This event prepares international graduate students and postdocs for their transition to the professional working world outside of academia. Participants will learn about employment visas and immigration options from Immigration Attorney Jason Finkelman, practice communication skills essential to building career connections, and engage with a panel of former UT international graduate students now working as professionals in various sectors.
This event is a wonderful opportunity to create a supportive community with other international students who also are on the job search journey.
Register: https://utexas.12twenty.com/events/30006101380652
Schedule:
3:00 – “Employment Visas & Immigration Options After Graduation” - Immigration Attorney Jason Finkelman
U.S. employers are ramping up hiring of international students after graduation. In particular, many U.S. companies will be seeking to sponsor foreign students for U.S. work visas. Join Immigration Attorney Jason Finkelman for a discussion on navigating the U.S. employment-immigration system after graduation. Jason will discuss the H-1B work visa lottery and unique strategies for overcoming immigration obstacles.
4:00 - Networking: Building Career Connections, Hor d’oeuvres and Drinks
Following a short presentation on networking, attendees will participate in a "meet and greet" activity, simulating a social networking environment. Practice starting and ending short, casual conversations in a low-stakes environment with other international students and some of the panelists.
5:00 - From Graduate School to the Professional Work World: Former International Students Share Their Experiences and Advice
This is a moderator-led panel discussion about the job search process and professional work life from the perspective of former international students. The second portion of the panel session will feature a question-and-answer segment in which audience members engage with the panel members.
Panelists:
- Dimitris Gkoulimaris, Ph.D. Ethnomusicology, ACC and UT Austin
- Rithvika Iyer, M.S., Computer Science, Nvidia Corporation
| Ishita Chitturi is a Product Designer working at the intersection of visual communication, strategy, and systems thinking, with a focus on designing for complex, multi-stakeholder digital products. With a background in Visual Communication and an M.S. in Information Studies (HCI) from UT Austin, she's designed for fintech and healthcare platforms, including athenahealth and VSP Vision, translating intricate workflows into experiences that are human-centered. | |
| Mimi Ghosh is the Assistant Director for International Student Advising Services at The University of Texas at Austin, where she has served since February 2021. A passionate advocate for international students, she is committed to helping them navigate both the challenges and the opportunities of higher education in the United States. Mimi's path to immigration advising has been shaped by years of international and cross-cultural experience. She earned her Bachelor's degree in History from McGill University in Montreal and then spent almost a decade working in Japan. After returning to North America, she completed a Master's degree in Foreign Language Education at UT Austin and went on to work in English instruction and teacher training for several years. She then moved into F-1 and J-1 immigration advising, spending five years as an advisor at UC Berkeley before returning to UT Austin in her current role. | |
| Marcus Golding is a historian specializing in Venezuelan oil history, foreign investment and economic development. Most recently, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History at The University of Texas at Austin, while also supporting ClioVis, a UT-developed digital learning and visualization platform, through the end of summer 2026. He holds a PhD in History from UT Austin, and his first book, Foreign Petroleum Companies and National Development in Venezuela, 1936–76, was published by Bloomsbury Academic in October 2026. | |
| Shubham Singh received the B.Tech. degree in mechanical engineering from Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India, in 2014, a M.S. degree in aerospace engineering from Purdue University in 2016, and a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, in 2023, where his research focused on analytical derivatives of rigid-body dynamics for optimization-based planning and control of legged robots. He is currently a Software Engineer for Humanoid Controls at Apptronik, where he works on whole-body model predictive control for locomotion and manipulation on the Apollo humanoid robot. |