said.
Gnagna said she is also applying for a H1-B, or a work visa, in order to stay here longer.
"That's the only way to stay and work in the country legally. Unless you marry an American," she said.
To know hear more from Gnagna about how life is harder here than in Dakar, watch the video.
Rodrigo Verdi
Assistant Professor at MIT
Rodrigo Verdi is from Brazil. He came to the U.S. to pursue a doctorate in accounting at The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania, which he got in 2006.
With a background in civil engineering and finance, Verdi now works at MIT as a tenure-track assistant professor in financial accounting at Sloan School of Management.
But adapting to the language and the new lifestyle wasn't as easy as he had imagined.
"There are circumstances that you feel a little humiliated because you can't do the very basic things you take for granted when you are back home," Verdi said.
He also said he felt a little intimidated by his new job.
"I have all these amazing people there and you look at it and say everybody here is quite smart, hard-working, dedicated," he said. "You have to learn how to deal with the pressure."
At the end of his six-year contract with MIT he will be evaluated and know whether he got tenure. If he succeeds, he will have much more job security and stability, and be able to teach there as long as he wishes.
For that to happen, he needs to have at least nine articles published in top accounting and financial journals. He already has four pieces published.
Verdi is only 32 years old.
To listen to Verdi explain how the experience of working at one of the top schools in the U.S and getting used to the new lifestyle has been challenging, watch the video.
Other stories in Go Global:
How foreign students find work
The challenges of being a foreigner
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