Considering a change of profession

[jbanya 19]

I did some survey through Indeed & Monster, but all the Sales & Marketing job need min "X" years industry knowledge and experience. I have in total 10 years of Business Development experience (5 years of Account Client Servicing in Consumer Goods & 5 years of Sales & Marketing in Consumer Products and Services), I don't mind to start from junior executive position but seems like the "industry knowledge and experience" means in the US market to me.

1) Anyone here can share some of your job hunting experience?

2) Your interview experienced? If any difficulty as an immigrant?

3) Is better to apply job through job's site or through agent?

4) Anyone considering a change of profession? If this is common here in the US?

5) Any job is easy for immigrants to apply?

p.s. still under K1 and doing research

Thanks and have a nice day

Edited October 6, 2014 by jbanya

[Earthmoon 3]

I did some survey through Indeed & Monster, but all the Sales & Marketing job need min "X" years industry knowledge and experience. I have in total 10 years of Business Development experience (5 years of Account Client Servicing in Consumer Goods & 5 years of Sales & Marketing in Consumer Products and Services), I don't mind to start from junior executive position but seems like the "industry knowledge and experience" means in the US market to me.

1) Anyone here can share some of your job hunting experience?

2) Your interview experienced? If any difficulty as an immigrant?

3) Is better to apply job through job's site or through agent?

4) Anyone considering a change of profession? If this is common here in the US?

5) Any job is easy for immigrants to apply?

p.s. still under K1 and doing research

Thanks and have a nice day

Hi, that's great that you are doing some survey prior to your entry and it will be of great help to prepare yourself. As for my experienced , I was working in construction industry for 10+years as CE. When I got here it was quite hard for me to be able to land a job on my expertise or of all the applications I have submitted I only had one interview related to my qualification and experience (unfortunately, I didn't get the job for the reason that I should know all the state/federal requirements in construction). So this means, the industry knowledge and experience is in the US market.. Doing my own research I still need to upgrade my qualification and education aside from that I have to take engineering licensure exam in Hawaii (but this varies to every State) to be able to practice my field. Maybe some VJ's members here got really lucky and had easy transition or who knows it might be a good one for you as well. It actually varies considering the state, education, experience and etc it just a matter of timing and patience.

Fellow VJ's please correct me if I am wrong and this is my own view only. If you use the word "executive" here regardless if it's junior or senior it does means a chief, senior managerial or CEO position. In which your country or SG meaning you are executing your role as a "ACS or whatever role given to a person". The junior executive here probably equivalent to entry level. Other may input about it.

Now I have a new job and that's 360degree change of profession and totally a new learning for me. But hey we all came here (US )to be with our other half so getting whatever decent jobs is a bonus.

Good luck..

[MaleAlpha 314]

Ok let me give you an idea of what it was like for me. Before I immigrated here, I had worked here on a couple of occasions on a work visa in my company's headquarters here. I work in IT as a software developer. I started applying for software developer jobs in the week I got notification about my EAD. I used indeed.com and got calls from recruiters and a couple of firms who did phone screens and scheduled me for interviews. In total I attended 6 interviews with different companies, got offers from 2 and picked one.

Recruiters are very effective here. And especially in IT there are tons of openings so job searches are very easy. To give you a good perspective, I got my EAD on March 27th and started work on April 14th and I've been working here for almost 7 months. So roughly 3 weeks - a month of searching.

But I guess it depends on the industry. Keep looking, find a very good recruiter in your area and you will get an offer pretty soon. The US is the land of opportunity. Believe that!

P.S Also make use of the educational system here. That will see you rise up quickly with added work experience. I am currently looking at doing a masters degree. Good luck!

Edited October 7, 2014 by MaleAlpha

[jbanya 19]

Hi, that's great that you are doing some survey prior to your entry and it will be of great help to prepare yourself. As for my experienced , I was working in construction industry for 10+years as CE. When I got here it was quite hard for me to be able to land a job on my expertise or of all the applications I have submitted I only had one interview related to my qualification and experience (unfortunately, I didn't get the job for the reason that I should know all the state/federal requirements in construction). So this means, the industry knowledge and experience is in the US market.. Doing my own research I still need to upgrade my qualification and education aside from that I have to take engineering licensure exam in Hawaii (but this varies to every State) to be able to practice my field. Maybe some VJ's members here got really lucky and had easy transition or who knows it might be a good one for you as well. It actually varies considering the state, education, experience and etc it just a matter of timing and patience.

Fellow VJ's please correct me if I am wrong and this is my own view only. If you use the word "executive" here regardless if it's junior or senior it does means a chief, senior managerial or CEO position. In which your country or SG meaning you are executing your role as a "ACS or whatever role given to a person". The junior executive here probably equivalent to entry level. Other may input about it.

Now I have a new job and that's 360degree change of profession and totally a new learning for me. But hey we all came here (US )to be with our other half so getting whatever decent jobs is a bonus.

Good luck..

Hi Earthmoon,

Yes, I was a Chief of department in a social commerce company in Malaysia, but you know, I find it very difficult for me to get any managerial post here, as their expectation & requirement seems very demanding Maybe....because in Malaysia less competitions, the culture is everyone will stop you if go too fast & too far, additional is, all of our conversation in verbal or writing mixed few languages together in the bumi company that I worked. (I noticed my English become so sucks here)

and you know, I feels like a liability to stay home, movies, games, sleeps and eat... that's not fun at all. So I am thinking as long as get something to do during weekdays, either volunteer in any association or Church is a bonus to me too.

Support your statement - "But hey we all came here (US )to be with our other half so getting whatever decent jobs is a bonus."

Really full of encouragement, Thanks!

Edited October 7, 2014 by jbanya

[jbanya 19]

Ok let me give you an idea of what it was like for me. Before I immigrated here, I had worked here on a couple of occasions on a work visa in my company's headquarters here. I work in IT as a software developer. I started applying for software developer jobs in the week I got notification about my EAD. I used indeed.com and got calls from recruiters and a couple of firms who did phone screens and scheduled me for interviews. In total I attended 6 interviews with different companies, got offers from 2 and picked one.

Recruiters are very effective here. And especially in IT there are tons of openings so job searches are very easy. To give you a good perspective, I got my EAD on March 27th and started work on April 14th and I've been working here for almost 7 months. So roughly 3 weeks - a month of searching.

But I guess it depends on the industry. Keep looking, find a very good recruiter in your area and you will get an offer pretty soon. The US is the land of opportunity. Believe that!

P.S Also make use of the educational system here. That will see you rise up quickly with added work experience. I am currently looking at doing a masters degree. Good luck!

Hi MaleAlpha, thank you for sharing!

Your recruiter is from Indeed or Monster? Or if you can share with me how to get recruiters to help us? and would like to know if GC holders pay the same as citizens for tuition fees? Thanks a lot!

[flying_postman 6]

Ok let me give you an idea of what it was like for me. Before I immigrated here, I had worked here on a couple of occasions on a work visa in my company's headquarters here. I work in IT as a software developer. I started applying for software developer jobs in the week I got notification about my EAD. I used indeed.com and got calls from recruiters and a couple of firms who did phone screens and scheduled me for interviews. In total I attended 6 interviews with different companies, got offers from 2 and picked one.

Recruiters are very effective here. And especially in IT there are tons of openings so job searches are very easy. To give you a good perspective, I got my EAD on March 27th and started work on April 14th and I've been working here for almost 7 months. So roughly 3 weeks - a month of searching.

But I guess it depends on the industry. Keep looking, find a very good recruiter in your area and you will get an offer pretty soon. The US is the land of opportunity. Believe that!

P.S Also make use of the educational system here. That will see you rise up quickly with added work experience. I am currently looking at doing a masters degree. Good luck!

I know IT is booming in the US but to get employed in under a month so soon after EAD gives me hope before I move, I'm DV winner and my interview is mid 2015 and hoping to move permanently to the US early 2016

I also work in IT but on the network administration/engineering side with 10 years of experience plus in addition to my B. Tech degree, Cisco certs, Comptia certs, VCP5, ITIL etc and studying for my MSc in network security.

My question is did you limit your search to a particular region/state or did you cast a wide net nationwide in your job search?

Do you believe that your experience at the company HQ in the US played a huge role in being successful in getting employed?

Did any of the interviewers raise any questions on you being an immigrant to the US?

Can you recommend any other sources you used in your job search..

Thanks in advance..

[MaleAlpha 314]

Hi MaleAlpha, thank you for sharing!

Your recruiter is from Indeed or Monster? Or if you can share with me how to get recruiters to help us? and would like to know if GC holders pay the same as citizens for tuition fees? Thanks a lot!

Hi and sorry about the late reply. I haven't checked back on this post in a while. I mostly just uploaded my resume on LinkedIn since many companies could just accept your LinkedIn resume without having to send in a .word .doc type. I uploaded one on indeed also and the recruiters started calling me. Probably because IT is in high demand here in Portland Oregon and there aren't lots of people filling in the positions. You might want to take a similar route and also send your resumes to recruiters. It's better to use recruiters in your area though. They are more effective. I met mine, we had lunch and kept a good relationship. He kept giving me many interviews. Even after I got the job, I still talk to him on the regular.

Regarding tuition, GC holders pay same as citizens. As a matter of fact the only clear cut difference between a GC and a citizen is that citizens can vote, serve on jury duty, have no restrictions on how long they can stay outside the US (and can't have their citizenship revoked for major crimes like murder, etc) while GC holders have the opposite..everything else is same for both. So yes, you pay same as a citizen, can apply for Financial Aid, student loans etc. I just bought a new car with an auto-loan from a credit union.

[MaleAlpha 314]

I know IT is booming in the US but to get employed in under a month so soon after EAD gives me hope before I move, I'm DV winner and my interview is mid 2015 and hoping to move permanently to the US early 2016

I also work in IT but on the network administration/engineering side with 10 years of experience plus in addition to my B. Tech degree, Cisco certs, Comptia certs, VCP5, ITIL etc and studying for my MSc in network security.

My question is did you limit your search to a particular region/state or did you cast a wide net nationwide in your job search?

Do you believe that your experience at the company HQ in the US played a huge role in being successful in getting employed?

Did any of the interviewers raise any questions on you being an immigrant to the US?

Can you recommend any other sources you used in your job search..

Thanks in advance..

Seems like you're very qualified..and probably qualified than a lot of people you will be competing for positions with in your field. One thing I personally noticed out here regarding IT positions is that you are technically screened on a number of levels so as long as you know your stuff, you are good. That's all they care about and you will get a Job. Every one of the six interviews I attended screened me. I wrote code at a computer at 2. All 6 made me do white board code demonstration. The firms usually use their own senior tech guys or consultants so they usually know what they are asking you about. And because it's IT, it's either you know it or not.

Now to answer your questions -

I wasn't driving then and was going on the bus so I limited by search to the city I live in (which is a major city here) and the surrounding cities by it. So my search radius was quite limited. A large area or statewide will even make your chances much more better.

Honestly only about 2 companies were interested in my US work experience. Most were interested in knowing if my skill set fit in with what they were looking for. As long as you know have what they want, regardless of where you had it, that shouldn't be a problem.

None of the interviewers raised any questions regarding me being an immigrant. Because I have an accent though they would ask me if I learned English and how many languages I can speak etc..usually they find it fascinating discussing such stuff like culture, languages, how many languages you can speak. It makes the interviews light and more interesting. Most only care about whether you have the authorization to work. As long as you have that, that's all they care about. I started working on man EAD and when I got my green card, I went to update my records with HR.

I basically used LinkedIn and Indeed. These 2 were very effective in my opinion. And try to make friends on LinkedIn in your area of expertise. Recommendations work very well in the US.

Wish you the best on your move to the US. You'll love it here. God bless!

[mike411 15]

I would post resume on the job sites and open/unhidden it so recruiters can find your resume. You should apply for what you see at the same time. There are tons of companies out there that will not deal with recruiters.

They will start calling you to ask for what you are looking for mainly to get keywords. I like recruiters because they already have a foot in the door to companies that have weak HR and can help your negotiation.

You should not have a problem if you are legal to work in the U.S. regardless of immigration status. They will back off if you need their legal department to get involved.

I am direct and honest in all my interviews. Ask about the position and challenges and provide some thoughts to what you want to do if you were hired. I usually talk about personal things near the end of the interview such as my family and interests. When I feel good about the interview and position, I usually get an offer.

Another site is DIce.com. I use it because Monster is very expensive to the recruiters.

[mike411 15]

I know IT is booming in the US but to get employed in under a month so soon after EAD gives me hope before I move, I'm DV winner and my interview is mid 2015 and hoping to move permanently to the US early 2016

I also work in IT but on the network administration/engineering side with 10 years of experience plus in addition to my B. Tech degree, Cisco certs, Comptia certs, VCP5, ITIL etc and studying for my MSc in network security.

My question is did you limit your search to a particular region/state or did you cast a wide net nationwide in your job search?

Do you believe that your experience at the company HQ in the US played a huge role in being successful in getting employed?

Did any of the interviewers raise any questions on you being an immigrant to the US?

Can you recommend any other sources you used in your job search..

Thanks in advance..

IT is not booming. They are asking for lots of knowledge and experience for less pay than 10 years ago because they can.

Getting one to hire you before you actually have legal work status is difficult. Security and process certs are much more valuable than technical certs now. 150k+ CCIEs are in the past.

If you can be anywhere, then I would open it up to the whole U.S. There are many good jobs in the Washington DC area.

HQ has no value, but big company names do. They asked if I was legal to work, but that's usually done with HR and not the interviewer. It may come up if you have foreign experiences and accent.

Have agents to help because you need some involvement from their legal department.

One big thing I see is to let them know they are not paying for relocation. This is one item I crossed many times. If a company that is not budgeted for it, it will not pursue you when they think you are not local.

[MaleAlpha 314]

IT is not booming. They are asking for lots of knowledge and experience for less pay than 10 years ago because they can.

Getting one to hire you before you actually have legal work status is difficult. Security and process certs are much more valuable than technical certs now. 150k+ CCIEs are in the past.

If you can be anywhere, then I would open it up to the whole U.S. There are many good jobs in the Washington DC area.

HQ has no value, but big company names do. They asked if I was legal to work, but that's usually done with HR and not the interviewer. It may come up if you have foreign experiences and accent.

Have agents to help because you need some involvement from their legal department.

One big thing I see is to let them know they are not paying for relocation. This is one item I crossed many times. If a company that is not budgeted for it, it will not pursue you when they think you are not local.

I beg to differ on your first statement regarding IT. Even though it is true that the payscale has gone down, relative to many sectors IT has a LOT of openings especially in the software dev areas. It alsio largely depends on where uou are. Out here in the California, Oregon and Washington state areas, IT is quite big here. Many companies struggle to get people to fill out positions here. I can tell you from personal experience because my company is currently looking for 2 software devs and we're not getting people with the right experience and we're not even looking for any abstract skillset. Ever since we put up the ads we have have interviewed just 5 people. It has a salary range of between $75k - $85k a year with a lot of benefits. Way above what many sectors pay. Now we're going to fall on freelancers. And this was same in the last company I worked in for 3 years here. That company eventually started offshoring NOT because of increasing margins but because of availabily of software devs. Most of the people who frequently apply cant even write code to say 'hello world'. So yeah IT is booming with good pay if you have the right skillset and in the right part of the country.