How did you find your first job in USA?

[fatimazahrae 5]

Hi everyone, i'm wondering how did you find your first job in USA?

i moved to USA more than 3 months now , i apply in jobs online like in indeed or careerbuilder but no body contact me , i just receive sometimes emails telling that they can't go further with my application, i think its not easy possible to get hired while hundred of people they apply online in the same time like me, and they may have degree from USA, my question is:

How did you get your first job? have you applied online ? or you got hired with a different way of applying for job?

i know i may have to get a degree in USA to find the appropriate job, the job related to my career, but i still have no degree here , i just have degrees and a lot of experience from my home country that's it,

Thank you for sharing with me your experience of finding a job ,

Have a good day

Edited May 18, 2014 by fatimazahrae

[fatimazahrae 5]

hi, no body here !

[Tracey&Greg 33]

My hubby was in the same situation as you a month and a half ago. He has no degree only management and retail/leisure industry experience. He just kept applying on indeed and also went to local temp agencies. He has finally found a great job at a gourmet grocery store. It just takes time and patience. I know it can be frustrating but hang in there

[flora01 37]

Hi everyone, i'm wondering how did you find your first job in USA?

i moved to USA more than 3 months now , i apply in jobs online like in indeed or careerbuilder but no body contact me , i just receive sometimes emails telling that they can't go further with my application, i think its not easy possible to get hired while hundred of people they apply online in the same time like me, and they may have degree from USA, my question is:

How did you get your first job? have you applied online ? or you got hired with a different way of applying for job?

i know i may have to get a degree in USA to find the appropriate job, the job related to my career, but i still have no degree here , i just have degrees and a lot of experience from my home country that's it,

Thank you for sharing with me your experience of finding a job ,

Have a good day

Thats not true.

The answer to the question is 'patience and perseverance'.

I came in may found job in july.I don't remember # of resumes sent everyday but in total may be more than 1000 resumes before finding first job in sales in which i had no experience.I remember of moulding my resume according to job requirement.

It also depends on the area you are trying to search and job market of your city.

A good suggestion to you is 'try to socialize with local people in your locality or city'.

Good Luck!

[Sirliner 26]

A couple of previous posts you might find helpful:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/382727-first-job-in-usa/

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/447445-how-long-did-it-take-to-get-a-job/

[fatimazahrae 5]

My hubby was in the same situation as you a month and a half ago. He has no degree only management and retail/leisure industry experience. He just kept applying on indeed and also went to local temp agencies. He has finally found a great job at a gourmet grocery store. It just takes time and patience. I know it can be frustrating but hang in there

Thank you, happy for your husband, i hope i find a great job like him

[Tracey&Greg 33]

Awe thank you.. I'm sure there is something perfect out there for you

[fatimazahrae 5]

Thats not true.

The answer to the question is 'patience and perseverance'.

I came in may found job in july.I don't remember # of resumes sent everyday but in total may be more than 1000 resumes before finding first job in sales in which i had no experience.I remember of moulding my resume according to job requirement.

It also depends on the area you are trying to search and job market of your city.

A good suggestion to you is 'try to socialize with local people in your locality or city'.

Good Luck!

yes you are right. i just send a few resumes to few jobs , may be 6 applications in 3 weeks or 4 weeks, i pick just the jobs related with my career , but i think i can send more resumes in the coming days hopefully i find something, i badly need a job

[fatimazahrae 5]

A couple of previous posts you might find helpful:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/382727-first-job-in-usa/

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/447445-how-long-did-it-take-to-get-a-job/

Thank you, very interesting links

[agnesb 47]

I started browsing jobs as soon as I got to US so about 5 months before I got my EAD. I got accustomised with the market and what pay rates to expect. Coming from financial services industry- customer service and office admin jobs I was terrified at the pay rates for these kind of jobs. (I also dont have a degree, just certification and vocational diploma). I used mainly indeed.com as it pulls jobs not only from other job boards but direct employer websites too.

I have sent a lot of resumes. I got some sort of replies maybe to about 15% of them, obviously mainly either just acknowledgment they'll contact me if im successful or just a decline.

I have gotten 3 interviews in total and the first two offers I have declined due to unsuitable shifts and/or pay that do not compensate for the flexibility they required.

I finally got a job after 4 months from getting my EAD and I am really happy with it and the pay is slightly more to what I was preparing myself for :-)

It has been mentioned on here too that your resume must include a lot of job related keywords so when it's scanned by a software or even a recruiter it can be picked up. Also google and review a list of action keywords or verbs that are important to be used in a resume when describing your duties and results in past jobs, i.e. Achieved, managed, acomplished, lead, generated, helped, reviewed etc.

good luck!!

[carolynhotstuff 252]

Many companies have you fill out applications and send resumes through their own website. Is there a certain company you want to work for? Check out their website. My husband has 2 part-time jobs and he has only been here 3 months. He would spend over 4 hours a day looking online and sending out resumes to all kinds of business. He wanted to get into the food service industry or retail now he has a job with both. These are entry level jobs but it is a foot in the door and he is gaining American work experience.

[HK12 273]

I do not have a degree here in the U.S., but I had no trouble finding a job in my field with my European Bachelor's and relevant work experience.

My suggestions for you:

- have someone proficient with American resumes look over yours, because it might be quite different from Belgian ones. Also have them check your cover letter for mistakes, grammar errors, etc. I got a bunch of books from the library about how to write good job applications, which helped a lot.

- networking is a great tool.

- I would focus on jobs in your field, but if you have trouble finding a job there, maybe consider some other fields too. It'll at least give you some work experience and references here. I think it is easier to find a job when you are already holding a job.

- finally, don't let rejections bother you too much. They are part of the game!

I applied for about 10 jobs (all in my field - Accounting), got two interviews, and both offered me a job.

GOOD LUCK!!

[GazaSlimaz 43]

Hi everyone, i'm wondering how did you find your first job in USA?

i moved to USA more than 3 months now , i apply in jobs online like in indeed or careerbuilder but no body contact me , i just receive sometimes emails telling that they can't go further with my application, i think its not easy possible to get hired while hundred of people they apply online in the same time like me, and they may have degree from USA, my question is:

How did you get your first job? have you applied online ? or you got hired with a different way of applying for job?

i know i may have to get a degree in USA to find the appropriate job, the job related to my career, but i still have no degree here , i just have degrees and a lot of experience from my home country that's it,

Thank you for sharing with me your experience of finding a job ,

Have a good day

My advice would be to keep at it!! Another thing is to forget what you did in your country and be willing to start at the bottom. My first job was in retail, in a music store. I just happened to walk into the store and heard them complaining that the person they just hired had not returned their call and I told them on the spot that I was available. I filled out the application and started that weekend. I worked my way from a part time associate in a store into customer service at an insurance company and from there on. The key is to gain sometime of experience to improve your resume. I'm sure some people were blessed to find decent jobs almost immediately after coming to the US but for others it is not so. Just be willing to do any kind of work (within reason) and keep looking.

[JohnR! 5,495]

Try monster.com as well... Create a profile, post your resume and press forward... Good luck!

[nesta37 3]

My suggestion (I have worked for 3 years in the USA before) is to network - get to know as much people as you can - cause it might be sad to say but knowing somebody is the best way to get a job.
Also your degrees from Belgium are valued in the same way as an US degree (sometimes even more) so don't worry about that. Another thing is read up on how to write a resume. When I was hiring people in the US I was really suprised to see how people glorify their resume. I had a lot of resumes in front of me that I found that they had more experience that I had but when the people actually came for the interview you realize that a lot of the things on the resume where not exactly true (well kinda twisted to look good). Just to say that resumes are written completely different in the US as in Belgium and the resume and cover letter is what will make the company contact you.

Hope this helps a little bit.