Ultimate Guide to Finding OPT Jobs in the USA

The Optional Practical Training (OPT) program offers precious experience possibilities to F-1 visa holders who study at American institutions. Experiencing challenges when searching for OPT jobs in USA becomes a reality for students because of visa regulations along with hiring concerns from employers and competition among job candidates.

The search for OPT student employment opportunities poses numerous uncertainties to international scholars.

The following guide provides all necessary information about OPT job opportunities in the USA featuring search techniques alongside industry demands and salary insights.

What Are OPT Jobs in the USA?

Through OPT (Optional Practical Training) F-1 visa students may take temporary work positions in the United States if the roles relate to their primary study area. Academic students must apply either for Pre-completion OPT or Post-completion OPT which corresponds to studying before degree completion or after graduation.

STEM OPT extension gives F-1 visa students in STEM fields an opportunity to extend their authorized work period by two additional years, resulting in high demand for STEM OPT jobs.

OPT Job Requirements

For USA OPT jobs you must understand each of the essential requirements before starting the application process.

• All applicants need a valid F-1 visa to pursue employment in the United States.
• Students must seek positions that directly align with their academic studies.
• You must obtain DHS (U.S. Department of Homeland Security) approval for your application.
• Students should be aware that both pre-completion OPT functions with a 20-hour-per-week restriction yet post-completion OPT enables full-time employment permission.
• Prospective students can start the application process 90 days before their graduation date and need to find employment within three months of the OPT initiation.
• To qualify for the STEM OPT extension you must work at an E-Verify registered business and file the I-983 training document.

How to Find OPT Jobs in the USA

OPT job obtaining success in the USA requires effective techniques that enhance your prospects of finding suitable work. To enhance your job search you should follow these procedures.

 Leverage OPT-Specific Job Portals

• A number of job portals provide specific employment opportunities for students under OPT.
• OPT Nation focuses specifically on presenting OPT and STEM OPT position listings for students.
• Users should employ the search filter “OPT jobs near me” on Indeed for their local job searches.
• Go to My Visa Jobs, they List visa-sponsored positions for various fields.

Use OPTnation to connect with recruiters while also enabling filters to search for “OPT jobs in USA.”

Target OPT-Friendly Employers

The job market welcomes OPT students through regular employment opportunities at both technical companies and consulting firms as well as Fortune 500 corporations. Research and directly apply to:

S.N	Company	City	State	Employees	GRADE 2025
1	Walmart	Bentonville	Arkansas	21,00,000	A
2	Amazon	Seattle	Washington	15,25,000	A
3	Apple	Cupertino	California	1,61,000	A
4	UnitedHealth Group	Minnetonka	Minnesota	4,40,000	A
5	Berkshire Hathaway	Omaha	Nebraska	3,96,500	A
6	CVS Health	Woonsocket	Rhode Island	2,59,500	A
7	Exxon Mobil	Spring	Texas	61,500	A
8	Alphabet	Mountain View	California	1,82,502	A
9	McKesson	Irving	Texas	48,000	A
10	Cencora	Conshohocken	Pennsylvania	44,000	A
11	Costco	Issaquah	Washington	3,16,000	A
12	JPMorgan Chase	New York City	New York	3,09,926	A
13	Microsoft	Redmond	Washington	2,21,000	A
14	Cardinal Health	Dublin	Ohio	47,520	A
15	Chevron	San Ramon	California	45,600	A
16	Cigna Group	Bloomfield	Connecticut	71,413	A
17	Ford Motor	Dearborn	Michigan	1,77,000	A
18	Bank of America	Charlotte	North Carolina	2,12,985	A
19	General Motors	Detroit	Michigan	1,63,000	A
20	Elevance Health	Indianapolis	Indiana	1,04,900	A
21	Citigroup	New York City	New York	2,37,925	A
22	Centene	St. Louis	Missouri	67,700	A
23	Home Depot	Atlanta	Georgia	4,63,100	A
24	Marathon Petroleum	Findlay	Ohio	18,200	A
25	Kroger	Cincinnati	Ohio	4,14,000	A
26	Phillips 66	Houston	Texas	14,000	A
27	Fannie Mae	Washington	District Of Columbia	8,100	A
28	Walgreens Boots Alliance	Deerfield	Illinois	2,68,500	A
29	Valero Energy	San Antonio	Texas	9,897	A
30	Meta Platforms	Menlo Park	California	67,317	A
31	Verizon Communications	New York City	New York	1,05,400	A
32	AT&T	Dallas	Texas	1,50,470	A
33	Comcast	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	1,86,000	A
34	Wells Fargo	San Francisco	California	2,26,000	A
35	Goldman Sachs Group	New York City	New York	45,300	A
36	Freddie Mac	McLean	Virginia	8,020	A
37	Target	Minneapolis	Minnesota	4,15,000	A
38	Humana	Louisville	Kentucky	67,600	A
39	State Farm Insurance	Bloomington	Illinois	65,054	A
40	Tesla	Austin	Texas	1,40,473	A
41	Morgan Stanley	New York City	New York	80,006	A
42	Johnson & Johnson	New Brunswick	New Jersey	1,31,900	A
43	Archer Daniels Midland	Chicago	Illinois	41,008	A
44	PepsiCo	Purchase	New York	3,18,000	A
45	United Parcel Service	Atlanta	Georgia	3,82,550	A
46	FedEx	Memphis	Tennessee	4,46,400	A
47	Walt Disney	Burbank	California	1,99,125	A
48	Dell Technologies	Round Rock	Texas	1,20,000	A
49	Lowe’s	Mooresville	North Carolina	2,26,000	A
50	Procter & Gamble	Cincinnati	Ohio	1,07,000	A
51	Energy Transfer	Dallas	Texas	13,786	A
52	Boeing	Arlington	Virginia	1,71,000	A
53	Albertsons	Boise	Idaho	1,98,650	A
54	Sysco	Houston	Texas	71,750	A
55	RTX	Arlington	Virginia	1,85,000	A
56	General Electric	Boston	Massachusetts	1,25,000	A
57	Lockheed Martin	Bethesda	Maryland	1,22,000	A
58	American Express	New York City	New York	74,600	A
59	Caterpillar	Irving	Texas	1,13,200	A
60	MetLife	New York City	New York	45,000	A
61	HCA Healthcare	Nashville	Tennessee	2,65,000	A
62	Progressive	Mayfield Village	Ohio	61,432	A
63	International Business Machines	Armonk	New York	2,96,600	A
64	Deere	Moline	Illinois	82,956	A
65	Nvidia	Santa Clara	California	29,600	A
66	StoneX Group	New York City	New York	4,137	A
67	Merck	Rahway	New Jersey	71,000	A
68	ConocoPhillips	Houston	Texas	9,900	A
69	Pfizer	New York City	New York	88,000	A
70	Delta Air Lines	Atlanta	Georgia	1,03,000	A
71	TD Synnex	Fremont	California	28,000	A
72	Publix Super Markets	Lakeland	Florida	2,53,000	A
73	Allstate	Northbrook	Illinois	53,200	A
74	Cisco Systems	San Jose	California	84,900	A
75	Nationwide	Columbus	Ohio	24,118	A
76	Charter Communications	Stamford	Connecticut	1,01,100	A
77	AbbVie	North Chicago	Illinois	50,000	A
78	New York Life Insurance	New York City	New York	15,384	A
79	Intel	Santa Clara	California	1,24,800	A
80	TJX	Framingham	Massachusetts	3,49,000	A
81	Prudential Financial	Newark	New Jersey	40,366	A
82	HP	Palo Alto	California	58,000	A
83	United Airlines Holdings	Chicago	Illinois	1,03,300	A
84	Performance Food Group	Richmond	Virginia	34,825	A
85	Tyson Foods	Springdale	Arkansas	1,39,000	A
86	American Airlines Group	Fort Worth	Texas	1,32,100	A
87	Liberty Mutual Insurance Group	Boston	Massachusetts	45,000	A
88	Nike	Beaverton	Oregon	83,700	A
89	Oracle	Austin	Texas	1,64,000	A
90	Enterprise Products Partners	Houston	Texas	7,500	A
91	Capital One Financial	McLean	Virginia	51,987	A
92	Plains GP Holdings	Houston	Texas	4,200	A
93	World Kinect	Miami	Florida	5,289	A
94	American International Group	New York	New York	25,200	A
95	Coca-Cola	Atlanta	Georgia	79,100	A
96	TIAA	New York	New York	16,023	A
97	CHS	Inver Grove Heights	Minnesota	10,609	A
98	Bristol-Myers Squibb	Princeton	New Jersey	34,100	A
99	Dow	Midland	Michigan	35,900	A
100	Best Buy	Richfield	Minnesota	85,000	A
101	Thermo Fisher Scientific	Waltham	Massachusetts	1,22,000	A
102	Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance	Springfield	Massachusetts	11,323	A
103	United Services Automobile Assn.	San Antonio	Texas	37,376	A
104	General Dynamics	Reston	Virginia	1,11,600	A
105	Travelers	New York	New York	33,133	A
106	Warner Bros. Discovery	New York	New York	35,300	A
107	U.S. Bancorp	Minneapolis	Minnesota	75,465	A
108	Abbott Laboratories	Abbott Park	Illinois	1,14,000	A
109	Northrop Grumman	Falls Church	Virginia	1,01,000	A
110	Northwestern Mutual	Milwaukee	Wisconsin	8,239	A
111	Dollar General	Goodlettsville	Tennessee	1,85,800	A
112	PBF Energy	Parsippany	New Jersey	3,776	A
113	Uber Technologies	San Francisco	California	30,400	A
114	Honeywell International	Charlotte	North Carolina	95,000	A
115	Mondelez International	Chicago	Illinois	91,000	A
116	Starbucks	Seattle	Washington	3,81,000	A
117	Qualcomm	San Diego	California	50,000	A
118	Broadcom	Palo Alto	California	20,000	A
119	US Foods Holding	Rosemont	Illinois	30,000	A
120	D.R. Horton	Arlington	Texas	13,450	A
121	Philip Morris International	Stamford	Connecticut	82,700	A
122	Paccar	Bellevue	Washington	32,400	A
123	Salesforce	San Francisco	California	72,682	A
124	Nucor	Charlotte	North Carolina	32,000	A
125	Jabil	St. Petersburg	Florida	2,36,000	A
126	Lennar	Miami	Florida	12,284	A
127	Eli Lilly	Indianapolis	Indiana	43,000	A
128	Molina Healthcare	Long Beach	California	18,000	A
129	Cummins	Columbus	Indiana	75,500	A
130	Bank of New York Mellon	New York City	New York	53,400	A
131	Netflix	Los Gatos	California	13,000	A
132	Truist Financial	Charlotte	North Carolina	49,935	A
133	Arrow Electronics	Centennial	Colorado	22,100	A
134	3M	St. Paul	Minnesota	85,000	A
135	Visa	San Francisco	California	28,800	A
136	Apollo Global Management	New York City	New York	6,855	A

• Amazon
• Google
• Microsoft
• Deloitte
• Cognizant
• Infosys

The majority of employers within these companies actively hire students on optional practical training for beginning positions in STEM fields.

Network Effectively

Using your professional network stands as the best technique to discover OPT positions in the United States. Join:

• Join OPTnation Groups for international students.
• Students should attend University Career Fairs to build contacts with recruiters.
• Go to Alumni Associations for referrals and networking.

Your network proves better than submitting online applications to obtain local OPT position opportunities.

Optimize Your Resume and Cover Letter

Getting work at entry-level jobs for students on OPT requires a job resume prepared specifically for this market segment. Highlight:

• Relevant coursework and skills.
• Internship experience during your F-1 program.
• Candidates applying for STEM OPT positions ought to emphasize their technical skills.
• Your work authorization needs to be clearly presented since it shows your employer eligibility status.

Some recruiters do not understand OPT regulations so stating your work authorization explicitly helps prevent possible misunderstanding.

Apply for Internships and Training Programs

Graduate internships generate multiple employment opportunities which serve as excellent pathways to securing OPT positions in the USA. Consider:

• University Career Centers for internship listings.
• Students seeking OPT positions should explore campus employment options which could develop into long-term work opportunities.
• Internship portals like Handshake and Internships.com.

Entry-Level Jobs for OPT Students

Students who secure employment after their OPT period typically enter positions that match their eligibility requirements for the program. Optimum Student Visas enable students to build professional experience which strengthens their professional relationships as they prepare for career transitions. The following list contains well-known entry-level opportunities available to students participating in OPT.

IT & Software Development

• A Software Engineer develops software applications while carrying out their maintenance duties.
• The Data Analyst performs analysis of business data to generate decisions through insights.
• The Cybersecurity Analyst is responsible for safeguarding networks as well as systems against cybersecurity threats.
• A Network Administrator controls system networks while performing debugging operations.

Engineering

• A Mechanical Engineer produces mechanical designs before performing tests to create enhanced mechanical systems.
• The civil engineer is responsible for developing and supervising projects that build infrastructure systems.
• Electrical Engineer – Works with electrical systems and circuit designs.
• Biomedical Engineer – Develops medical devices and healthcare technology.

Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals

• Medical Research Assistant – Supports scientific studies and experiments.
• Lab Technician – Conducts medical tests and research.
• Quality Control Analyst – Ensures product compliance in pharmaceutical settings.

Finance & Business

• Financial Analyst analyzes both financial statistics alongside market industry trends.
• The role of a Business Analyst involves the identification of business requirements together with the improvement of potential discoveries.
• Marketing Coordinator – Develops and executes marketing strategies.

Retail & Customer Service

• The Sales Associate functions to support customers while making strategic sales.
• The Customer Support Representative receives inquiries while resolving all customer problems.
• The HR Assistant helps maintain human resources operations including recruitment activities and employee relationship tasks.

OPT Jobs in the USA Salary Expectations

Salary varies by industry, job role, and location. Here’s a breakdown of OPT jobs in USA salary based on industry:

STEM OPT positions offer higher-paying roles because technology and engineering sectors maintain high market demand.

Conclusion

American students seeking Optional Practical Training positions must face an arduous employment search that needs thorough preparation alongside ongoing determination and appropriate tools. The first step requires using job search platforms designed for international students to find OPT opportunities through Handshake OPTnaion and Indeed platforms dedicated to OPT candidate hiring.

The vital key to landing an OPT job involves searching for employers who either promote job opportunities to international students or support their work visa application. Large organizations from the technology sectors and healthcare along with engineering and finance sectors demonstrate expertise in OPT processes thus they tend to accept work visa sponsorship applications and provide OPT employment options.

The process of creating an excellent resume combined with a personalized cover letter that showcases your qualifications and your eligibility under OPT work law remains essential to compete against other candidates. Job seekers enhance their chances through networking activities since professional group membership and alumni meetings can produce valuable job leads which sometimes evolve into direct candidate referrals.

Your job search success will improve through dedicated work combined with network development and maintaining consistent applications for suitable positions to secure a fulfilling position that matches your career goals as well as adds value to your American experience.

Start your American job search immediately to build a rewarding professional career in the United States.