我与工作 | 如何在美国找到一份工作 My Job Search | How to Find a Job in the United States

这篇文章我分享一下自己的北美找工作的历程，以及做决策的方式。

2024年的9月我来到美国，在来美国的第一个月我开始在校内参加商业社团，美国的学校和国内学校不同的是，几乎每个学院都有对应的一些实践社团。比如商学院有金融社团、创业社团、兄弟会姐妹会以及咨询社团，社团是一个很重要的平台，当时我的学校每年9月（大致是这些日子）都会组织一次招人的活动，我当时看到一个校内的咨询社团，社团的组织者在黑石实习过，同时主席团的人几乎都有大公司实习，他们经常举办case study的活动，我参加过一次案例分析后便决定申请加入社团。

他们进行了两轮面试，我当时的英语能力并不强，但我非常自信，同时因为我参加过他们组织的case study，在我的小组承担了leader的职责，我成功进入了社团，并成为唯一的一名国际学生。

Greek life，希腊生活，在美国的大学校园很常见，讲的是和兄弟姐妹会的成员共同学习和社交，同时社团会给成员提供一些实习和工作的机会。

In this article, I'll share my job-hunting experience in North America and my decision-making process.

I arrived in the United States in September 2024. During my first month there, I joined business clubs on campus. Unlike universities in China, almost every college in the US has its own practical clubs. For example, business schools have finance clubs, entrepreneurship clubs, fraternities and sororities, and consulting clubs. These clubs are very important platforms. My school organizes a recruitment event every September (or around this time). I saw an information about a consulting club on campus. The organizers had interned at Blackstone, and almost all the executive members had internships at large companies. They frequently held case study sessions, and after participating in one, I decided to apply to join.

They conducted two rounds of interviews. My English wasn't strong at the time, but I was very confident. Because I had participated in their case study and served as the leader of my group, I successfully joined the club and became the only international student among the applicants.

Greek life, common on American college campuses, refers to studying and socializing with fraternity members, who also provide internship and job opportunities.

我也短暂地过了一段时间的Greek life，我的社团每个月都至少有一次社交活动，由于是商学院，大家对dress code很有讲究，有时候会穿隆重的西装和晚礼服，跟同龄的美国大学生进行社交活动虽然没有很大程度上帮助我找到很好的朋友，因为几乎他们本地人都有各种圈子，但帮助我对美国的文化有了一定的了解，包括但不限于，混了一段美国大学社团后，我从对种族歧视不敏感到能分辨哪些美国人对国人不友好以及哪些人是种族歧视者。

同时在这个咨询社团中，我们有分派团队成员承接校外创业公司的咨询项目，我也作为高年级的学生参与过项目制作和路演。我对于美国大学校内社团的总结是，在没有找到合适的实习时，校内商业社团的项目可以作为实习的替代项，同时我们的社团对于本地学生的帮助是很大的，因为他们经常总结实习项目和互相帮助内推，虽然作为国际学生很难用上他们的资源，但也帮助我对于这些体系有了更多的了解。

而就在参与社团的同时，我也更新了我的领英主页，LinkedIn是美国network最大的平台，我的社团有一次组织活动，帮助所有人照了领英头像，同时也会给我们很多简历上的帮助。

大概在10月的时候我就找到了一份德州的unpaid远程实习，岗位是Marketing Intern，我对于自己的目标从来都不是在一开始就走到很高，我在国内时，大一也是从没有工资的志愿者项目开始做起，来美国的第一学期，也从给美国的创业项目当志愿者开始。

当我有了第一个美国工作的经历后，虽然并非什么高大上的岗位，但至少在我的简历上，有了一列工作地点在美国的内容。

同时，在美国公司无薪实习的期间，也让我对于美国人工作的思维方式有了一定的了解，包括发邮件的格式和内容，电话沟通small talk的控制等。当然，最重要的是提前习惯了在美国用英语进行听说读写的能力。

以上大致是我在美国找第一份全职工作的准备内容了。

I also briefly experienced Greek life. My club held at least one social event every month. Being in a business school, everyone was very particular about dress code; sometimes we'd wear formal suits and evening gowns. While socializing with American university students of my age didn't significantly help me make close friends—as almost everyone there had their own social circles—it did help me gain a certain understanding of American culture. This included, but was not limited to, going through a period of involvement in American university clubs. I went from being insensitive to racial discrimination to being able to distinguish which Americans were unfriendly to Chinese people and who were racist.

In this consulting club, we assigned team members to undertake consulting projects for off-campus startups, and I, as an upperclassman, participated in project development and presentations. My conclusion about American university clubs is that, when you can't find a suitable internship, on-campus business club projects can serve as an alternative. Our club was also very helpful to local students because they frequently summarized internship projects and helped each other with referrals. Although it was difficult for international students to access their resources, it helped me gain a better understanding of these systems.

While participating in the club activities, I also updated my LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is the largest networking platform in the US. My club once organized an event where they helped everyone take LinkedIn profile pictures and also provided a lot of assistance with our resumes.

Around October, I found an unpaid remote internship in Texas as a Marketing Intern. I've never aimed for the very top from the start. Back in China, I started with unpaid volunteer projects during my freshman year of college, and during my first semester in the US, I also volunteered for American startups.

Having my first job experience in the US, although it wasn't a prestigious position, at least my resume had a section indicating that my work location was in the US.

During this unpaid internship at an American company, I gained some understanding of the American work mindset, including email format and content, and how to control small talk during phone calls. Of course, most importantly, I got used to speaking, listening, reading, and writing English in the US beforehand.

The above is roughly what I prepared for when looking for my first full-time job in the US.

Always be prepared.

接下来我想聊一下我的一些面试技巧。

与中国找工作很大的不同是，美国人会更愿意听你讲故事。在中国，更多的是硬背景的面试，而美国的大多数岗位都不像中国岗位注重学历背景。

我的面试三板斧：1.真诚； 2.自信； 3.讲故事

我在中国拿到面试后还被拒绝的理由多种多样。如你不是研究生，比如你没有这方面的实习经验，比如你overqualified……

我对自己很自信，也一直在告诉自己，在美国只要我拿到面试， 最后被拒绝的原因只有我没有身份。虽然面试拿的少，但我海投的量足够大，总有面试可以拿，我要保证自己在面试中的表现不会成为面试官挂掉我的原因之一。

在这里我想给大家分享几段曾经拿到过offer的面试经历，当然，在写下这篇文章的时候，我也成了一名面试官，面试来接我目前岗位的一名研究生。

首先是在我大四毕业时拿到的第一个offer，洛杉矶一个小型咨询公司的面试。

总共两轮面试，第一轮是群面，两名候选人，我们面试的岗位是business consultant，工作内容涉及到帮助客户设计marketing plan和很多分析工作。

群面流程：1.各自自我介绍； 2.面试官问问题； 3.候选人提问题。

和我一块群面的另一名候选人自我介绍有7年的HR工作经验，现在想做这份工作因为她想要跳出自己的舒适圈，做更有挑战性的工作，同时看到工作的福利待遇不错。

在国内时我很少遇到工作经验丰富的竞争对手，通常大家都是学生，我就会拿出自己引以为傲的7份实习经历来作为自我介绍。但我听到她有全职工作经历后，迅速放弃了拿出实习比拼的想法。

我当时自我介绍时说：

Before I go straight to my introduction, I want to share you guys why I came to America. When I studied in China, I've read books about American company culture and stories about Nike, Disney, Apple and Blackstone. I think American companies are very creative and I want to learn entreprenurship here. So when I did a internship in an American company in Shanghai then I went to UCR for an exchange program. When I came here, I started to work as a consultant in a consulting group in UCR also I got an remote internship as an marketing intern in a startup and just ended it.

I want to apply for this job because I have passion for consulting and marketing. I also searched online and found that you guys have a young and dynamic team. I want to work for you guys. I'll graduate in June and would be able to work full time.

(在直接进入我的介绍之前，我想和你们分享一下我为什么来美国。 在中国学习时，我读过关于美国公司文化的书，也读过耐克、迪斯尼、苹果和黑石的故事。 我觉得美国公司很有创造力，我想在这里学习创业精神。 因此，当我在上海的一家美国公司实习时，我去了加州大学洛杉矶分校参加交流项目。 来到这里后，我开始在 UCR 的一个咨询小组做顾问，还在一家初创公司做市场营销实习生，并结束了远程实习。

我想申请这份工作，因为我对咨询和市场营销充满热情。 我还在网上搜索了一下，发现你们有一个年轻而充满活力的团队。 我想为你们工作。 我将在六月份毕业，可以全职工作。)

说完上面的大概一两分钟，接着就进行到问问题的环节，我在美国的面试思维通常是表现出自己与其他人不同的特质，让人至少能够记住我这名候选人。在开始的工作经历不及竞争者后，我的思维便转换成我需要树立自己作为刚毕业大学生的活力与激情。

后续的行为面试陆续问道自己的未来计划是什么和在工作中最看重什么。另一位候选人聊到未来计划是有一份稳定的工作，同时希望能hybird（远程与实地工作结合）上班，以及她很看重工作的福利待遇，我的所有回答都与她不同，我说我未来计划是如果能加入公司，我想了解晋升流程，同时未来我想创办自己的公司，我在工作中最看重团队氛围以及工作的挑战性。

其他的一些问题我的确有些记不清了，但幸运的是我通过了第一轮群面，来到第二轮单独面试。

时间久远我也记不清所有细节，唯一我觉得是决定性的问题是他问我为什么公司应该给我发offer，我的回答有三点：

First of all, I'm very passionate about this job and interest is the best teacher. If you guys give me the offer, I can bring my energy to the team and be serious about my work.

Secondly, I'm very young and I want to earn more money at the same time I'll try my best to bring value to the company. I value this opportunity and I won't let you down.

Last but not least, I'm original from China and it means I have international background that I have the potential to bring the international clients when the company needs to expend.

(首先，我对这份工作充满热情，兴趣是最好的老师。 如果你们给我这个机会，我可以把我的精力带到团队中，认真工作。

其次，我很年轻，我想赚更多的钱，同时我会尽力为公司创造价值。 我很珍惜这次机会，我不会让您失望的。

第三，我来自中国，这意味着我有国际背景，当公司需要开支时，我有潜力为公司带来国际客户。)

这是我回答的最后一个问题。此后的第二个工作日我收到了这个公司的offer。

第二个我想分享的面试是目前的这份工作，一个货车公司的内部审计岗位。

这是我在圣路易斯跳了两次槽后，停留了11个月的工作。第一次跳槽是从一家家具公司销售到一家广告公司的Account Manager（客户经理？国内似乎很少有这个岗位），都是华人公司，第二次跳槽来的现在这家公司是美国公司，但公司老板和大部分同事都来自乌兹别克斯坦，我是唯一的中国人。

也正是从加州来到亚裔很少的密苏里州后我发现，作为少数群体，在这里或许有很多不利，比如没办法像在加州一样随时找到中国人抱团，但作为少数群体，在面试时如果有超过基本线的能力，同时面试官不是一个喜欢跟自己同族裔抱团的人，我们被选中的可能性便大大增加。

我在加入目前的这家公司后，刚好在给我分配办公室时看到了所有候选人的简历，经理告诉我他发布在indeed上后总共一百多个人申请，十多位进入面试，一面电话面，二面现场面。

我看到所有的简历，大部分是美国人，通过他们的工作和学习经历，大概在22岁（也就是我）到45岁的范围。我看到经理对每一位候选人的期望薪资做了标记，最低的是一名圣路易斯华盛顿大学的金融博士生，她来自印度，一个月1000美元，没有任何工作经历，有一些研究经历。最高的是一位在当地银行有10多年工作经历的商业分析师，$125K年薪。大部分人的期望薪资是年薪4.8万到7.5万

我要的工资是6万美元，当然最后给我砍到了5.2万美元，也就是25美元一小时。

这一个面试问的内容大多跟会计知识有关，比如给了我一些案例，让我现场写出来会计分录。这一部分不多分享， 但值得参考的是对于面试岗位的分析。

我相信有很多候选人的表现比我好，但他们的要价很高，在第一次现场面试的时候经理告诉我目前这个办公室只有他一个人，公司计划慢慢把这个办公室扩张成为公司的head office。

通常在一个部门人很少的时候，作为经理的那个人便会是公司的高层，所以他的工资必定是很高的，同时这个人的产出也会特别高。

他的职位是审计助理，他也是这整个办公室的经理，通过实地的观察，这个办公室能容纳至少10人，我提前问了他对于整个办公室的规划，审计部门总共2人，以后会有物流调度和销售部门，在这样的背景下，如果我作为公司的高层，我会希望审计部门的两个人，一个人有很高的工资，同时为公司带来巨大的价值，另一个人需要非常的灵活，能帮助处理管理层没时间处理的事情，同时这个人的工资不会太高，否则审计部门的整体预算会过高。

我提出的目标薪资6万美元，与此前提到的咨询公司给我的薪资预算相同，同时这也时我在加州毕业时同期认识的中国研究生拿到的大致薪资，但我也知道加州的整体消费水平和税率更高，他们砍掉的8K，我在密苏里生活了一段时间后也觉得并不过分。

Next, I'd like to share some of my interview techniques.

A significant difference between job hunting in China and in the US is that Americans are more willing to listen to your story. In China, interviews focus more on hard skills and background, while most jobs in the US don't emphasize academic qualifications as much as they do in China.

My three key interview techniques: 1. Sincerity; 2. Confidence; 3. Storytelling

In China, I was rejected for various reasons after getting interviews. For example, you weren't a graduate student, you lacked relevant internship experience, or you were overqualified…

I was very confident in myself and always told myself that in the US, if I got an interview, the only reason I would be rejected was because I didn't have legal status. Although I got fewer interviews, I applied to many jobs, so I was always able to get some. I wanted to ensure that my performance in the interview wouldn't be one of the reasons the interviewer rejected me.

Here, I'd like to share a few interview experiences from when I received job offers. Of course, while writing this article, I also became an interviewer, interviewing a graduate student who was applying for my current position.

First was the first offer I received after graduating from my senior year of college: an interview with a small consulting firm in Los Angeles.

There were two rounds of interviews. The first round was a group interview with two candidates. The position we were interviewing for was business consultant, and the job responsibilities included helping clients design marketing plans and performing a lot of analysis.

The group interview process was as follows: 1. Self-introductions; 2. Interviewer questions; 3. Candidates' questions.

The other candidate in my group interview introduced herself as having seven years of HR experience. She wanted this job because she wanted to step out of her comfort zone and do more challenging work, and she saw that the benefits and compensation were good.

Back in China, I rarely encountered competitors with extensive work experience; usually, everyone was a student. I would then highlight my seven internships, which I was very proud of, as part of my self-introduction. However, after hearing that she had full-time work experience, I quickly abandoned the idea of ​​comparing my internships.

When I introduced myself, I said:

Before I go straight to my introduction, I want to share you guys why I came to America. When I studied in China, I've read books about American company culture and stories about Nike, Disney, Apple and Blackstone. I think American companies are very creative and I want to learn entreprenurship here. So when I did an internship in an American company in Shanghai then I went to UCR for an exchange program. When I came here, I started to work as a consultant in a consulting group in UCR also I got an remote internship as an marketing intern in a startup and just ended it.

I want to apply for this job because I have passion for consulting and marketing. I also searched online and found that you guys have a young and dynamic team. I want to work for you guys. I'll graduate in June and would be able to work full time.

(Before going directly to my introduction, I would like to share with you why I came to the United States. While studying in China, I read books about American corporate culture and stories about Nike, Disney, Apple, and Blackstone. I found American companies very creative, and I wanted to learn about entrepreneurship here. Therefore, while interning at an American company in Shanghai, I participated in an exchange program at UCLA. After arriving here, I started as a consultant in a consulting group at UCR, and also worked as a marketing intern at a startup, completing my remote internship.

I want to apply for this job because I am passionate about consulting and marketing. I also did some online research and found that you have a young and energetic team. I want to work for you. I will graduate in June and can work full-time.

After speaking for about a minute or two, the Q&A session began. My interview strategy in the US is usually to highlight my unique qualities, making sure the interviewer remembers me as a candidate. Since my initial work experience wasn't as good as the competitors', my focus shifted to showcasing my energy and passion as a recent graduate.

The subsequent behavioral interview questions asked about my future plans and what I value most in a job. Another candidate mentioned her future plans included a stable job with a preference for hybrid work (remote and in-person work), and she valued company benefits highly. All my answers differed from hers. I stated that if I joined the company, I would like to understand the promotion process, and I aspire to start my own company in the future. I also emphasized the importance of team atmosphere and challenging work environments.

I can't recall some of the other questions, but fortunately, I passed the first round of group interviews and advanced to the second round of individual interviews.

It's been a long time, and I don't remember all the details, but the one thing I think was crucial was when he asked me why the company should offer me the job. My answer had three points:

First of all, I'm very passionate about this job, and interest is the best teacher. If you guys give me the offer, I can bring my energy to the team and be serious about my work.

Secondly, I'm very young, and I want to earn more money while trying my best to bring value to the company. I value this opportunity, and I won't let you down.

Last but not least, I'm originally from China, which means I have an international background and the potential to bring international clients when the company needs to expand.

(First, I'm passionate about this job; interest is the best teacher. If you give me this opportunity, I can bring my energy to the team and work diligently.

Secondly, I'm young, I want to earn more money, and at the same time, I will do my best to create value for the company.) I cherish this opportunity and I won't let you down.

Thirdly, I'm from China, which means I have an international background and the potential to bring in international clients when the company needs to cover expenses.

This was the last question I answered. I received an offer from the company the following business day.

The second interview I want to share is for my current job, an internal audit position at a trucking company.

This is my last job in St. Louis after two job changes, lasting 11 months. My first job change was from a furniture company sales position to an advertising company Account Manager (client manager? This position seems rare in China), both Chinese companies. My second job change was at my current American company, but the boss and most of my colleagues are from Uzbekistan; I'm the only Chinese person.

It was after moving from California to Missouri, where there are relatively few Asian Americans, that I discovered that being a minority here might have many disadvantages, such as not being able to easily find Chinese people to band together like in California. However, as a minority, if you have above-average abilities during the interview, and the interviewer isn't someone who likes to band together with their own ethnicity, our chances of being selected increase significantly.

After joining my current company, I happened to see all the candidates' resumes when they were assigning me an office. The manager told me that he had posted it on Indeed, and over a hundred people had applied, with about ten making it to the interview stage: a phone interview followed by an in-person interview.

I saw all the resumes; most were from Americans, and based on their work and education experience, they were roughly between 22 (my age) and 45. I noticed the manager had marked each candidate's expected salary. The lowest was a finance PhD student from Washington University in St. Louis, from India, asking for $1000 a month with no work experience but some research experience. The highest was a business analyst with over 10 years of experience at a local bank, earning $125,000 annually. Most people expected between $48,000 and $75,000 annually.

I asked for $60,000, but they eventually negotiated it down to $52,000, or $25 an hour.

This interview mainly focused on accounting knowledge. For example, they gave me some case studies and asked me to write the accounting entries on the spot. I won't go into detail about this part, but the analysis of the interview position is worth noting.

I believe many candidates performed better than me, but their asking prices were high. During the first on-site interview, the manager told me that he was currently the only person in this office, and the company planned to gradually expand it into the head office.

Usually, when a department has few people, the manager is a senior executive, so their salary is inevitably high, and their output is also exceptionally high.

His position was audit assistant, and he was also the manager of this entire office. Based on my on-site observation, the office could accommodate at least 10 people. I asked him beforehand about the overall office plan. The audit department currently has two people, and there will be logistics and sales departments later. Given this context, if I were a senior executive in the company, I would want one person in the audit department to have a high salary and bring significant value to the company, while the other needs to be very flexible, able to handle tasks that management doesn't have time for. This second person's salary wouldn't be too high, otherwise the overall budget for the audit department would be excessive.

My target salary was $60,000, which was the same as the salary budget given to me by the consulting firm I mentioned earlier. It was also roughly the salary that Chinese graduate students I knew at the same time when I graduated in California received. However, I also know that the overall cost of living and tax rate in California are higher. After living in Missouri for a while, I felt that the $8,000 cut they made was not unreasonable.

上面的这个例子，我希望分享的是，如何分析自己的薪资合理性以及对公司团队架构的理解。

最后我想写一下，最近我作为面试官参与的一场现场面试。

我们的公司在圣路易斯市下面的一个县里，这位女生即将于圣路易斯大学毕业，专业是供应链，学位是研究生学位。

她也是国际学生，有三份实习，在康奈尔大学交换过一个学期。

在面试的一小时前她打来电话说由于她目前这份实习有所延误，她会迟到一会。那天下着暴雨，她大致迟到了10多分钟。

我们总共三位面试官，我经理作为主要面试官，我则更多地观察，我发现站在面试官的视角，我很喜欢看她在表达时候的一些手势动作和身体前后倾的幅度，她在表达的时候我注意到的一点是我们的座椅是旋转座椅，她说话的时候会喜欢左右旋转座椅，当然，这并不影响面试，只是个人偏好的不同，我只是注意到了这一点，有时候在她说话的时候，我的注意力会被她的晃动转移，所以我会建议在屏幕前的各位如果有面试，最好减少身体晃动的幅度。

而就简历而言，她提到她目前在一个跨国公司中当销售助理，她会帮助custom clearance（也就是清关）。但经理问道她如何操作时，她却说她没有直接操作过清关。

这一点成了整个面试的最大问题，经理觉得她在简历中造假了，但我其实作为去年刚毕业的国际学生，我自己的简历有些工作内容其实是在网上找了类似的照抄上去，说来惭愧，有的英文单词，我自己都没看明白是什么，所以我觉得并不是什么大问题，也或许是她简历美化未检查。

在她走了之后我跟经理倒是讨论了关于简历的事情，他提到了我当时面试时简历里写到我professional at python，但半年后他又问我关于怎么用python建立数据库的时候，我告诉他我没有能力建立一个数据库，那是computer science的工作，我可以用python处理数据，但大项目我做不了。

那场面试后他说起这件事开玩笑说我也Lie in my resume，在简历里造假，我只能很无奈地告诉他，我刚毕业的时候还记得在校内使用R语言和Python画图和数据分析，但工作半年未使用，这些知识我都忘记得差不多了。我当时反问他，我刚开始上班的时候他还说他以前会建网站，现在当审计这么久，再突然让他搭建一个网站他还会不会，他说那他也需要学习一段时间。

当然，在我自己的例子里，我思考了一下，关于professional这个词，不同的人有不同的理解，比如当时我写到我在SPSS和Python上是专业的，原因是我学过这些课程，同时我拿到了A及以上的分数，那我在会计专业里便是专业的，但经理在看到这个词时会认为我在整个了解这两个软件或语言的行业里是专业的。

这一点，我想作为非计算机专业的人，如果写到了professional，最好在面试时提到自己的真实水平并不能达到行业专家，否则也可能被误解。其实如果面试的岗位没有要求很高的代码水平，也不需要强调自己的代码水平。

再回到那个女孩，由于最近我们项目很多，的确没时间再发indeed和扩散招人，我的工签马上到期需要离职，虽然经理不太满意她的简历问题，但他也提到他提前告知迟到的问题是靠谱的表现之一，我们还是给她发了offer。她说她需要48小时考虑，如果合适，下周一会来进行培训。

以上，便是今天的全部内容。也算是我一年OPT上岸的总结，我今晚其实也有个面试，没办法在美国工作了。刚好在上一周，我以前在上海实习的经理内推我到一个迪拜家族办公室的财务尽调项目，我上周六提交了笔试，今天收到了面试邀请。

迪拜的早上9点，圣路易斯的晚上12点，我会通过这场面试的！

The example above is meant to illustrate how to analyze the reasonableness of one's salary and understand the company's team structure.

Finally, I'd like to share a recent on-site interview I conducted as an interviewer.

Our company is located in a county under the city of St. Louis. The woman in question was about to graduate from Saint Louis University with a master's degree in supply chain management.

She was also an international student with three internships and had spent a semester as an exchange student at Cornell University.

An hour before the interview, she called to say she would be a little late due to a delay in her current internship. It was pouring rain that day, and she was approximately 10 minutes late.

There were three interviewers in total. My manager was the main interviewer, while I focused more on observation. From an interviewer's perspective, I found her gestures and the degree of leaning back and forth while speaking. One thing I noticed was that our chairs were swivel chairs, and she liked to rotate them from side to side while talking. Of course, this doesn't affect the interview; it's just a personal preference. I just noticed this. Sometimes, her swaying would distract me from her speaking, so I would suggest that anyone having an interview should minimize their body swaying.

Regarding her resume, she mentioned that she currently works as a sales assistant at a multinational company, where she helps with customs clearance. However, when the manager asked her how she did this, she said she hadn't directly handled customs clearance.

This became the biggest problem in the entire interview. The manager felt she had fabricated information on her resume. But as a recent international graduate from last year, I'm ashamed to admit that some of the job descriptions on my own resume were copied from the internet. I even didn't understand some of the English words myself, so I didn't think it was a major issue. Perhaps she hadn't checked her resume properly.

After she left, I discussed my resume with the manager. He mentioned that during my interview, I stated on my resume that I was a professional in Python, but six months later, when he asked me how to build a database using Python, I told him I wasn't capable of building one; that's computer science work. I can use Python to process data, but I can't handle large projects.

After that interview, he joked that I also lied on my resume, fabricating information. I could only helplessly tell him that when I first graduated, I remembered using R and Python for plotting and data analysis in school, but after six months of not using them, I had almost forgotten everything. I then asked him if he would still be able to build a website if I suddenly asked him to do so after I started working there, since he said he used to know how to build websites. He said he would need to learn for a while too.

Of course, in my own experience, I reflected on the word "professional." Different people have different understandings. For example, when I wrote that I was professional in SPSS and Python because I had taken these courses and received A grades or higher, I would be considered professional in accounting. However, a manager seeing this word might think I was a professional in the entire industry regarding knowledge of these two software programs or languages.

Therefore, I think that for non-computer science majors, if you write "professional," it's best to mention in the interview that your actual skill level isn't at the level of an industry expert; otherwise, it might be misunderstood. In fact, if the position doesn't require a high level of coding skill, there's no need to emphasize your coding ability.

Back to that girl, because we've had many projects recently, we haven't had time to post on Indeed or spread recruitment notices. My work visa is about to expire, and I need to leave. Although the manager wasn't entirely satisfied with her resume, he mentioned that informing her in advance about her lateness was a sign of reliability, so we still offered her a job. She said she needed 48 hours to consider it, and if it was suitable, she would come for training next Monday.

That's all for today. This is also a summary of my year-long OPT experience. I actually have an interview tonight, so I can't work in the US anymore. Just last week, my former manager from my internship in Shanghai referred me to a financial due diligence project at a family office in Dubai. I submitted my written test last Saturday and received an interview invitation today.

9 AM in Dubai, midnight in St. Louis—I will pass this interview!