Four practical guides for the people who shape an international student’s career: the employers who hire them and the alumni who advise them. Each audience gets the same ground at two depths, so you can read what you need in five minutes or keep the full reference on hand.
Field Guide
Two pages. The essentials, the language that works, and who handles what. Built to print and keep at your desk, or read on your phone before a coffee chat.
Comprehensive Guide
Eight to nine pages. The full reference: how the system works, what to watch for, and why clarity carries more weight than it appears to. For when the conversation goes past a single meeting.
For employers and recruiters
Anyone who sources, screens, interviews, or sets hiring policy. You do not need to be an immigration expert. For most internship and early-career hires the student leads on work authorization, and your role is narrower than most employers assume.
Employer Field Guide: Employing International Students
Two pages for anyone who sources, screens, interviews, or sets hiring policy. Work authorization at a glance, what to say when sponsorship comes up, a checklist for before Day One, and a five-step conversation workflow.
Employer Comprehensive Guide: Employing International Students
The full employer reference in eight pages. The three pathways in depth, who international students are and what they bring, language for the hiring conversation, and the national and Massachusetts economic case.
For alumni who advise, mentor, host, or hire
The labor market you graduated into is not the one your student is entering. These guides update the default assumptions, so a 20-minute conversation does real work and make clear what belongs with you and what belongs with the ISSO, the Center, or counsel.
Alumni Field Guide: International Students in 2026
Two pages for alumni in conversation with current international students. Four shifts in the 2026 landscape, a workflow for a useful 20-minute conversation, language that opens it, and who handles what.
Alumni Comprehensive Guide: International Students in 2026
A nine-page reference for alumni who advise, mentor, host, or hire. The authorization architecture from F-1 through H-1B, how to read what students are doing, frames for the next conversation, and where alumni add the most value across the year.
About this series
Published by the Center for Career Equity, Development & Success. The guides are for educational purposes only and are not legal advice. Work authorization and hiring decisions should be reviewed with qualified HR or legal professionals, and immigration-specific questions belong with the Suffolk International Student Services Office or qualified counsel.
Guides are reviewed each academic year. Last reviewed September 2026. If you have any comments or feedback regarding this resource, please contact careers@suffolk.edu or 617-573-8480.