How long did it take you to get a job in your field?

[yuna628 9,687]

ugh the EAD problem again ... I keep hearing about this If I would have guessed before hand when someone said they were from the UK,I would have thought they would love UK immigrants here! The language and culture barrier is so small! Bit discouraging to hear that, but I'll keep my fingers crossed for you for the HR checks...

I'm unsure if there are any certifications that would help me...

His interview that day was with a panel of individuals (one of those firing squad interviews), and he said that his accent and humor seemed to win everyone over and made things go much more at ease. We do like British accents here for sure. Once he said he had some of the ladies giggling, I knew he might get selected. The head of the department followed up with him in November, and apologized for the length of time it was taking, and that they had actually lost some other candidates for other hiring positions, just because of their tardiness. In Tech Support they're almost always going to ask for certifications, which is something his previous employer didn't require. If he had those right away, I think it would have increased his chances.

Good luck to you in your search. Just don't get discouraged, it may take a while.

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

His interview that day was with a panel of individuals (one of those firing squad interviews), and he said that his accent and humor seemed to win everyone over and made things go much more at ease. We do like British accents here for sure. Once he said he had some of the ladies giggling, I knew he might get selected. The head of the department followed up with him in November, and apologized for the length of time it was taking, and that they had actually lost some other candidates for other hiring positions, just because of their tardiness. In Tech Support they're almost always going to ask for certifications, which is something his previous employer didn't require. If he had those right away, I think it would have increased his chances.

Good luck to you in your search. Just don't get discouraged, it may take a while.

OOoouuff the worst kind of interview nerve wise! hahahaha

Thanks I'll try not to get discouraged.

[dub42 17]

His interview that day was with a panel of individuals (one of those firing squad interviews), and he said that his accent and humor seemed to win everyone over and made things go much more at ease. We do like British accents here for sure. Once he said he had some of the ladies giggling, I knew he might get selected. The head of the department followed up with him in November, and apologized for the length of time it was taking, and that they had actually lost some other candidates for other hiring positions, just because of their tardiness. In Tech Support they're almost always going to ask for certifications, which is something his previous employer didn't require. If he had those right away, I think it would have increased his chances.

Good luck to you in your search. Just don't get discouraged, it may take a while.

the whole certifications business is such a scam. charging people money and wasting their time to prove they know information they learnt doing their degrees. Any decent employer should know a bachelors in comp science or IT contains all the material covered by A+/N+/CompTIA. I hate that whole industry.

[yuna628 9,687]

the whole certifications business is such a scam. charging people money and wasting their time to prove they know information they learnt doing their degrees. Any decent employer should know a bachelors in comp science or IT contains all the material covered by A+/N+/CompTIA. I hate that whole industry.

I would certainly agree with you, but it seemed like he couldn't get his foot in the door with some employers unless he had one. I noticed some places aren't even asking for a higher education degree, but just all want certifications, I assume in order to give the person a lower pay grade. Scam indeed. It's not his dream job, but it's a start in giving him US experience. We actually checked to see if his previous employer had jobs available, oddly enough they do, but it's all government security clearance type things (doing the same exact thing he did in the UK basically).

[Yimr 0]

same field , , uk master degree , no experience , no luck yet

new england

[flying_postman 6]

I'm also in the same boat I received my green card in 2015 (DV category) but I'll be immigrating to the US in April 2017. I did a substantial amount of research on the states I was considering (Denver, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina and Washington DC) referring to tech talent reports (CBRE, JLL), Nerdwallet etc and Austin and Dallas (pretty much Texas) consistently came in in the top 10 in those reports in terms of IT/Tech jobs. I even visited the US for a "look and see" in May focusing on 3 cities Raleigh NC, Charlotte and Austin, TX.

Just an overview of my IT background; 10 years IT experience (Virtualization, Networking, Windows server administration etc) in Trinidad and in the Caribbean region, Masters from the UK in Network Security in addition to multiple certs but location is going to the biggest factor going in which is why I'm hoping to settle in Texas.

the whole certifications business is such a scam. charging people money and wasting their time to prove they know information they learnt doing their degrees. Any decent employer should know a bachelors in comp science or IT contains all the material covered by A+/N+/CompTIA. I hate that whole industry.

Unfortunately certs are a necessary evil now in IT if you want to move up in your respective field and even worse most certs expire after 3 years but they do give you and an advantage getting past the filters (ATS or HR) in addition to a salary bump. Right now I'm studying for my CCNP which I hope to get before I land in the US in April.

Using Linkedin I just added recruiters in the Detroit area and got to speak with them and see what opportunities are out there. I didnt contact companies/HR people directly. They were able to send me to interviews when I arrived and let me know if any suitable roles came up for me, rather than me having to be checking job boards every day (i did this also to an extent)

I'm currently brushing up my LinkedIn profile (which I haven't touched in 3 years) and will be following this same strategy. Did you communicate with recruiters via LinkedIn exclusively or did you call them up after adding them?

[mallafri76 1,012]

1. Less than a week from first application sent till I had accepted a job offer.

2. Hotel management

3. Sweden

4. Austin, TX

How long it takes to get a job after your move depends on a lot of factors; area you're in, previous experience, what kind of jobs you're looking for etc etc.

[JFH 12,190]

I'm just at the start of applying for jobs. I'm a Pharmaceutical/Analytical chemist from Sweden with good education and work experience. However I've read on here that even qualified ppl in universal fields have sometimes not found work for over a year.

I'm curious to know other VJ'ers experiences to get a bit of a feeling.

1. How long did it take you?

2. What's your profession?

3. Where are you from?

4. Where do you live?

Also interested in general tips and tricks if there are any

1. I applied for jobs before I left my home country. I was interviewed by Skype and offered the first job I applied for. I arrived here on December 19 and my job starts on January 3.

2. Air travel

3. UK

4. Seattle, WA

That's why we did a CR-1 for me - so that I would have almost no break in employment.

[dub42 17]

I'm currently brushing up my LinkedIn profile (which I haven't touched in 3 years) and will be following this same strategy. Did you communicate with recruiters via LinkedIn exclusively or did you call them up after adding them?

I signed up for Linkedin premium (not sure if this is worth anything but it was free for a month) and then just began adding recruiters in the area and introduced myself. Many of them emailed/called back me back or invited me to meet them. It was nice to build a little network of people who have knowledge of the market and I was able to gather information about expected salaries/contract types etc on offer.

In the end the job offers I got came from jobs I applied to independently from job boards (indeed/monster/career builder) but when I did interviews for these roles the experience and knowledge I got from the local recruiters was invaluable. One in particular helped me formatting and improving my resume to make it more appealing to American employers which was really nice.

[Maria TH 20]

1. How long did it take you?

    2 months after getting Greencard

2. What's your profession?

    I am a licensed pharmacist from my home country, got a job as a pharmacy technician while working on getting the state license.  Took 2 years to obtain Pharmacist License then got a job as a Pharmacist right after my license issued.

3. Where are you from?

    Thailand

4. Where do you live?

    Fort Worth, Texas

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

1 hour ago, Maria TH said:

1. How long did it take you?

    2 months after getting Greencard

2. What's your profession?

    I am a licensed pharmacist from my home country, got a job as a pharmacy technician while working on getting the state license.  Took 2 years to obtain Pharmacist License then got a job as a Pharmacist right after my license issued.

3. Where are you from?

    Thailand

4. Where do you live?

    Fort Worth, Texas

That's a great experience! What a good solution for you to work like that while getting certified

[MarkPerry 488]

My wife was a RN in Philippines.  Once she arrived we had to get her Transcripts evaluated by a company on the Texas Board of Nursing Examiner recommended company.   After that she had to do fingerprints and apply to the Board to take NCLEX exam.   She has taken it 3 times and keeps failing it. 

 

It cost me $425 each time she reapplies to take it.  I guess she may pass it one day.  As of now she has lost confidence.  I am now considering  for her to become a public school teacher, I may be checking on that next. 

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

2 hours ago, MarkPerry said:

My wife was a RN in Philippines.  Once she arrived we had to get her Transcripts evaluated by a company on the Texas Board of Nursing Examiner recommended company.   After that she had to do fingerprints and apply to the Board to take NCLEX exam.   She has taken it 3 times and keeps failing it. 

 

It cost me $425 each time she reapplies to take it.  I guess she may pass it one day.  As of now she has lost confidence.  I am now considering  for her to become a public school teacher, I may be checking on that next. 

I'm sorry to hear she's having a hard time... What seems to be the hardest part about the test for her? Are there books she can study and mock-exams she can practice on?  Yea failing at smth 3 times would def hit my confidence hard aswell...

 

Teaching is a good option I guess if it's smth she would like Would that entail just going back to school full time for her here? Do you know yet how long that would take? 

[mallafri76 1,012]

On 12/24/2016 at 11:10 AM, Suss&Camm said:

I'm just at the start of applying for jobs. I'm a Pharmaceutical/Analytical chemist from Sweden with good education and work experience. However I've read on here that even qualified ppl in universal fields have sometimes not found work for over a year.

I'm curious to know other VJ'ers experiences to get a bit of a feeling.

1. How long did it take you?

2. What's your profession?

3. Where are you from?

4. Where do you live?

Also interested in general tips and tricks if there are any

 

1. Started getting job offers about a week after I started looking for jobs. Once I accepted a job offer, it took about 10 days before I could actually start the job because they had to check references from Europe, run a background check and do e-verify to confirm my eligibility to work in the US.

 

2. Hotel management.

 

3. Go Sweden!!! ?

 

4. Austin, TX. Anyone in hotels or IT, move to Austin, it's BOOMING... ?

 

I used Indeed when looking for jobs, I even had employers contacting me after seeing my profile on Indeed so it doesn't hurt to tick that box making your resume visible to potential employers. Where I work now, part of my responsibility is recruitment and we've found two of our employees by looking up job seeker profiles on Indeed. Attending job fairs is another good way to meet potential employers. 

 

Make sure your CV has been converted into the American style resume. Don't put any personal information like age, picture etc. 

 

Good luck with the job hunt. 

Edited February 20, 2017 by mallafri76

[TabeaK 517]

On 12/24/2016 at 6:10 PM, Suss&Camm said:

I'm just at the start of applying for jobs. I'm a Pharmaceutical/Analytical chemist from Sweden with good education and work experience. However I've read on here that even qualified ppl in universal fields have sometimes not found work for over a year.

I'm curious to know other VJ'ers experiences to get a bit of a feeling.

1. How long did it take you?

2. What's your profession?

3. Where are you from?

4. Where do you live?

Also interested in general tips and tricks if there are any

1. 3 months (I was picky - had offers earlier, but it wasn't the right fit)

2. Immunologist/Cancer Researcher

3. Germany

4. New Jersey

 

Tip: Keep at it, treat finding a job as your fulltime job and network, network, network.

Edited February 20, 2017 by TabeaK