Work and Travel CV: what a J-1 host employer needs to see

What the program is, in the State Department’s words

Summer Work Travel (SWT) is a J-1 exchange category run by the US Department of State. Its page on j1visa.state.gov says participants must be full-time students at an accredited, classroom-based post-secondary institution outside the United States, have completed at least one semester, speak enough English to get by in an English-speaking environment, and be placed in a job before entry unless they come from a Visa Waiver Program country.

The rules sit in the regulation at 22 CFR 62.32. It describes the jobs as ones that need minimal training and are seasonal or temporary, lets a participant stay up to four months during the long break between academic years, and permits no extensions.

Three parties read your resume

• The sponsor: a US organisation designated by the State Department. It screens you, verifies the job and issues the DS-2019 form you need for the visa.
• The agency in your country: a foreign partner a sponsor may use for screening and orientation, under a written agreement.
• The host employer: the hotel, park, restaurant or resort that interviews you and makes the job offer.

First step: find out whether you need a job before you fly

Open the Department of Homeland Security's list of Visa Waiver Program countries. If your passport country is not on it, as Türkiye was not on 13 October 2026, the sponsor must vet your employer and confirm the job offer before it issues your DS-2019. In practice your resume has to win a job while you are still at home.

1. Choose a sponsor from the State Department's sponsor search, which lists designated sponsors by program, and find its partner agency in your country.
2. Ask the agency for its price list. The regulation requires the sponsor's agreement with a foreign agency to include an annually updated list itemising every cost charged to participants.
3. Find your country's row in the State Department's 2026 program date chart and your university's official break.
4. Write the dates you can work, inside both windows and no longer than four months.
5. Build a one-page resume around those dates, then ask how the sponsor matches students to employers: job fair, online matching system or self-placement.

How the rules shape the resume

Availability is the first thing to read

The 2026 chart, updated 28 January 2026, gives each country a window of opportunity, for Türkiye 15 May to 1 October. The chart itself says a participant may stay at most four months or the length of the academic break, whichever is shorter. A seasonal employer staffs a season, so put exact start and end dates near the top.

English is checked twice

Sponsors must verify conversational English and reading comprehension, through a recognised test or a documented interview held in person or by video. Write your level plainly, with a test name and score if you have one, and expect the employer interview in English too.

Enrollment goes in the education line

The regulation requires full-time enrollment at the time of application and at least one completed semester; final-year students qualify if they are enrolled when they apply. Write your faculty, year of study and expected graduation month so the sponsor can match the line with your student certificate.

Jobs you cannot aim for

Sponsors must not place participants in, among others: domestic help in private homes, jobs that need a driving licence, work mostly between 10 pm and 6 am, clinical care with patient contact, warehousing and online order distribution, travelling fairs, substantially commission-based sales, goods-producing industries such as manufacturing and construction, or any job covered by another J category such as camp counselor or intern. Sponsors can be stricter: InterExchange also rules out mall kiosks, door-to-door sales and lifeguard posts where you would be solely responsible for others' safety.

The cultural part counts

Sponsors must select applicants who show they intend to take part in the cultural side of the program, and every job must let you work alongside and talk with Americans. One line on clubs, volunteering or travel you organised answers that better than a sentence about loving America.

Sample one-page Work and Travel resume

Everything below is invented to show the form: a third-year tourism student applying through her sponsor's matching system for food and beverage or front-desk work.

What the employer is checking, and which line answers it

Keep it to one page, single column, as a PDF with your name in the file name. Send a short cover letter with it if the employer or sponsor asks; InterExchange tells participants to provide both a resume and a cover letter to potential employers.

Proof: rules and sources, read on 13 October 2026

Exchange rules and fees change. Open the State Department and sponsor pages again before you pay anything.

Limits of this guide

• It does not decide eligibility or visa outcomes. The sponsor screens you and a consular officer decides on the visa.
• It does not cover J-1 internships or training, which need a placement plan tied to your field and have their own guide.
• It does not compare agencies or prices. The regulation only requires that the agency’s price list be itemised.
• An offer that asks for money to secure a job, or a job on the excluded list, is a warning sign; the overseas job scams guide explains what to check.

Next steps

• The waiter and barista CV guide, for how to describe shifts, covers and tills.
• The US resume format guide, for dates, headings and what US readers do not expect.
• CitedCV, if you want the English resume written from facts you confirm, with US conventions. It writes in English, Turkish or German and leaves out photo, birth date and marital status for the US.

After the offer, the sponsor vets the job before you start. If you change jobs in the US, the regulation says you may not begin until the sponsor has vetted the new one, which it must do within 72 hours.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. US Department of State, BridgeUSA: Summer Work Travelj1visa.state.gov/programs/summer-work-travel/
2. eCFR, 22 CFR 62.32 Summer work travelwww.ecfr.gov/current/title-22/chapter-I/subchapter-H/part-62/subpart-B/section-62.32
3. US Department of State, Summer Work Travel 2026 program dates by country (updated 01/28/2026)j1visa.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2026_SWT-Program-Date-Chart.pdf
4. US Department of State, Designated sponsor organizations by programj1visa.state.gov/participants/how-to-apply/sponsor-search/
5. US Department of State, J-1 common questionsj1visa.state.gov/basics/common-questions/
6. DHS, U.S. Visa Waiver Programwww.dhs.gov/visa-waiver-program
7. ICE, I-901 SEVIS fee frequently asked questionswww.ice.gov/sevis/i901/faq
8. InterExchange, Work & Travel USA: finding jobswww.interexchange.org/programs/work-travel-usa/international-staff/resources/finding-jobs/
9. InterExchange, Self-placement programknowledge.interexchange.org/work-travel-usa/participants/self-placement-program
10. CIEE, Work & Travel USA job opportunitieswww.ciee.org/work-travel-usa/students/about/work/