Applying for jobs -what to put on resume

[Totalnewbie 0]

Job search advice generally tells you that you should not include your citizenship/immigration status on your resume. However, it is obvious from my resume that I lived in another country other than the US, and one would render a guess that I'm not a US citizen.

My question is: should I make it clear on my resume that I have my EAD already so that employers won't feel reluctant to call me for an interview or hire me because they think they may have to sponsor me into the country?? (because let's face it, very few employers want to go through that hassle). Thanks in advance!

Edited April 15, 2008 by Totalnewbie

[MarkNAshley 0]

Job search advice generally tells you that you should not include your citizenship/immigration status on your resume. However, it is obvious from my resume that I lived in another country other than the US, and one would render a guess that I'm not a US citizen.

My question is: should I make it clear on my resume that I have my EAD already so that employers won't feel reluctant to call me for an interview or hire me because they think they may have to sponsor me into the country?? (because let's face it, very few employers want to go through that hassle). Thanks in advance!

I would agree with the advice about not including citizenship/employment eligibilty on your resume. If you make it to interview they will probably ask you about the reason behind your foreign employment history.

If it seems to be taking a long time to get a job then maybe update your resume with a section like:

Employment Eligibility

I am legal to work for any company in the united states.

It is important to include the "any company" wording since some employment visas are company specific.

Where I work we usually interview those with a good resume and then let HR people work out the legalities. The person who reads your resume is more likely interested in your qualifications than your employment eligibility.

Edited April 15, 2008 by MarkNAshley

[kalina 0]

I was wondering this too and many people advised me to put a sentence in my resume - I have an unrestricted right to work full time in the United States for any employer

[motu 5]

I would suggest leaving the employment status out of the resume but adding it as a last line in the cover letter. I used to invite resumes for openings in my sections and would scan the resumes for who I would like to see - if they had foreign names (some Chines/Russian/Indian names that I came across) I would check the letter to see if they mentioned anything (or had worked someplace else in the US) if not, then that would be one of the questions I could ask (but it was the job of HR to do the hiring paperwork after I approved them so they would also check that). This is not a determining factor for the hiring person - but the OHR may have a different criteria to get your resume to that person. Good Luck

Edited April 15, 2008 by motu