For my dead son

Yesterday I watched a movie Kill Bill (I)and today I received an article in Wall Street Journal from one of my family members. Some WSJ reporters are f---- slick and smooth that I can't stop myself posting this article in CD, why should I hear these bullshits from those vains?

If I were a CDer, I would rather Study Farsi in USA cuz a Farsi graduate from any school will definitely get several offers before graduation. And then after I got a job in US, I will do a part-time MBA at a prestigious bschool or go to law school, medical school.( I don't know if there is any part time program for law, medical school)

Juan Hernandez, a newly minted M.B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, has certainly learned the power of personal connections and corporate brand names in America.

From the time he arrived from Uruguay to start his M.B.A. program in 2003, he realized the many challenges a foreign national faced in the bleak U.S. job market. He started his search for an internship right away but encountered one dead-end after another. "I really struggled," Mr. Hernandez recalls, "as companies said their policies simply wouldn't allow them to interview an international student."

Eventually, he managed to parlay relationships he had established with Coca-Cola Co. in his previous banking job in Uruguay to win an internship for summer 2004. It wasn't in the U.S. as he had hoped, but in the company's Latin American division in Costa Rica. No matter. He figured it still might lead to a full-time job with Coke's U.S. operations after graduation.

Unfortunately, that scenario never played out. Mr. Hernandez says he could have returned to Coke's Latin American operations, but thanks at least partly to the Coke internship, he got a job offer as a senior financial analyst at Gap Inc. in San Francisco, just across the bay from Berkeley. "Putting a big name like Coca-Cola on my résumé opened many doors," he says. "A major obstacle for me had been trying to explain or demonstrate that my previous work experience in Uruguay was relevant."

Mr. Hernandez is one of the lucky international M.B.A. students who found their dream jobs in America in 2005. Even as the U.S. job market improves and more business schools provide specialized placement services, foreign nationals still must hustle to land a position. "The situation for international students is still more difficult than it is for domestic students," says Abby Scott, director of M.B.A. career services at Berkeley. "They continue to be excluded from certain job postings."

When the M.B.A. Career Services Council surveyed business schools in spring 2005, it found that more than a third had seen a decrease in the number of employers willing to hire international students for positions in the U.S. Only 19% saw an increase; the rest reported no change from 2003 and 2004.

As always, the primary obstacle for foreign M.B.A. graduates is finding a company that will sponsor them for an H-1B work visa. Many U.S. companies flatly refuse to hire foreign students as long as there are qualified American applicants. They object to the expense and paperwork of the H-1B process. What's more, a "hire-Americans-first" attitude has taken hold more strongly since September 11, 2001.

In The Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive survey of corporate recruiters, about one-third of the respondents said they wouldn't hire a qualified foreign national who needed sponsorship for an H-1B visa. About 38% said they would recruit such a student, and 29% said they don't know.

Companies worry that foreign students will stay only a couple of years and then return to their home countries. There also are concerns about international students' interpersonal and communication styles. Michael Couger, a survey respondent and manager at a software-consulting firm, says he has observed some international graduates "who have an overly nonconfrontational style that tends to avoid issues and have an inability to say 'no' when resources do not exist to accomplish a task." Some foreign students, he adds, also may not appear confident enough to clients because they are uncomfortable with their English skills. "Because these issues are often difficult to observe during an interview process," Mr. Couger says, "I believe that many companies may be more inclined to pass over an otherwise qualified international candidate."

Multinational companies often are more willing to hire international students if they can assign them to offices in their home countries. But many foreign graduates want to work in the U.S. for at least a few years, both to gain experience and to earn a higher salary. They often are burdened with large student loans that would take much longer to pay off at the lower compensation they would receive in their homelands.

"Part of the dream for international students is to work in the U.S. before going home," says Terri Gregos, assistant dean and director of career services at the University of Pittsburgh's Katz Graduate School of Business. "It's like a ticket for success when they return home to their families."

The job market challenges, as well as potential complications in securing student visas, are scaring some international applicants away from U.S. M.B.A. programs. But they should realize that perseverance often does pay off, as in Mr. Hernandez's case. Clearly, networking with corporate contacts, alumni and fellow classmates can prove very beneficial.

Email your comments to cjeditor@dowjones.com.

great!! risk return!