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Career intelligence for global talent

The Career OS for International Students and Global Talent

Know which companies to target, what to do this week, and where your timeline stands.

Built by F-1 alumni · Educational, never legal advice · Free to start

Your visa-aware roadmap

Live
Career readiness78 / 100
OPT filing windowopens in 42 days
Target employers saved18 / 25
This week: 10 targeted applications, 5 alumni messages, 1 mock interview. Priority: confirm E-Verify status for your top 3 employers.

Why F-1Careers exists

The job search is harder when nobody understands your constraints

Recruiters ghost after 'I need sponsorship.' Career offices don't know visa timelines. Job boards ignore work authorization. We built the layer that fixes all three.

“I don't know which companies sponsor.”

Real H-1B approval data, searchable per employer.

See how →

“Recruiters ghost me after I mention sponsorship.”

Word-for-word scripts that keep the conversation alive.

See how →

“I don't know how to explain OPT.”

A 30-second script, rehearsed with your AI coach.

See how →

“My career office doesn't understand my constraints.”

A pathway sequenced around your actual visa dates.

See how →

“Employers think hiring F-1 students is hard.”

Recruiter education that shows how simple OPT hiring is.

See how →

“I'm navigating this completely alone.”

A community of students two steps ahead of you.

See how →

The platform

One operating system for the entire journey

From choosing a program to permanent residence - every module is visa-aware by design.

AI Pathway Builder

Enter your degree, dates, and targets. Get a personalized roadmap: roles, employers, timelines, risk flags, and a weekly action plan.

Build your pathway

Employer Intelligence

Search employers by sponsorship signal, STEM OPT friendliness, cap-exempt potential, and community-sourced experience.

Search employers

AI Career Coach

Rewrite your resume, draft networking messages, rehearse your OPT explanation, and get a 90-day plan - grounded in your profile.

Ask the coach

Student Dashboard

Readiness score, visa timeline tracker, application pipeline, and mentor recommendations in one place.

Preview dashboard

University Partnerships

Cohort analytics, OPT deadline monitoring, and outcome reporting for international offices and career services.

For universities

Employer Enablement

Recruiter education, visa-aware job posting, and consent-based candidate sourcing for globally competitive teams.

For employers

For students

From uncertainty to a plan you can execute

Most international students lose months to confusion. The Pathway Builder converts your exact situation - school, major, visa status, dates - into a sequenced plan with deadlines that matter.

  • CPT, OPT, STEM OPT, H-1B, cap-exempt, O-1, and EB-1A/NIW pathways mapped to your dates
  • A 3-tier target employer list built from sponsorship intelligence
  • Weekly action plans that adapt as you progress
  • Risk flags before they become emergencies
Build your free pathway

Example timeline · STEM master's, May 2027 grad

  1. Now → Aug 2026

    Internship applications (CPT), resume + LinkedIn rebuild

  2. Feb 2027

    OPT filing window opens (90 days pre-graduation)

  3. Jun 2027

    OPT starts - 90-day unemployment clock begins

  4. Mar 2028

    H-1B lottery cycle 1 of 3

  5. Feb 2029

    STEM OPT extension window (E-Verify employer required)

  6. Ongoing

    EB-1A / NIW evidence building - employer-independent exit

$0

Employer cost to hire a student on OPT - no petition, no filing

36 mo

Work runway for STEM graduates before sponsorship decisions

1.18M

International students in the US, 2024/25 (IIE Open Doors 2025) - the most under-recruited talent pool

10 min

To get your recruiting team fluent with our hiring primer

For employers and recruiters

Hiring international talent is easier than your team thinks

F-1Careers helps employers access high-potential international talent, reduce recruiter confusion around work authorization, and build a more globally competitive workforce.

For universities

Make international student outcomes visible - then improve them

International offices and career services get cohort analytics, OPT deadline monitoring, engagement tracking, and employer pipelines. Your students get a Career OS that understands their constraints.

Explore university partnerships

University dashboard preview

1,847

Active students

of 2,210 enrolled

72%

Pathway completion

+9 pts vs last term

312

OPT deadlines tracked

8 need attention

64

Engaged employers

12 new this quarter

Community intelligence

Learn from people two steps ahead of you

Anonymous, trust-scored experiences: who sponsored, how interviews went, what conversion negotiations looked like.

Skipped the lottery entirely: cap-exempt research role, H-1B approved in 4 months, built my NIW case on the side.
MS Data Science → University research
The 30-second OPT script changed everything. Three recruiters who said 'we don't sponsor' kept me in process.
BS Computer Science → Enterprise software
Employer intelligence flagged my company as a non-converter. Negotiated H-1B registration in writing before signing.
MEng → Consulting

Illustrative community examples. Individual outcomes vary; nothing here guarantees any immigration or employment result.

The market, measured

Real numbers, real sources

Every statistic on this platform is sourced and dated. These are the latest verified figures.

1,177,766

International students in the US

2024/25 · IIE Open Doors 2025

294,253

Working on OPT (+21% YoY)

2024/25 · IIE Open Doors 2025

57%

Studying STEM fields

2024/25 · IIE Open Doors 2025

30,000+

US employers with a new H-1B approval

FY 2024 · USCIS Data Hub via NFAP

Sources: IIE Open Doors 2025 · NFAP analysis of USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub (Dec 2024) · figures verified 2026-07-04.

New · Admissions-to-Employment OS

Now the plan starts before you even enroll

Choose your school, major, and city with the same visa-aware intelligence: ROI scoring, sponsor ecosystem mapping, financial risk stress-tests, and a decision report your whole family can read.

Pricing

Free to start. Serious when you are.

Stop guessing. Start executing.

Join thousands of international students and the employers learning to hire them.