I made the odd decision of majoring in IT and deciding I liked Software deep into my major. Being an international student (F-1 visa) who was not able to land internships in the US only in my country of origin this puts me in a tight spot if I want to work in the US. Most jobs filter me out automatically or I just get ghosted. A bunch of referrals also ended up not getting me anywhere since they were looking for full-time employees or required citizenship for internships. I graduate in Dec 2026 so I still have one more summer before I go into survival mode.

Currently I'm starting to aim for more Cloud-focused jobs and going for my first AWS certification (CCP) so that I drift away a little bit from the saturated job market. I guess my best shot atm is to keep trying to contact people. Startups might be worth a shot.

Thoughts appreciated.

I wish I had some advice that could help. I think you're doing everything right, it's just winter out there right now. The employment numbers are all a lie -- it's much worse than anyone is saying. Keep your head up and keep trying and I wish you all the best.