If you’re an international student looking to work in IT in North America, salary negotiation is probably one of your biggest concerns. When you’re just starting out, it’s normal not to know what kind of pay you can expect, or how internships compare to full-time jobs in terms of salary. Overall, IT jobs here pay pretty well, especially technical roles, which usually start off way ahead of many other fields.

For example, if you’re fresh out of school and land an entry-level software engineering job at a big company like Google, Meta, or Amazon, you might expect a total package between $120,000 and $160,000 a year. This includes your base salary, bonuses, and stock options. Smaller companies or startups usually offer less—somewhere around $80,000 to $110,000—but sometimes they make up for it with more stock or faster chances to move up.

Internships also pay decently. Summer internships at big tech firms often pay $45 to $65 per hour, plus things like housing and travel reimbursements. So over a summer, you can earn $15,000 to $20,000 or more. For many international students, that kind of internship not only boosts your resume but also helps cover living costs.

Location matters a lot too. Places like the Bay Area, Seattle, and New York usually offer higher pay to offset their high living expenses. But if you’re in a city with a lower cost of living, your salary might be lower. So when you’re looking at offers, don’t just focus on the salary number—think about what you’ll actually have left after taxes and rent.

And remember, your starting salary is just the beginning. After a few years—whether you switch jobs or get promoted—your pay can jump a lot. Senior engineers often make over $200,000 a year. For international students, it’s really important to keep building your skills, work on your communication, and stay up to date with the market. That’s how you’ll keep growing and earn more over time.

For many international students looking for IT jobs in North America, Salesforce is a company they would like to work for. Compared to applying directly through the careers site, getting an internal referral can help your resume reach a recruiter faster and increase your chances of being noticed. This is especially helpful if you don’t have much local work experience.

The first step toward getting a referral is preparing a simple and clear English resume. You should focus on your technical skills and project experience, especially if they relate to cloud computing, CRM tools, Java, or the Apex language. If you’ve earned Salesforce certifications or built anything using the Salesforce platform, be sure to include that. Also explain how your work added value, like improving speed, fixing issues, or making a process more efficient.

To find someone who can refer you, try LinkedIn or your school’s alumni network. Start by searching for people who work at Salesforce and have a similar background or connection with your school or industry. When you message them, keep it short and polite. Tell them who you are, what role you want to apply for, and why you’re interested in Salesforce. Include your resume and avoid sending the same message to everyone—personalizing it a little helps your chances.

If someone agrees to refer you and your resume gets selected, you might be invited to interviews. The Salesforce interview usually includes algorithm and data structure questions, and sometimes object-oriented design or basic system design. You can prepare by practicing common coding problems and learning about Salesforce’s products. During the interview, it helps if you can connect your answers to real problems or business needs.

Getting a referral doesn’t guarantee an interview, but it improves your odds. As an international student, it’s important to keep building your network, update your resume, and keep practicing your technical skills. A referral into Salesforce can be a great way to gain experience and open up career opportunities. With steady preparation and a positive approach, you’ll be better ready when the opportunity comes.

If you’re an international student looking for IT jobs in North America and working with big data, you’ve probably run into the problem of out-of-order data. This happens when data arrives in a different order than the events actually occurred. For example, logs from multiple servers might come in late or out of sequence because of network delays or clock differences, which makes processing the data trickier.

Out-of-order data shows up a lot in stream processing. Unlike batch processing, where data is usually static and neatly ordered, streaming data flows continuously and can be pretty chaotic. This can cause issues like incorrect window calculations, wrong stats, or even bad business decisions.

To tackle this, most modern big data tools use two key ideas: event time and watermarks. Event time means the real-time the event happened, not when the system received it. Watermarks act like signals that say, “We’ve probably got all the data up to this point, so go ahead and process it.” This lets the system handle some disorders while still keeping results accurate.

When prepping for interviews, it’s good to know these concepts well. Interviewers might ask how you’d build a streaming system to handle out-of-order data or want you to talk about real situations where you dealt with this. Sharing how you used event time and watermarks to solve these problems can really help.

In short, out-of-order data is just part of working with big data streams. Understanding it and how to manage it will make you more confident in interviews and on the job. Getting hands-on experience with these tools and concepts will also make your answers more convincing and help you adjust quickly once you start working.

For international students hoping to break into the tech scene in North America, the Google Data Analyst position is definitely one to aim for. But just applying through Google’s official website often doesn’t get you very far. Getting a referral is usually a smarter and more practical route. A good internal referral can make sure your resume gets seen by HR faster and really boost your chances of getting called for an interview.

Google’s hiring process is known to be tough and very organized. For a role like Data Analyst, recruiters have to go through hundreds or even thousands of resumes. Without a referral, even if you have great experience, your application might just get lost in the crowd. A referral works like a highlight that helps your profile stand out.

So, how do you get a referral? The best way is to build real connections. Start with your alumni network, former internship coworkers, hackathon partners, or people you know on LinkedIn. Send a polite, straightforward message explaining who you are, your background, your projects, the tools you’re familiar with (like SQL, Python, Tableau, Looker), and why you’re interested in Google. Being genuine and specific makes it much more likely you’ll get a positive reply.

Besides networking, you also need a strong resume. For a Data Analyst role, Google cares a lot about practical skills in data handling, visualization, and business analysis. Highlight real examples where you’ve used data to drive decisions—for example, how you analyzed user behavior with SQL or automated reports using Python. Try to show measurable impact, like “improved data processing speed by 30%” or “helped increase ROI by 20% through better ad targeting.”

If you get lucky and receive a referral that leads to an interview, focus on preparing case studies and sharpening your analytical thinking. Google’s Data Analyst interviews often test how well you can extract key insights from fuzzy problems and turn data into useful business recommendations. This kind of skill doesn’t come from memorizing answers but from practicing projects and explaining your thought process clearly.

In short, getting a referral isn’t a shortcut—it’s a better way to get noticed and enter the process on a more level playing field. With the right approach and solid prep, international students can definitely get Google interviews through referrals—and maybe even land their dream job.