International Students

How I Prepare and Engage in Networking – A Perspective

I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to support many professionals and students as they embark and improve on their professional networking. It’s the one thing we know we “should” do but it’s one of the most challenging things to actually do. Trust me. I know. I still have to work at it. I still have to “psych” myself to engage in it. On a few occasions, I’ve skipped the “networking” part of a conference, because I just wasn’t up to being “on” that day. So, I am a practitioner, still practicing.

Transition – A Dance with Aspirational Anxiety

Whenever we arrive at a new opportunity, whether it’s a new job, a new school or a new life situation, we all hope for the best in our new chapter. Yet, at the very same time, we feel understandable anxiety in this place of the unknown. We have leapt, but how will we land? This dance to maneuver between hopefulness and doubt, elation and terror is the necessary path through any new experience.

A Trip to Beijing Elucidates Why Asian Students Lack of "Voice" in Classroom and Job Search

As I’ve been touring the historical sites of Beijing (the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven) and driving through the streets of today’s Beijing, I have seen first hand how our cultural history affects how we think, feel and act today. My work allows me the privilege to help international students acculturate to the US culture as well as assist Asian-Americans in developing visibility in their professions. I’ve always known that culture deeply influences how we are. But this trip has viscerally underscored how pivotal culture is. Culture is like the air we breathe. It’s in our cells. It occupies us.

Networking Must: Permitting Yourself to do the "ASK"

As I teach many talented international individuals about American job search networking — what it is and how it works — most quickly understand why they need to do it. But doing it? Going out and doing it? It just feels wrong to be so direct and aggressive. The answer to reaching out? Understand that in the American culture, such interactions are expected. So, give yourself permission to go out there and and do the ask.

"God Bless You"

Recently I came across a situation that “woke” me up from my cultural assumptions as an American. I was purchasing an item at a convenience store where the person behind the counter was of South Asian descent. It was just the two of us, a slow pace in the store. As I was putting my change away, he sneezed. Without pause, I said “God bless you”. And without pause, he continued attending to his business…