How can a quant finance master's student in the US build American work experience before OPT or CPT eligibility begins?

US employers generally discount Canadian or other international work experience, even for highly technical roles. The way to address this is to begin building US-based professional exposure before formal work authorisation paperwork becomes relevant. Once you are enrolled and in the US on a student visa, there is no legal barrier to going into a firm's office to learn and contribute informally, as long as you are not being paid. Applying to medium and smaller firms in the city where your university is located, even before you arrive, is the right first move.

• Send messages on LinkedIn to people at these firms, get on calls, and propose coming in two to three days a week to learn and contribute.
• Smaller firms are better than large ones for this purpose because you get real access, you sit in meetings, work on actual problems, and people know your name.
• At a large firm, an unpaid student presence is often invisible.
• The goal is to get something US-based on your resume before CPT or OPT begins, so that when you apply for paid roles you are not presenting as a complete unknown to the US market.