How did you find your first job in USA?

[PallasAthena 101]

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

Go to linkedin.com and create a professional profile. There are many recruiters there and you can network with a lot of recruiters who will get your resume in front of a hiring manager.

What is your field / area?

[destiny64 222]

Find a local temporary agency in your area and go talk to them. This is how my husband from Morocco was able to get his first job, it helps you get your foot into a job and create experience and references for work. It was very hard to just apply without the aid of a temp agency because of lack of work experience and references here in the U.S

[CanTex 1]

I found that here, in South Texas, every company hires through a temp agency. That way they do not have to bother with the background/security checks and they can just keep you on indefinite without having to pay insurance or benefits. The oilfield industry is crazy here so people come and go and jump from job to job as they are able to.

I worked as a Legal Secretary for over 25 years in Canada and my office experience was what got me hired. But again, I was hired on a temporary basis and was on that pay scale for a year before they hired me full time. My boss is great, however would have preferred to have hired an American over an alien But hey I can and do the job to her expectations.

[fatimazahrae 5]

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!!

Big thanks to you, im happy you found a job

[fatimazahrae 5]

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!!

i hope somebody call me for an interview , i hope i find job as soon as possible , i was a little bit lazy sending my resume to any job, now i have to try harder if i want to work

[JnRMo 16]

Expect to send out like 100 resumes before getting a job unless you have highly in demand skills. Check out temp agencies, you can often transition positions from them into permanent work.

[fatimazahrae 5]

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.

i will keep looking, i wish you good luck in your new job

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

i just created a profile in monster.com

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.

i have a European degree, just frustrated , because i still have not find any job

i tried to change my resume and cover letter styles

Go to linkedin.com and create a professional profile. There are many recruiters there and you can network with a lot of recruiters who will get your resume in front of a hiring manager.

What is your field / area?

i have experience and degree in project management from belgium

Find a local temporary agency in your area and go talk to them. This is how my husband from Morocco was able to get his first job, it helps you get your foot into a job and create experience and references for work. It was very hard to just apply without the aid of a temp agency because of lack of work experience and references here in the U.S

Thank you for your advice, i will look for a local agency,

[fatimazahrae 5]

I found that here, in South Texas, every company hires through a temp agency. That way they do not have to bother with the background/security checks and they can just keep you on indefinite without having to pay insurance or benefits. The oilfield industry is crazy here so people come and go and jump from job to job as they are able to.

I worked as a Legal Secretary for over 25 years in Canada and my office experience was what got me hired. But again, I was hired on a temporary basis and was on that pay scale for a year before they hired me full time. My boss is great, however would have preferred to have hired an American over an alien But hey I can and do the job to her expectations.

happy for you, your experience for over 25 years in Canada , very interesting and important experience

[Erica & L 52]

Late to the party here but I just applied to everything I possible could online, and after a few days, got 3 or 4 offers for interviews and actually ended up getting a job where I didn't have any experience. Since we're moving though, this job will suffice for the next 3 months, and because this is a small town, I took what I could get kind-of-thing. I was going to go out in person and start applying if I didn't get any bites, but I got hired about a week after I got my SSN.

I have 5 years experience in the veterinary field, I've done everything from cleaning kennels to taking blood for animals and everything in between. I started when I was 16 and worked my way up, but I don't have a VOA degree or a veterinary technician degree even though I was doing the same job. I just learned everything hands-on.

I want to get my degree for it and get paid the proper wage, but I'm hoping when I move I can at least be somewhat working around animals again until I can return to school.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Erica & Lily

[Girl from Celebes 588]

Try Elance. I have my own account there about a year ago while I was still worked before resigned after my K-1 visa was approved. I wasn't looking for a job but just to see how it works. I got several job offers back then but I could not take it due my job commitment.

Also, build your profile through LinkedIn. They offered a lot jobs there based on your skills and previous experience. I don't take any job now for several reasons. I haven't filed AoS yet and wanted to enjoy being unemployed after worked more than 11 years at same company, lol.

[PabloGarcia 36]

For what its worth It took me about 4 months and 200 resumes to get 6 interviews and finally a job and im an American Citizen. My wife is a pharmacist from Romania and were looking at like another year before the US Pharmacy Board even recognizes her degree and even once that is done she has to intern for a year before becoming fully certified to practice in the USA! Just be patient and send out lots of resumes.

[Cathi 5,775]

Expect to send out like 100 resumes before getting a job unless you have highly in demand skills. Check out temp agencies, you can often transition positions from them into permanent work.

In this job market she will send a lot more than 100 resumes before getting a job. My husband sent literally thousands of resumes and it took him 4 months to get his first job at crappy Walmart. It then it took him an additional 5 months to get a job in his field, and it was merely a low paying internship job with a 6 month contract, but he had to get his foot in the door somehow. At the end of the contract they hired him perm and he has a good salary and benefits. It took my husband 15 month from the day he got here until he was hired in his field with good pay and benefits.

The best thing you can do iis update your resume to US standards and sign up with every online job board you can find, even try Craig's list. One day I happened to be on Craigslist looking for a dog to adopt and decided to look at the job listings for my husband, I came across the intern position and sent his resume jutst for the heck of it, I assumed they were looking for new college graduates and figured they wouldn't contact him. The same day the company contacted him, next day interview, he was hired on the spot. So you never know where you will find a job. Don't lose hope, the job market is difficult even for US citizens. Good luck.