How long before you got a job?

[dandk 72]

What company and what type of business?

From Foxconn Indonesia to Foxconn USA; from manufacturing Mac to iPhone.

Edited July 2, 2015 by dandk

[minions2 24]

I was able to get a job 3 months after i passed my board examination

[BusinessMan1 0]

I have a BA in Communications and moved to the US on a K-1 visa pretty much immediately after graduating. I was super anxious about the job search thing because I figured it was going to be difficult finding something without much relevant work or any internship experience.

I got a few interviews for internships even before I received my EAD but had no luck actually getting one. I then signed up for an account on ODesk and found a full-time contract job as a translator the same week I got my Green Card. I was initially excited about the idea of working from home and didn't care about not having benefits since I had health insurance through my husband. Unfortunately he lost his job that same week and things got very difficult because we suddenly had so much less money and had to pay so much for health insurance (it was one third of my salary!). So I had to start searching for something better right away.

A few months later I was contacted by recruiters who wanted to place me with one of the Tech giants in the Silicon Valley because of my language skills. I got a job but never started it because the conditions were actually far worse than what I had with the ODesk job. Little did I know that Google, Apple, et al. are known to exploit new immigrants by hiring them for sh*tty contract jobs with graveyard shifts, low pay, etc. Just because they can. Aren't all of us immigrants desperate to gain work experience in the US somehow?

I felt horrible for turning down a job being in my situation, but eventually I was also proud of myself for not letting anyone exploit me. Half a year after receiving my Green Card I finally got a real job with a company I had always wanted to work for. I get a decent salary, I have full benefits and the job itself is awesome. Funnily enough, this opportunity came up just when I was about to give up on my job search. It had stressed me out so much and I had serious health problems because I couldn't deal with all the pressure, and then BAM!, dream job comes along and it all suddenly seems worth it I was especially glad for all the disastrous interview experiences in the previous months, because as horrible and upsetting as they were, they taught me so much! I wouldn't have gotten my current job if I hadn't done so much research about how to apply for jobs, how to present myself online, how to be a good interviewee, etc. But one thing that was definitely obvious to me from the start is that it really is SO VERY HARD to find work in America (and it's certainly wayyyyy harder than in my home country). Competition is huge and electronic job application filters are ruining everything. The only comfort for me during this time was knowing that it was not just me but that it is difficult for almost everyone. Hang in there, everyone, the right opportunity will pop up eventually!

Nice Nice .....POSITIVE Vibes !!! thumbs up

[EmN84 1]

I have been looking for a job for over 5 months now. I did not think it would be this difficult, simply because ive always done customer service/retail jobs. I have applied for probably 15 jobs but only had a response from around 5. A couple of them were too far away, I don't drive right now so that's also a huge problem.

Its very stressful, I wondered if moving to the US was right for me because of how the job hunt is going.

Its nice to read peoples positive posts, because im slowly losing all hope of finding something I like.

[Blue Bianchi 77]

I got a job in three months. This was in 2007, a year before the recession. Things were already slowing down. Sent 85 applications (I was willing to move for the job). Phone interviews for 17. Onsite interviews for three. Two job offers. Turned down one (salary was too low). Accepted one.

It was emotionally tough, but I accepted that it was a numbers game. For three months, my job was to find a job. I did work as a barista for two of these three months to keep the bank account from bleeding out. Also, I wasn't a fresh immigrant. I just finished grad school in the US, so I had local references. Still, my first reference was a former supervisor in the Philippines, my second was a former professor, and my third was my summer job supervisor (It was a job doing inventory for the university's facilities management department. essentially counting screws, nuts, bolts, pipe parts, etc for a whole summer)

Education level: Masters.
Your relater field Service, Industry: Journalism, Communications, Environmental Outreach
The position: Science Writer
How you got the job: Replied to a job vacancy in the organization's website

I think it's important to reveal your personality during the onsite interviews. People hire people whom they think they might enjoy working with and who seem a good fit for their work environment. I have a suspicion that I got hired partly because 1) I like cats and 2) I like long bike rides (I've biked across the US. Maybe that impressed the hiring manager). Guess where I work? In an institute where you can take your pets to work and people bike to work. And my boss, well he likes cats and is a long distance cyclist.

Hi ya'll!

Just curious how long did it take everyone to get a job in the US? Was the job in your field? Was it same level as you on in your own home, a promotion or demotion? Thanks! And good luck everyone!

Edited August 23, 2015 by Blue Bianchi

[begood 8]

1 year and 6 months and still didn't get job

[yvy23 11]

One of the things I've found, and I think someone else mentioned it earlier too, is that you have to be realistic with your job expectations to begin with. I've been able to get contract work. Yes, it's a demotion - a huge one - I was earning around GBP 15 per hour 5 years ago, now I can get around $16 per hour. I have zero job security for the first time in a long time. None of it is anything like the work I'd done before, apart from a few of the basic skills like attention to detail and accuracy. The hours often aren't great - and you don't get to choose your hours. None of it is even close to my ideal job. But it's a start - it gets you US experience to put on your resume. And it pays enough to live on if you can get full time hours. You might not like the job, you might even hate the job, but you have to start somewhere. And it really is like starting over as if you had no experience unless you get very, very lucky and find a company looking for exactly the experience you have. Then again, you might be surprised to find that a job you didn't think you'd enjoy because it isn't what you're used to turns out to be exactly right for you. Even if it doesn't, give every job everything you've got - you have to start over with building your reputation as a worker as well as building your experience.

When applying for jobs, I found the minimum required to even get a few interviews here and there, was to apply for as close to 100 jobs PER WEEK as possible. By doing that, I could get 3 or 4 interviews a week. And that takes 5 or 6 hours a day, minimum. If you want a job that badly you have to put a lot of time into finding one. Apply for anything and everything that you can do. If you're offered an interview, take it even if you've decided you don't like the sound of the job that much. And if you're offered a job - take the job - because the only way you're going to get the experience that everyone's looking for is by taking a job and getting that experience. You don't have to stick with the first job for the rest of your career, but you do need to start getting that experience as soon as possible.