Entry Level OPT Jobs
Entry level roles on F-1 OPT let you build U.S. work experience while your authorization is already active, no employer petition required before you start. The catch is timing: your 90-day unemployment limit and 12-month window mean you need a role that's ready to file before OPT ends, not after.
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As part of the Student Union, Events and Conference Services department (SUECS), and Production and Technical Services department (PTS), the Production and Operations Manager reports to the Production Director and is responsible for managing event production and operations at NEIU El Centro in the first floor lobby, first floor community room, third floor meeting space and third floor conference rooms, as well as providing production and operations support for other PTS-supported events in other spaces at El Centro, at CCICS, at the north campus, Board of Trustees meetings, and NEIU commencements. Responsibilities include planning staffing, operations, and production services with SUECS staff, student groups, faculty, staff, rental groups, and other clients, managing student staff, freelance staff, and contractors, advancing internal, hosted, and rental events, executing equipment setups, live sound engineering, lighting design and operation, AV recording, and web conferencing equipment setup and operation.
Duties and Responsibilities
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Manages production and operations for scheduled events at NEIU El Centro in the first floor lobby, first floor community room, third floor meeting space and third floor conference rooms, and for other PTS-supported events in support of all concerts, conferences, lectures, third-party and rental events occurring in these spaces. Advances all event needs with NEIU faculty, staff, and external partners, renters, and other event organizers.
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Supervises, manages, and carries out duties for the following service areas: setup and strike of tables, chairs, portable staging, lecterns, live sound amplification systems, and other event equipment, the configuration and operation of conference room AV technology including live sound amplification, projections, and remote conference technologies such as Zoom, coordination of event equipment loans.
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Hires, trains, supervises staff, including student workers, freelance employees, and contractors to meet the production and operations needs of events at NEIU El Centro. Schedules staff for event support, production, and venue management. Covers their duties in their absence.
-
In collaboration with the Production Director, participates in identifying and executing departmental objectives and the development of long-range planning. Identifies and leads special projects, including capital improvement projects as well as staffing leadership and development opportunities in support of successful program administration.
-
Creates training and protocol documentation. Creates and improves administrative systems in support of departmental responsibilities. Enforces University policy, and creates and revises policy for the Production Unit in conjunction with the Production Director.
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Maintains equipment and records, including creating reports, troubleshooting, cleaning and repairing audio, video, lighting, and control equipment, verifying and updating inventory documentation, creating and updating technical venue documentation, updating firmware for equipment, and notifying the Production Director of any issues outside of this scope. Recommends capital equipment purchases and other services in order to maintain and improve venue safety and functionality. Reports facilities maintenance requests for the El Centro first floor lobby, first floor community room, third floor meeting space and third floor conference rooms to Facilities Management and tracks progress.
-
Administrates event space calendars via the University scheduling system. Ensures activities in venues are accurately reflected in the scheduling system.
-
Provides production and operational support as needed for other PTS-supported events on all campuses.
-
Advises and educates faculty, staff, rental clients and others on equipment operations and facilities use. Serves as event liaison to Police, Building Service Workers, University Technology Services, and Parking during SUECS/PTS-supported events.
-
Provides administrative support and management for rental events, including meeting with prospective clients, scheduling pre-production meetings for contracted rentals, serving as primary day-of production point-of-contact for NEIU venues, and reporting on space and staff usage for accurate invoicing.
-
Participates in the planning and execution of commencement and board meetings, and other off-campus or satellite PTS-supported events. This includes but is not limited to: organizing equipment, loading trucks, driving trucks, moving furniture, setting up, configuring, and operating AV equipment and conference room technology, and other duties normally performed on-campus. Participation at all commencement ceremonies is required.
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Performs other related duties as assigned, or as needed.
Minimum Acceptable Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree.
- A total of one (1) year (12 months) in education, training and/or work experience in the area of specialization inherent to the position. (Note: Master’s Degree in an area consistent with the duties of the position may be substituted for one (1) year of work experience.)
- Based on position requirements, additional education, training, and/or work experience in the area of specialization inherent to the position, may be required.
Additional education, training and/or work experience in the area of specialization:
- Demonstrated experience performing safety and equipment inspections, maintenance, diagnosing, troubleshooting and repairing audio, video, lighting, rigging, and networking equipment.
- Ability to lift up to 70 pounds, work on ladders (up to a 24-foot working height), lifts (up to a 30-foot working height), catwalks and crawl spaces.
Departmental Preferences:
- Master’s degree in a field related to technical theatre, theatrical design, or AV engineering.
- 2 years of experience managing a team.
- Knowledge of video recording, livestreaming, and video editing.
- Experience managing rental events.
- Familiarity with Microsoft Office suite, Google suite, and email correspondence.
- Understanding of event related software, including QLab, CAD and/or Vectorworks. Ability to interpret and implement layouts and diagrams.
- Demonstrated problem solving ability.
- Self-motivated, ability to carry out tasks with minimal direction.
- High attention to detail and solid organizational skills.
Schedule:
This position requires evening and weekend work along with a flexible schedule.
Pay: $60,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Parental leave
- Retirement plan
- Tuition reimbursement
- Vision insurance
People with a criminal record are encouraged to apply.
Work Location: In person
Function:
As part of the Student Union, Events and Conference Services department (SUECS), and Production and Technical Services department (PTS), the Production and Operations Manager reports to the Production Director and is responsible for managing event production and operations at NEIU El Centro in the first floor lobby, first floor community room, third floor meeting space and third floor conference rooms, as well as providing production and operations support for other PTS-supported events in other spaces at El Centro, at CCICS, at the north campus, Board of Trustees meetings, and NEIU commencements. Responsibilities include planning staffing, operations, and production services with SUECS staff, student groups, faculty, staff, rental groups, and other clients, managing student staff, freelance staff, and contractors, advancing internal, hosted, and rental events, executing equipment setups, live sound engineering, lighting design and operation, AV recording, and web conferencing equipment setup and operation.
Duties and Responsibilities
-
Manages production and operations for scheduled events at NEIU El Centro in the first floor lobby, first floor community room, third floor meeting space and third floor conference rooms, and for other PTS-supported events in support of all concerts, conferences, lectures, third-party and rental events occurring in these spaces. Advances all event needs with NEIU faculty, staff, and external partners, renters, and other event organizers.
-
Supervises, manages, and carries out duties for the following service areas: setup and strike of tables, chairs, portable staging, lecterns, live sound amplification systems, and other event equipment, the configuration and operation of conference room AV technology including live sound amplification, projections, and remote conference technologies such as Zoom, coordination of event equipment loans.
-
Hires, trains, supervises staff, including student workers, freelance employees, and contractors to meet the production and operations needs of events at NEIU El Centro. Schedules staff for event support, production, and venue management. Covers their duties in their absence.
-
In collaboration with the Production Director, participates in identifying and executing departmental objectives and the development of long-range planning. Identifies and leads special projects, including capital improvement projects as well as staffing leadership and development opportunities in support of successful program administration.
-
Creates training and protocol documentation. Creates and improves administrative systems in support of departmental responsibilities. Enforces University policy, and creates and revises policy for the Production Unit in conjunction with the Production Director.
-
Maintains equipment and records, including creating reports, troubleshooting, cleaning and repairing audio, video, lighting, and control equipment, verifying and updating inventory documentation, creating and updating technical venue documentation, updating firmware for equipment, and notifying the Production Director of any issues outside of this scope. Recommends capital equipment purchases and other services in order to maintain and improve venue safety and functionality. Reports facilities maintenance requests for the El Centro first floor lobby, first floor community room, third floor meeting space and third floor conference rooms to Facilities Management and tracks progress.
-
Administrates event space calendars via the University scheduling system. Ensures activities in venues are accurately reflected in the scheduling system.
-
Provides production and operational support as needed for other PTS-supported events on all campuses.
-
Advises and educates faculty, staff, rental clients and others on equipment operations and facilities use. Serves as event liaison to Police, Building Service Workers, University Technology Services, and Parking during SUECS/PTS-supported events.
-
Provides administrative support and management for rental events, including meeting with prospective clients, scheduling pre-production meetings for contracted rentals, serving as primary day-of production point-of-contact for NEIU venues, and reporting on space and staff usage for accurate invoicing.
-
Participates in the planning and execution of commencement and board meetings, and other off-campus or satellite PTS-supported events. This includes but is not limited to: organizing equipment, loading trucks, driving trucks, moving furniture, setting up, configuring, and operating AV equipment and conference room technology, and other duties normally performed on-campus. Participation at all commencement ceremonies is required.
-
Performs other related duties as assigned, or as needed.
Minimum Acceptable Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree.
- A total of one (1) year (12 months) in education, training and/or work experience in the area of specialization inherent to the position. (Note: Master’s Degree in an area consistent with the duties of the position may be substituted for one (1) year of work experience.)
- Based on position requirements, additional education, training, and/or work experience in the area of specialization inherent to the position, may be required.
Additional education, training and/or work experience in the area of specialization:
- Demonstrated experience performing safety and equipment inspections, maintenance, diagnosing, troubleshooting and repairing audio, video, lighting, rigging, and networking equipment.
- Ability to lift up to 70 pounds, work on ladders (up to a 24-foot working height), lifts (up to a 30-foot working height), catwalks and crawl spaces.
Departmental Preferences:
- Master’s degree in a field related to technical theatre, theatrical design, or AV engineering.
- 2 years of experience managing a team.
- Knowledge of video recording, livestreaming, and video editing.
- Experience managing rental events.
- Familiarity with Microsoft Office suite, Google suite, and email correspondence.
- Understanding of event related software, including QLab, CAD and/or Vectorworks. Ability to interpret and implement layouts and diagrams.
- Demonstrated problem solving ability.
- Self-motivated, ability to carry out tasks with minimal direction.
- High attention to detail and solid organizational skills.
Schedule:
This position requires evening and weekend work along with a flexible schedule.
Pay: $60,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Parental leave
- Retirement plan
- Tuition reimbursement
- Vision insurance
People with a criminal record are encouraged to apply.
Work Location: In person
See all 54,797+ Entry Level OPT Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Entry Level OPT Jobs.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding OPT Jobs
Verify your job title matches your degree
OPT authorization covers work directly related to your field of study. If your offer letter uses a generic title like 'analyst,' confirm with your DSO that the role's actual duties connect clearly to your major before you accept.
Research prevailing wage before your salary negotiation
Use the OFLC Wage Search to look up the DOL wage level for your job title and location. Entry level roles typically land at Level I or II, knowing this before you negotiate prevents accepting an offer that won't support a later H-1B visa filing.
Target employers with active LCA filing history
Find entry level roles at companies already filing Labor Condition Applications by searching Migrate Mate, which filters jobs by verified DOL LCA data so you see employers with a real track record of sponsoring work authorization.
Start your STEM OPT extension paperwork at 90 days out
USCIS requires your I-983 Training Plan to be signed and your extension application filed at least 90 days before your OPT expires. Missing this window forces you to stop working even if your extension is later approved.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do employers need to file anything for me to work on F-1 OPT?
No petition or employer filing is required during standard F-1 OPT. Your work authorization comes from the EAD USCIS issues to you, not from your employer. The employer's obligation is to verify your eligibility through Form I-9. STEM OPT is different, at that stage your employer must be enrolled in E-Verify and co-sign your I-983 Training Plan.
How do I find entry level employers who actually understand OPT?
Search Migrate Mate, which surfaces employers with verified DOL Labor Condition Application filing history. LCA filings are a reliable signal that a company has sponsored work authorization before and isn't learning the process on your timeline. Filter by job category and location to see which entry level roles come from experienced sponsors.
What happens if I'm still job searching when my OPT starts?
Your 90-day unemployment clock starts the moment your OPT EAD becomes valid, not when you find a job. Unemployment days accumulate continuously, including gaps between jobs. If you hit 90 cumulative days without authorized employment, your F-1 status is violated. Starting your search early and targeting roles with fast hiring cycles reduces this risk significantly.
Is a part-time entry level role enough to maintain F-1 OPT status?
Post-completion OPT requires full-time employment, at least 20 hours per week under USCIS guidelines, though many DSOs recommend aiming for the standard 40 hours to clearly satisfy the requirement. Part-time work during post-completion OPT still counts against your unemployment limit for any hours below the threshold your school defines as full-time.
Can I switch employers during my OPT period?
Yes, you can change employers during OPT as long as each new role stays in your degree field and you report the change to your DSO within the required window, typically 10 days. Any gap between jobs counts toward your 90-day unemployment limit, so minimizing the gap between your last day with one employer and your first day with the next is critical.