u/Background_Idea_8240

Hey guys,

Just wanted to ask for some advice.I’m an international student in LA and I graduated with an MSCS degree. My OPT ends July 17, so I’ve got about 2 months left.

I had a short data engineering contract role for a bit, but got laid off after the project ended. Since then it’s basically been nonstop applications every day. LinkedIn, cold messaging recruiters, referrals, company sites, networking, all of it. Feels like I’ve sent outa ridiculous number of applications at this point.

My background is mostly in data engineering and analytics work SQL, Snowflake, Python, ETL pipelines, Power BI, cloud/data platform stuff.But honestly this 2026 market feels brutal, especially as an international student needing STEM OPT sponsorship later on.

I mainly wanted to ask what people in similar situations did, whether smaller companies,startups are better to target right now, if consultancies are actually viable or mostly sketchy, and if there are any communities orr resources that genuinely helped you land something.
Also trying to be realistic at this point do you guys think it still makes sense to keep pushing hard in the US market for the next couple months, or just going back home ?

At this point I’m open to pretty much any practical advice or leads. Would really appreciate hearing from people who’ve gone through something similar.

Thanks guys.

Hey guys,

Just wanted to ask for some advice.I’m an international student in LA and I graduated with an MSCS degree. My OPT ends July 17, so I’ve got about 2 months left.

I had a short data engineering contract role for a bit, but got laid off after the project ended. Since then it’s basically been nonstop applications every day. LinkedIn, cold messaging recruiters, referrals, company sites, networking, all of it. Feels like I’ve sent outa ridiculous number of applications at this point.

My background is mostly in data engineering and analytics work SQL, Snowflake, Python, ETL pipelines, Power BI, cloud/data platform stuff.But honestly this 2026 market feels brutal, especially as an international student needing STEM OPT sponsorship later on.

I mainly wanted to ask what people in similar situations did, whether smaller companies,startups are better to target right now, if consultancies are actually viable or mostly sketchy, and if there are any communities orr resources that genuinely helped you land something.
Also trying to be realistic at this point do you guys think it still makes sense to keep pushing hard in the US market for the next couple months, or just going back home ?

At this point I’m open to pretty much any practical advice or leads. Would really appreciate hearing from people who’ve gone through something similar.

Thanks guys.

Hey guys,

Just wanted to ask for some advice.I’m an international student in LA and I graduated with an MSCS degree. My OPT ends July 17, so I’ve got about 2 months left.

I had a short data engineering contract role for a bit, but got laid off after the project ended. Since then it’s basically been nonstop applications every day. LinkedIn, cold messaging recruiters, referrals, company sites, networking, all of it. Feels like I’ve sent outa ridiculous number of applications at this point.

My background is mostly in data engineering and analytics work SQL, Snowflake, Python, ETL pipelines, Power BI, cloud/data platform stuff.But honestly this 2026 market feels brutal, especially as an international student needing STEM OPT sponsorship later on.

I mainly wanted to ask what people in similar situations did, whether smaller companies,startups are better to target right now, if consultancies are actually viable or mostly sketchy, and if there are any communities orr resources that genuinely helped you land something.
Also trying to be realistic at this point do you guys think it still makes sense to keep pushing hard in the US market for the next couple months, or just going back home ?

At this point I’m open to pretty much any practical advice or leads. Would really appreciate hearing from people who’ve gone through something similar.

Thanks guys.

Hey guys,

Just wanted to ask for some advice.I’m an international student in LA and I graduated with an MSCS degree. My OPT ends July 17, so I’ve got about 2 months left.

I had a short data engineering contract role for a bit, but got laid off after the project ended. Since then it’s basically been nonstop applications every day. LinkedIn, cold messaging recruiters, referrals, company sites, networking, all of it. Feels like I’ve sent outa ridiculous number of applications at this point.

My background is mostly in data engineering and analytics work SQL, Snowflake, Python, ETL pipelines, Power BI, cloud/data platform stuff.But honestly this 2026 market feels brutal, especially as an international student needing STEM OPT sponsorship later on.

I mainly wanted to ask what people in similar situations did, whether smaller companies,startups are better to target right now, if consultancies are actually viable or mostly sketchy, and if there are any communities orr resources that genuinely helped you land something.
Also trying to be realistic at this point do you guys think it still makes sense to keep pushing hard in the US market for the next couple months, or just going back home ?

At this point I’m open to pretty much any practical advice or leads. Would really appreciate hearing from people who’ve gone through something similar.

Thanks guys.

Hey guys,

Just wanted to ask for some advice.I’m an international student in LA and I graduated with an MSCS degree. My OPT ends July 17, so I’ve got about 2 months left.

I had a short data engineering contract role for a bit, but got laid off after the project ended. Since then it’s basically been nonstop applications every day. LinkedIn, cold messaging recruiters, referrals, company sites, networking, all of it. Feels like I’ve sent outa ridiculous number of applications at this point.

My background is mostly in data engineering and analytics work SQL, Snowflake, Python, ETL pipelines, Power BI, cloud/data platform stuff.But honestly this 2026 market feels brutal, especially as an international student needing STEM OPT sponsorship later on.

I mainly wanted to ask what people in similar situations did, whether smaller companies,startups are better to target right now, if consultancies are actually viable or mostly sketchy, and if there are any communities orr resources that genuinely helped you land something.
Also trying to be realistic at this point do you guys think it still makes sense to keep pushing hard in the US market for the next couple months, or just going back home ?

At this point I’m open to pretty much any practical advice or leads. Would really appreciate hearing from people who’ve gone through something similar.

Thanks guys.