The most fundamental qualities needed to secure a job include a solid resume, interview savvy and ample amount of work experience. While that may be enough for most students, for others, one thing is still missing from the list - U.S. citizenship.

"I was interviewing with one of my top choice companies - General Electric - and I did very well in the first-round interview and got into the second round, but I didn't tell them I was an international student," Business senior Amit Agarwal said.

"When they found out I was an international student, they said if I am interested in working with them, they can interview me in my home country but they cannot offer me a job here (in the United States)," he said.

Agarwal, who is from India, said he was extremely disappointed by the experience but with perseverance and persistence, he finally received an offer for a full-time position from Dell, Inc. in Texas.

"I am one of the lucky ones to have gotten a job, so I am not complaining at all," Agarwal said. "Most of my friends from India are not able to find a job even though they are pretty actively searching - just because of the fact that they are international students."

U.S. companies are not xenophobic, but they are unwilling to hire international students because of the hassles involved in obtaining approval from the U.S. government, said Lynne Sebille-White, assistant director of the University's Career Center.

"In order for a company to be able to gain sponsorship approval from the (Immigration and Naturalization Service), they have to prove that they cannot fill that position from the American general population," she added.

Furthermore, the law prevents full-time work for students with F-1 visas, which only allow them to go to school in the United States unless they can get sponsorship from the company that is hiring them. If they are hired, the company will help them apply for H1-B visas, which are required for staying in the country to work.

Many international students said it is hard to find companies that are willing to interview international students when companies have restricted their candidate search to U.S. citizens.

"It wouldn't make sense for an employer who knows they're not going to get approval for sponsorship to interview with international students because they can't hire them," Sebille-White said.

Al Cotrone, director of placement at the School of Business Administration, said about 50 percent of the companies that recruit on campus are not considering students without U.S. citizenship.

As a result, "the number of international students who have jobs upon graduation is always lower than the United States students anywhere between 5 percent and 10 percent fewer," Cotrone said.

He added that the impact of Sept. 11, which resulted in more stringent immigration procedures and the sluggish economy have caused the efforts of job-hunting international students to be doubly affected.

Furthermore, according to a report in Business Week, the increase in the number of H-1B visas will expire in October. If it is not renewed by Congress, the available number of visas will be slashed from 195,000 to 65,000 per year.

"If they are going to cut down the number of H-1B visas, both international students and companies will be hurt, even though from my experience, it is unlikely to happen," said Kay Clifford, associate director of the International Center.