Career Fair Season in a Time of CPT Uncertainty: How Campuses Can Keep International Students Moving Forward
An iCEP perspective on career fairs, relationship building, and cross-campus support for international students
A student walks into a career fair with a resume in one hand and a question in the back of their mind:
“If CPT is becoming harder to access, what can I actually do right now to build my career?”
That question matters.
But it is not the only question we should be asking.
Over the past several weeks, I have been thinking about this question through both a regulatory lens and a campus-development lens. After the recent SEVP Broadcast Messages on Curricular Practical Training (CPT), early this week, I had the opportunity to visit campuses in the Twin Cities—including the University of Minnesota, the University of St. Thomas, and Macalester College.
Each institution has its own culture, structure, and approach to supporting students.
Yet one theme was remarkably consistent:
Cross-campus collaboration matters. And students need opportunities to build relationships, not just credentials.
Now, as we enter the third week of September and career-fair season gets underway across campuses, I believe this conversation becomes even more important.
The question is not simply:
“Can this student get CPT?”
It is:
“How can we help this student build the skills, relationships, confidence, and professional network they will need—whether or not CPT is available?”
The CPT conversation has changed
On August 12, 2026, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) issued Broadcast Message 2608-01, reminding Designated School Officials (DSOs) of their responsibilities regarding CPT and stating that SEVP was increasing scrutiny of CPT authorizations. The message directed DSOs to authorize CPT only when the training is integral to the established curriculum and indicated that the practical training must be required for all students pursuing the degree.
On August 24, SEVP issued Broadcast Message 2608-02 with additional guidance. It states that CPT is not optional for students participating in an established curriculum where practical training is integral and required, and specifically addresses the requirement that all students—regardless of citizenship—participate when the curriculum requires practical training.
The August 24 message also emphasizes the role of cooperative agreements between schools and employers for CPT-related training.
NAFSA has described the two broadcasts as significantly narrowing the interpretation of CPT eligibility and has provided historical context regarding how “integral part of an established curriculum” had previously been understood.
The important point for campus professionals is that institutions are now evaluating what these messages mean for their own programs, curricula, processes, and risk management.
And institutions are not necessarily responding in exactly the same way.
That uncertainty is real.
But students still need to prepare for their careers.
Career fairs are still career-development opportunities
This is where I think we need to broaden the conversation.
A career fair is not only a place to find an internship. It is also an opportunity to learn, practice, explore, and begin building professional relationships.
Several years ago, I wrote “Questions International Students Should (and Should Not) Ask at Career Fairs”, about how international students can approach these conversations more effectively. The circumstances have changed, but the underlying principle remains: a career fair should be about more than asking whether an employer can hire you.
Students can use these conversations to understand what employers are looking for, learn more about their industries, and begin building relationships that may extend beyond the career fair.
That perspective is particularly important now.
With increased uncertainty around CPT, students may arrive at a career fair thinking:
“If I can’t get CPT, why should I even talk to this employer?”
But career development is not the same thing as employment authorization.
A career fair can be a place to:
- learn how employers describe opportunities;
- understand what skills companies are looking for;
- practice introducing yourself professionally;
- ask questions of people working in your target industry;
- discover organizations you may not have considered;
- build relationships with recruiters and professionals;
- identify alumni and other potential connections;
- learn about recruiting timelines; and
- become more confident communicating your value.
Those outcomes do not disappear because CPT policy is uncertain. In fact, they may become even more important.
CPT is one mechanism for gaining practical experience. Career readiness is much bigger than CPT.
That distinction was central to my earlier iCEP analysis of the CPT environment: when one experiential pathway becomes more constrained, institutions should ask what career outcomes they are trying to achieve and where those outcomes can be intentionally developed across the student experience.
What should international students do differently at a career fair?
I would encourage students to enter the career fair with a slightly different objective.
Instead of thinking:
“I need to find an internship.”
Think:
“I need to start building relationships with people in my field.”
That changes the conversation.
1. Start with curiosity, not CPT
Students can ask:
“What skills are you looking for in candidates entering this field?”
or:
“What kinds of projects or experiences help students stand out when applying for roles like this?”
or:
“What would you recommend a graduate student do now to become a stronger candidate for your organization in the future?”
These questions open a professional conversation without making the interaction entirely about immigration status.
2. Learn from the recruiter
Students should listen carefully.
What terminology does the company use?
What technical skills appear repeatedly?
What communication skills do they value?
What types of projects do successful candidates describe?
What does the recruiter recommend students learn?
That information can then shape the student’s coursework, projects, portfolio, student organization involvement, case competitions, research, and future job search.
3. Build the relationship beyond the fair
A career fair does not have to end when the student walks away from the table.
Students can ask:
“Would it be okay if I connected with you on LinkedIn?”
Then follow up with a thoughtful message.
The goal is not to immediately ask:
“Can you give me an internship?”
The goal is to begin developing a professional relationship.
Over time, that relationship may lead to information, mentorship, referrals, future recruiting conversations, or simply a better understanding of the industry.
What can faculty and staff say?
This is where cross-campus collaboration becomes especially powerful.
Faculty members, academic advisors, career advisors, student-affairs professionals, and other campus partners do not need to become immigration experts.
But they can become career-development connectors.
Instead of saying:
“You can’t do an internship without CPT.”
Try:
“Let’s first check with ISSS to understand whether CPT is available for your program. Regardless, let’s talk about the skills and relationships you want to build for your career.”
Instead of:
“You need CPT to get experience.”
Try:
“CPT is one possible pathway. Let’s identify other ways you can build relevant skills, professional relationships, and experience while you’re here.”
And instead of:
“You’ll have to ask ISSS.”
Try:
“That’s an immigration-related question, so I don’t want to give you inaccurate information. Let’s connect you with ISSS for that part, and I can continue helping you with your career strategy.”
This is exactly the kind of shared language that can prevent the student from feeling as though they are being passed from office to office. My earlier CPT analysis similarly emphasized that campus partners can provide career-development guidance while referring immigration-specific questions to ISSS or qualified immigration professionals.
Cross-campus collaboration becomes even more important now
One of the strongest observations from my recent Twin Cities campus visits was that career readiness cannot belong to one office.
ISSS understands immigration parameters.
Academic programs understand curriculum and learning outcomes.
Career Services understands recruiting and employer engagement.
Faculty understand students’ academic development.
Student Affairs understands the broader student experience.
Employers understand workforce expectations.
And students bring their own goals, experiences, and aspirations.
When these pieces operate separately, students can experience the university as a collection of disconnected offices.
When they are aligned, students experience something very different:
a campus that is helping them move toward a goal.
That is one of the core ideas behind iCEP.
The current CPT environment makes this alignment more visible—not because every campus needs to respond identically, but because the student experience increasingly depends on how well different campus partners understand their respective roles.
Career fairs can become cross-campus career-development platforms
I would encourage institutions to think beyond the career fair itself.
What if the career fair became one part of a larger international student career-readiness strategy?
Before the fair
Academic advisors and faculty can encourage students to attend.
Career Services can help students identify target employers and prepare their introduction.
ISSS can clarify what students should and should not assume about employment authorization.
International student advisors can help students understand when they need to seek individualized immigration guidance.
During the fair
Students can focus on:
Explore → Ask → Listen → Connect.
They can learn about industries, practice professional communication, and develop relationships.
After the fair
Career Services can help students follow up.
Faculty can connect conversations from the fair to academic interests.
Student organizations can create opportunities for continued professional engagement.
Alumni can become additional sources of industry insight.
And students can turn what they learned into an individual career-development plan.
This creates something more sustainable than a single internship.
It creates a professional network.
What can students build without CPT?
This does not mean that every activity is automatically permissible under immigration rules.
Students should continue to consult their ISSS professionals before participating in activities that may constitute employment or otherwise raise work-authorization questions.
But career development itself is broader than employment.
Students can work on:
- academic and personal projects;
- research;
- portfolios;
- case competitions;
- student organizations;
- professional associations;
- industry events;
- informational interviews;
- alumni conversations;
- employer research;
- career programming;
- presentations;
- simulations;
- professional communication;
- technical and professional skills; and
- their personal career narrative.
My previous iCEP article explored this distinction in greater depth: CPT is one pathway; career readiness is the broader institutional goal.
The objective is not to find a workaround to immigration requirements.
The objective is to make sure immigration uncertainty does not become career paralysis.
A message I hope every campus partner can share
If I could give faculty and staff one sentence to use with international students this career-fair season, it would be:
“Let’s not assume that CPT determines whether you can develop your career. Let’s first understand your immigration options with ISSS, and then let’s identify the skills, relationships, and experiences you can build right now.”
That sentence does something important.
It acknowledges the student’s reality without allowing the restriction to define the student’s entire future.
It also reinforces the appropriate roles:
ISSS helps students understand immigration requirements.
Academic and career professionals help students develop academically and professionally.
Employers help students understand the world of work.
Students bring these pieces together through intentional career planning.
Student Networking Workshop at UMN: Building career capital beyond applications
Kwan Segal with international students participating in a networking workshop at the University of Minnesota, September 16, 2026. The session focused on building career capital through relationships, skills, and professional engagement.
From restriction to readiness
The current CPT environment is creating legitimate uncertainty for international students and for the professionals supporting them.
The August broadcasts have also created significant operational questions for institutions, and there is no single institutional response. The federal message itself states that the broadcast is not a substitute for applicable legal requirements and is not itself a rule or final action by SEVP.
That means campus professionals should continue to follow their institution’s current policies, official SEVP guidance, and appropriate legal advice.
But uncertainty does not mean we stop developing students.
If anything, it gives us a reason to become more intentional.
We should not build international student career readiness around one authorization category.
We should build it around the student.
Their skills.
Their confidence.
Their relationships.
Their ability to communicate.
Their understanding of industries.
Their professional network.
Their capacity to make informed career decisions.
And their ability to continue moving forward when the environment changes.
That is the opportunity I see for iCEP:
not simply helping campuses respond to regulatory change, but helping campuses build the cross-campus capacity to keep international students moving forward through it.
Author
Kwan Segal is the Founder and CEO of ICAway and creator of Internationalization, Coaching, Empowerment, and Practicality (iCEP), an institutional alignment framework that combines professional development, facilitation, and cross-functional collaboration to help colleges and universities strengthen support for international student career success across existing campus functions.
