Rochester Institute of Technology

Julian Huenerfauth

Assistant Director for International Student Career Services

Students at RIT face a range of career-related challenges

Rochester Institute of Technology hosts a thriving international student population. Julian Huenerfauth, Assistant Director for International Student Career Services at the Rochester Institute of Technology, creates programs that help international students at RIT succeed in their job search and become more self-reliant while living in the United States. Huenerfauth also assists domestic students in their global job search.

For the students at RIT, there are a few key challenges that Huenerfauth seeks to solve. “One of the biggest challenges that international students have is that they have left their network behind. Another big challenge is that there are several cultural differences. Adapting to those cultural differences can be difficult.” International students also face challenges in knowing which employers to approach, where to begin looking for opportunities, and how to keep up with laws and processes related to visas and immigration.

Creating a resource infrastructure to streamline the student experience

“One of the greatest benefits of having Interstride is that it allows [RIT] to have a single resource that is all-encompassing for everything [our students] need.” To solve the range of issues RIT international students face, Huenerfauth put together a committee with Career Services and the International Student Services Office members to build viable solutions to streamline the student experience at RIT. Using the Interstride platform, Huenerfauth’s committee created an infrastructure that virtually all RIT students could benefit from: both international and domestic. RIT added its content to the wealth of tools and resources native to the Interstride platform, such as immigration guidance, job search, networking resources, webinars, and personal/professional development resources. Career Services and International Student Services offices now have one comprehensive resource to point students to when they are looking for guidance, simplifying both the students’ search for help and the administration’s efforts to provide them.

Student engagement and response to Interstride

One in three international students at RIT is using Interstride. Unlike previous tools used by the Career Services office, international students at RIT are finding real value from their engagement with Interstride. Huenerfauth reports a positive student response to the Interstride platform and looks forward to expanding its use. “Students find the webinars useful, and they also like the fact that they can search for jobs and research companies that would sponsor them for H-1B visas. I have had several students reach out to me, telling me they have received interviews from companies they found through Interstride. It’s been a very positive experience.”