Hi @ all,

I wonder how it works in the USA. When you applied for a job, did they acknowledge your education and work experiences from your homecountry? Did it help that you were multilingual?
My hubbie can't tell me and says everything will be fine, but I'd like rather to hear from you what happened to you!
I also wonder if anyone would employ me with a good job if I only have an EAD good for one year - will they believe that we will get a Greencard?

Thanks guys,

Anna.

Hi Anna.

My husband is from Australia. WWe sent his transcripts to an foreign evaluation company. They made a "translation" of his classes and degree and even converted his grades into a "GPA". It was a tad pricey, but totally worth it.

My husband got two job interviews, and two job offers within 2 weeks of starting his job search.

Hope that helps.

Being multilingual is certainyl helpful with some jobs but not all jobs. I think Spanish is perhaps the most helpful second language in the States. I don`t speak it well enough though. So far my experience and education has not helped but i don`t think it hurts either. For applications i have simply been stating that x y and z are in the UK. I think it depends on what field you are looking in really. If you are skilled and it is clear that you are skilled then it won`t matter that your skill is non US. It might just be in some cases that you might need to gain a U.S. qualification but in most cases i think they will accept you on your foreign acuired skills. Sorry if i make no sense. It happens.

Thanks... So some of my certificates are in English as well as all my letters of recommendation. Hope that helps. I also hope that they'll know the univsersity of Munich since it is really big. My MA's in German, but the certificate is in Latin, and my hubbie's American BA is also in Latin for some reason; it seems to be normal...
I want to work again in my area of expertise, and that's marketing. For my other languages I have certificates of the respective countries where I stayed to improve my skills. I can't speak Spanish and I certainly did notice it is a helpful language in the states (actually the US is bilingual). I assume French and Italian wont help too much unless the company deals with Canada or is active worldwide.
Karo, can you tell me where you got your husband's certificates converted??? And how much did it cost? I thought actually that all the English speaking western countries used the same system of GPAs and BA's....

Thanks, Anna

Anna it all depends on many factors. Where I live (small town) they seemed to completely ignore my work experience and I kept hearing: "oh you are just starting", "your first job", etc, etc. and it was really driving me crazy. Just as if my foreign experience didn't count. I speak Spanish and had a few interviews where Spanish was required. I know for a fact (conversation with the potential employer) that they didn't believe me when I was saying I speak Spanish, but they never bothered bringing anyone to interview who could assess my skills in Spanish. Several times I was asked: "how can you speak Spanish if you are Polish?". Pretty dumb as far as I am concerned.

Also the references that were not local were not worth much. It took me three months to get a job and I found a good one, but at the time I was ready to give up.

I think that it would have been different in a big city. I live in a small town in Virginia where I get an impression that if you are not local, you are nobody. I certainly hope it's not like this everywhere.

Good luck

Ana

I think a lot of it depends on your field for work, really.

My husband is from Australia- he has a bachelors in IT for his degree, a few years experience in running his own small business, had a job at his university as a technician for computers, and most recently after he graduated uni worked for a retail store in sales for 7 months.

He put in a lot of apps online and got only one call back (that was in a 3 week period, though) for an IT distributer, in sales- went to the interview and got the job. Salary, plus comission, and good benefits. We didn't have an evaluation of his degree.. all we had was his resume listing his education and experience and a very nice reference from his manager at his sales job in Australia. This is an international company and a very large one who just opened up an office near our house so they were in need of quite a few new hires.. so it kind of just depends on where and what you're applying for. I think for some fields, it's a REALLY good idea to get your credentials evaluated, others it just doesn't seem to matter as much.

Anyway, good luck with the whole job thing!

What also helps is to see if your foreign references will write a letter of recommendation that you can give to the local employer. If it is in a foreign language, then have them formally translated. This will save them having to think about making a long distance phone call which they will not be inclined to do. Include copies with your resume instead of the list of references. Good luck.

Well in a big city like Boston... it is not so easy to find work... everyone here has a college degree and local references.... and it is very cut throat..... I have my degree from 20 years ago and lots of work history.. but nothing in the USA....

I was told a a few interview that it would take too long to get international references and I should try to get some work expirence here in the US first (wtf did they think I was trying to do)... I ended up using a Temp agency just to get a refrence... the 3rd company I went to work for liked me so much they offered me a full time post.... I have been working for them now for almost a year... I did discover I am their only immigrant...

Kezzie

It may be difficult for you in Charlotte Anna. Another former VJer ended up not even moving to the US at all (despite getting the green card) because she could never find a job in Charlotte where her hubby lives. She's been looking for over a year now, still nothing. I think her GC will be revoked soon!

You may seriously want to consider a temp agency or two. Heck, I'm Canadian and I went to one interview here in Hickory and the guy said to me "we weren't sure you'd be able to speak English" Some people just really have no clue.

Plus, North Carolina unemployment rate is fairly high. If there's a job open there's about 400 applicants for it, and unfortunately, unless your skills are glaringly better than others, they'll pick the local first. Sad but true.

Don't give up tho. I've been here nearly 2 years and suffered 3 "subsistence" jobs until I finally found something that may be tolerable. I say "may" because I only just started a new job on Monday this week.

I just want to say, that all of your stories scare the crap out of me!!! I keep reading horror stories in every topic! And here I have spent months convincing my guy who worries that it will be fairly easy for someone with all my experience and glowing references to find a job. Oy!

Thanks for all your answers... But how stupid can employers be to ask a Canadian if he/she speaks English?! Why don't they ask me if I spoke German???!!! Jesus!
Sounds pretty tough out there, and I cannot get started until my EAD will be issued. The worst case scenario is that we will move. Hubbie promised me that we will move if I don't get a job. And I don't want to wait tables - it's an honorable job, but that's not a long term option for me. I attended 5.5 years college, worked so much in Munich and New York and spent my spare time to study foreign languages - I want to have a real job!!! It wouldn't be satisfying.
My hope for the Charlotte area is the German network. There are about 150 German companies operating in Mecklenburg county. Maybe they can help, I'll meet them September 7th. Also I have a contact at an advertising agency, had to work with him when I was in New York. Still, I feel pretty devasted about the job situation.
Reba, do you mean they just don't want non-Americans or are they so hardcore that they even don't want non-NC's???

So after whenever it may be obtaining EAD, they next nightmare will start.... Sigh.

Anna

I believe it depends on where you reside.

I've been here for over 4 years now. Now while I admit I didn't go out and pound the pavement daily looking for a job, I did apply for many jobs over those years. I either didn't hear from these companies or had interviews and was told "thanks but no thanks." On one interview with a high school for a secretarial job, I was asked if all of my experience was only from Canada. (I had done work for a School Board back in Canada). I knew right then and there that my chances of getting the job were out the window.

I had applied for stocking shelves at Christmas time with two stores only to get rejected. Same stores that were crying out for help, complaining they can't get enough help at Christmas time. I did manage to land a job with Walmart but that turned into a disaster. Earlier this year I got hired by a State agency but it didn't work out.

Last Thursday I applied for a job through a temp agency. I went in on Monday to get tested and interviewed, Tuesday I was told to report the Health & Welfare office on Wednesday morning.

I was told (and this by USC's themselves) that this State discriminates on age. Whether this is true or not, I don't know. I'm 47 years old. At times I believe these companies didn't want to be bothered with a "foreigner" but once again can't verify that. Anyhow I got this job, went in today and really like it (already). I figure this is a stepping stone to landing something permanent in the future. I only wished I had done this a lot sooner - went to a temp agency.

Never rule out a temp agency.

some companies just don't want immigrants, full stop. Whether you have a 10 year green card or not. This may be different in Charlotte, but around here, immigrants are not well liked.

I assumed that there are always companies which only hire locals. Sigh. Thanks for the temp agency tips, I will contact them. Hubbie looked up some agencies for me. I will let you know how it will work out when my EAD will arrive (it *should* arrive within the next two months).
I'm not sure about age discrimination, it surely exists and can happen to younger and older people. A company in Germany last year didn"t want to hire me because I was too young in their eyes. They said they wanted someone with more life experience. So it can happen anywhere to anyone. Still it is disappointing.

Good luck for your job search and please keep all of us posted!!!!

THanks, Anna.

Reba, I hope you smacked that guy

Anna,

one suggestion: if the job search really occupies your thoughts so much, you can probably try to start looking around already.
I saw an ad for my dream job in December, when I didn't have my EAD yet. It took a great deal of thinking what I should do: apply or not apply, especially that it was a state job and there was a question about work permit on their application. Finally I decided to apply, ommit that question and "pretend" I didn't see it. Guess what ? My Green Card arrived in January and that company didn't call until March.
Where I work now I applied in February, they called me in March, scheduled an interview for late April and that's when the first question about my work permit was asked.

I have worked for over 3 months now and some companies who I applied to around February or March still call once in a while.


Good luck and update us on the results.

Ana

Since I am heading your way, this displeases me....

However, I have found every job I have ever had through a temp agency. Go in for one thing, feel the love and stay on doing something else!

Well we will see what will happen... But I'm not sure about applying yet - wouldn't that be illegal?

HI anna c.
Im also looking for a job right now i just got my ssn card last week, i live 25miles from charlotte. I believe there is a lot of job opening in charlotte GOOD LUCK TO BOTH OF US!

Hi NC Resident,

Good luck! I recently read a lot about booming economy in Charlotte. Let's hope that there is a job for us!!!

My hubster had his education evaluated by World Education Services for his teaching job, which took less than a month to find. He was hired without having a permanent teaching certification because he's in a high demand area (math and special education). But he took a few exams to get his permanent certificate over a period of a few months and everything came out just fine there. He's been at his job for over a year. It wasn't difficult for him to find a job, but again, that probably has a lot to do with the fact that he teaches math. He found the school where he works very open to foreign nationals as they have others working there.

BTW - it is a good idea to have your degrees certified. I did it and it cost about $85. There are places online that do it by fax. That said I had been working in the US for 5 years before a prospective employer actually asked for this certification! The certification is stupid (apparently yes, a PhD from a major UK university is the same as a PhD from a US university) but seems to appease employers.

Thank you Frances (nice cat btw)! I think I'll get the $150 evaluation since we have a totally different system of education in Germany. BA's were only introduced recently, everyone studies 5 to 6 years for MA or MS. I thought my grammar school (in the British sense) diploma should be converted, too. It certifies how many years I learned each language and contains classes like higher calculus and chemistry, and that should be useful if I want to attend an American university for a PhD program or if I want to get another MA. That's something I wanted to do when I've got kids, since I won't be able to work, but attending college is a 30 hour week at max. Depends on the kids though
Oh Frances, I could see their examples and they had China and described the university of Beijing as regional college. (??? is a little bit bigger, hm??!!!). How did they call your husband's university? Would they call Oxford regional!?! I would be honestly offended if they called the LMU Munich regional.
Oh boy, another 150 Dollars. But I hope it's worth it!

Good luck!

Anna

Well, I would reccommend you to post your resume in the big jobsites like monster and hotjobs.com, like right now. In those websites you can kinda sense what's out there in the market, in your city, for people with your skills.

I am an accountant, with experience as an auditor. I have to say, that it was pretty darn easy to find a job here in Pittsburgh. BUT as other have mentioned, every city is different.

I did not need my educational records to be translated into the US grading system. Actually, my company did not request copy of any of my resume's supporting documentation. They did run a background check, I used references of my past jobs using people that spoke english, so in the case they called they could actually give references.

Another recommendation is to use head hunters, such as act1, spherion, etc. These headhunter, and even the temp agencies, kinda know how to handle the immigrant situation (as far as explaining it) and some of them even prep you for the interviews.

It worked for me, and I do have some background, but it aint as a rocket scientist you know? just a regular jane.

Good luck, and good job hunting...

PS: If any of the companies you've worked before have any liason with a company in US, I'd try to exploit that too.

HI rob&ana,

Sounds great! Yeah we started to contact Spherion and some temp agencies. My boss from Germany was Spanish and worked in GB for a while, so her English is actually better than her German, so they can call her. I hope that the six months work experience in New York will be regarded as "American" job experience too...
I'll post as soon as I have my first answers, and maybe if I find out some new facts, I'm gonna post those....

Thanks, Anna

it depends on which part of the country you are in. i have to say in southern california...it's not that tough to find jobs (it ranges of course...minimum wage and up). it may not be your dream job but if you've got an EAD (err...maybe even without ) you'll for sure get one if you try.

i found that people with degrees in the medical and technical fields have an easier time transitioning into jobs in the US. same with experienced or accredited teachers twho are fluent in English (with Math or Science subject emphasis and those that teaches Special Ed).

i agree with sending out resumes ahead of time...the initial interview and negotiation process could sometimes take up to a month! (it depends on which jobs, of course.) and yeah, try to check out recruitment/temp agencies...they're a big help too (as they should since they make their money placing you in jobs.)

also, when drafting your resume...try to make it just ONE page. you would only need multiple pages if you've been in your field for many, many years or you're a professional (i.e. MD, PhD, Attorney, CEO...you get my drift) with numerous citations, research, writings...etc.

I found one that I really like in monster.com so i sent my resume (one page only) and on the very same day I got a call for an interview. it's a long interview process though (3 interviewers) final one is with the GM but it's all worth it. I've been idle (out of work force for 5 years) and it was also asked part of the interview. they did considered all my foreign work experienced as well as my degree. They also did a background check and everything. this is my first job here and just start last Monday. I love it, employees are extremely nice. I guess I agree it's just depend upon the area where you live. I am so lucky on my first try, landed up in a very nice company, pays well also with full benefits and a long term job. I will recommend monster. Good luck and happy job hunting!

Hm... it seems that it's not that easy to find a job here in the US. I haven't got my EAD yet (it's been more than a month after i went to biometrics!!!) and also I need to learn to drive first... But I did keep looking for jobs on some websites. I couldn't find anything suitable though. I guess it depends on areas. I live in the Silicon Valley area and nearly all the job postings are in the IT field. Besides, I was a teacher in HK (Even worse, I taught English... which is absolutely useless here). So now I'm thinking what I can do really.

You could teach English as a Foriegn language. There are plenty of people in the San Jose that don't speak English as their first language.

dr_lha,

Oh really? I may do some research to see if I can do such kind of job then. Does anyone know if I should study for anything to teach ESL? (I've studied the English degree, English master degree and teaching diploma in HK)

just check with the community colleges there, they'd know what the requirements are, and they'd know if and where there are any openings.

It cracks me up when I explain to my fiancee that finding a "good" job in America is extremely difficult, even if you are American. Then I go on and explain how my first job AFTER college was at Taco Bell. Not everyone walks into the perfect situation, it takes leg-work and effort. The temp. agencies are a good way of gaining experience and padding the resume. Another thing that can help is to volunteer somewhere while waiting on work authorization. This could show a potential employer that you are serious about working and not one to simply sit on your butt. If you have a foreign degree, maybe a possibility would be to obtain a Masters Degree from an American school, then any doubt about educational requirments would be eliminated. Just some thoughts that I've been kicking around for my fiancee's situation.

I'll try the temp agencies also, as well as Spherion and other companies like that. I hope it'll work out!!!
Though my first job will be being a waitress, until we find a better job for me. *sigh*
I think the resume is important, but also that you are able to do marketing about yourself during the interview. I'll let you know how my experience will be!

Good luck,

Anna

Niko had a terrible time finding a job when he moved here in the summer of 2004. He sent out a ton of resumes, all over the northeast (we are in New York state) and the market was so tight that he never even got a response. I mean, a Thanks but no thanks form letter? Nothing.

So he decided to try to volunteer at a refugee center in the small city we were living in. It ended up being a part time position, paid, but it did wonders for his energy and self-confidence, to be teaching English to people from all over the world--none of them believed him that he too was a recent immigrant!

Once we moved to where I got a new job, another small city, he canvassed for jobs something fierce. He ended up working at Lord & Taylor, taking 3 buses (we only had one car) and even riding a bike in the snow to work!

Here is the kicker: he went to college here in the US--at Yale!! He speaks 9 languages fluently and I am yet to meet anyone who believes he is not American because he has no accent. He ran his own travel company and taught English to high school students as well as film to college students in Slovenia. The job market where we live just really really sucks and people are not open at all to immigrants. I know someone who was a lawyer in his country and delivered pizzas here in the US when he came over because no one recognized his skills (and I am not even talking practicing law, even filing in a law office!).

Now before we get too depressing, I will move on to the hopeful, light at the end of the tunnel portion of the story. While at Lord & Taylor, he met someone who told him about a corporate training company. He worked there for a few months, but he had to travel all the time. He called a temp agency a friend of mine from work had worked with and he ended up doing business to business marketing and audits, but he worked on a lot of projects that let him use his French. He met someone getting his MBA at a university here with an excellent program and realized that the coursework really appealed to him. He is now in his second year of his MBA, half the tuition is being paid for by the school for his academic record, he loves his classes, he was able to meet lots of people from all over the world at school and he was just offered the job of his dreams (with one year of school still left!) which will let us go back to Europe for a year to live while he works!

What a ramble! Anyway, you might have to take a job that is not what you expected or that you want, but you never know where it might lead you. Every job Niko had, he met someone or had some experience that led him to where he wanted to be. A lot depends on where you are going, who you know that can make connections for you and how open the area is to immigrants.

Good luck with everything. Don't get discouraged because it really all will work out for the best in the end. I am hopeful that you will have an easy time finding a wonderful job.

Being foreign has hurt me badly in my job search in the UK, since recruiters here seem to be too stupid to understand that people educated in the United States will not have ANY GCSEs, O-levels, or A-levels. They also seem to be 100% blind to the fact that US bachelor's degrees are very broad-based whereas UK ones are narrow and as such, take less time to complete.

Americans still have an inferiority complex when it comes to our education system so if you're coming from Europe, people will probably assume you're smarter than you actually are anyway.

My experience so far has been well.. I’ll summarize it.

Back home I worked as an ICT Technician; I’ve applied for about 5 IT jobs since I’ve got my EAD in August. I’m limited to where I can apply as we only have one car and there isn’t any public transport in this area.

So far I’ve had no responses to anything but I did get one interview last Friday 15th September for a County Government job. I arrived early, dressed nice and brought a folder containing references and certificates. All in all, the entire interview lasted approx 40 – 45 minutes.

I was told about a former employee from Europe they had in the past, who had problems with “citizenship” and had to go home they said this former employee also had trouble obtaining a driving license. I informed them I shouldn’t have any problems & had only just been given permission to work and had applied for a learner’s license & would obtain a full license ASAP. At the end of the interview I was told the position opened in approx 2 weeks, shown around the office and was told they’d give me a call during the week. When they called to setup the interview they did make a salary offer over the phone which seemed fairly decent.

So far, almost 1 week later I’ve not heard a thing; don’t know if that’s good or bad. I don’t know if they’ll hire me or not or if being from a different country will put them off or if the driving license will.

Anna,

Did your husband help you rework your lebenslauf into an American style resume? I would also try to just translate the titles of the degrees into the closest things to the English equivalents. You can always explain anything in more detail when you get to an interview. I would also try to avoid using German job titles on the resume unless it is absolutely necessary because it might look scary.

We rewrote my husband's English CV into an American resume so it was in familiar format and wording. Things like hobbies and marital status are a big no-no. We also included a line about his eligibility to work in the US because if there is no info they are likely just to chuck your stuff out unless you are really outstanding or they have no one else.

It's always important to take the time to submit a cover letter when you send in your resume. If you summarize your qualifications for the specific job you are applying for, it makes it easier for them to take a better look at you. And helps them be convinced they will like you before they even talk to you! Another thing that I think might be unique to the US is sending a thank you (email is OK) after an interview. It is fairly standard in the US, but my German boss thought "wow, this guy is really interested!" after we got a thank you from an American interviewee the other day.

My husband and I are both looking for jobs in NC from overseas now (we're in Munich til Oct 24) and sort of in the same position-- you have to be local. And many, many, times the jobs are given to people who know someone working at the company. So the other day I sent out an email to my friends and old colleagues with a few lines about what sort of jobs we were looking for, our skills, and backgrounds. I asked them if they heard of any openings or knew people who worked at our target companies (we listed examples), please let us know, and told them they could forward the email and that we had resumes ready.

Another idea is to join a professional organization. Then you have another source of networking and also another name on your resume a recruiter might recognize.

Hope this gives you some more ideas. Job hunting has never been my favorite thing so I feel your pain! You sound really with it though and in the end I think you will find a job that values your international experience rather than holds it against you.

Two thoughts:

1) Consider starting a business of your own in whatever field interests you. Starting a business (especially a sole proprietorship) in the US is pretty easy and many resources are out there that help minorities with funding start-ups (see the Small Business Administration for specifics).

2) Pick a specialty that is in high demand, but requires minimal effort for certification.
For example, massage therapy, hair syling, dental assistant, security guard, etc.

Anna

I live in Charlotte, NC and i am basically from india, and i came to the US in Jan 2005 and i started working on Aug 25 2006, yeah it does take a long time to get a job in charlotte, u can try taking a small course at CPCC, at the charlotte campus, or mathews or huntersville so that u can get access to their career center. thats what i did and i got many interviews from there and also got my first job thru the CPCC community college, my course just costed around 63 dollars, i took continuing ED class and getting access to their career center really helped me. the cousenlors are good and really helpful and they will set up some mock interviews.

hope this helps.

Karen

HI guys,

Thanks for the adive!

1) My resume is already in English-American style, my hubbie helped me back then when I got the offer to do my traineeship in New York. Fortunately I worked for Infineon in Munich, and their company language is English so even my letter of recommendation is in English!
2) I tried monster.com so far, because I am still waiting for my EAD. But I have an interview today with a marketing company in Charlotte! I would start in January, my EAD should be there by then.
3) Yeah we translated as much as possible - also calculated my GPA for my MA into the American version (it's vice versa somehow, a 4 is the optimum, that's the worst grade you can get in Germany).
4) We contacted two recruiting companies. I have appointments next week!
5) We attend the meetings of the German society here in Charlotte. They have good advice and also I will send out my resume and cover letters to the German companies, there are a lot. For insiders: Tesa Tape and Berndes are here!

I will let you know how everything works out... But so far it seems not to be too hard to find a job. The most important thing is to be prepared, polite and good at self-marketing. I'm happy that I have the work experience from New York, I feel more confident that I know from there that not-knowing one word is not the end of the world (I was concerned about that).

@ SuzyBandseer: Will you live in Charlotte or somewhere else? The most attractive local employer is Bank of America, followed by Wachovia. The triangle area (Raleigh & co) is good for IT people.

Anna

Hello ALL!

This is a very interesting topic and I have been following it for some time. We are also in NC, about 50 miles from Charlotte.

We just filed for our AOS/EAD on Oct 2nd. Without the EAD there is not much to do so I am home most of the day, either on VJ or on job hunting websites! My favourite is careerbuilder.com

I have a 2-year college degree from UK in IT (Software Development) and have posted my resume on careerbuilder.com. Fortunately, I have already received a few *good* offers already...but unfortunately I had to tell them I was waiting for my EAD. Two of them have asked to call them back as soon as I get my EAD! Most offers are from Charlotte area.

A previous poster has suggested to join a college for a short course to make use of their Career Development services. I think this is a great idea. I have decided to join New Horizons in Charlotte to get some industry-recognized certifications to pursue a career in Network Administration. I am expecting to have my EAD around Xmas time, so couldnt think of anything better to do in this time. This way, I will have my certification by the time I get EAD and New Horizons will do the job hunting for me, which is good



For IT professionals, New Horizons is Microsoft Gold Certified and they also have a Career Development plan with links to many IT employers.

Will keep you all updated and looking forward to hearing your experiences too.

Jahan

Sorry Anna, I have not been on VisaJourney for a while. We are moving to Raleigh/Durham next week. I accepted a job with a software company in Raleigh after a few phone interviews. I found the job on Monster. My husband was working for o2 here in Munich and he has put his resume on Monster and on a tech job site (dice.com). He has gotten a couple calls but so far nothing has been quite right.

Too bad you are not moving to RTP since there is an Infineon office there! I am guessing you have found something by now anyway.

Read thru most of the thread, and honestly I can't offer much more help on top of what has already been stated. Just want to wish you the best in your job search.

Hi guys,

I can truly say that all offers on monster or other websites for marketing and communications are traps. All they are looking for are sales reps, and that's not what I want nor ever did. I don't like interacting with customers, only with business customers, but I don't want to be the sales person!! I mean I spent 6 years at college to get a scientific degree, there must be more out there.
And yes there is. The good jobs are there. You need to contact recruiters for that. We are now in touch with several of them, but unfortunately winter is a slow hiring season. There won't be any openings till January, but that's fine since I will be at home all December.
I am just a little furious because those monster job offer people tell you on the phone that it is a regular marketing position (ergo product marketing, you invent strategies how to sell a new product), but then you go there for your interview and are told totally different things. Happened twice!!!!! Be aware of those companies!

Yeah I'm sad not to be in the Triangle, I already know some people at Infineon there! That would have been a good chance, since their boss' boss was my direct boss back in Munich, he could have arranged something for me!!!

Anyway, we will find something, it just takes time. I'll let you know when I found something!

Anna

I got spammed quite a lot from Insurance companies looking for sales people. Even after I removed my resume from CareerBuilders.

If you have the word "sales" or "marketing" in your resume or profile *anywhere* you're going to get spammed for sales positions. I had one rather rude interview wherein after the guy told m the job was insurance sales, I said "no thanks, I'm not interested". He got huffy and said "is it because its insurance?" I said "no, its because its sales!" when I had already stipulated on my cover letter and profile that I do not want a sales job

I've done sales. Dont like it.

Hey Reba,

Oh yeah they can get quite rude. But if they told people before the interview that it was a sales job people wouldn't say icky I don't want that!!!!

www.dice.com is great for people with a tech background.

My husband has gotten a number of calls from employers perusing that website. It looks like he'll have three interviews in the next month alone and he only uploaded his resume about a month ago. (He had to turn down offers because of they were outside his commuting distance.) He's still working for his employer in Germany but decided to start looking for a job in this area. He's apparently quite sought after because there aren't many software developers in this area--New England--with the experience and skills that my husband has.

On that website, make sure your resume is searchable. And use lots of keywords for your specialty. My husband is an expert in C#, ASP.NET, and SQL. Make sure you list those in your resume multiple times!

Good luck!

Being from the UK my degree B.S is equal to a 4 year BS degree here.

I have experience in the US as i did an internship here.

Just make sure you have a U.S. style resume and clearly explain your qualifications in the interview.


When i applied for my internship I sent my resume to about 10 different companies .

Didn't here back so I sent another 10 companies my resume (these were all internships which had to be approved by US goverment for J1 VISA - via Council exchanges).

After a few weeks with nothing I decided to send follow up letters. I then recieved a LOT of responses (about 20-30% positive).

I also recommend using the internet as your main search tool and also the websites of any big companies in your town.

Hey Staphros,

I too had a traineeship in New York City and my education is acknowledged as well. I just do not know where to dig for PR jobs, no headhunter agencies look for PR personnel.
I applied for 2 jobs recently: a position as academic advisor at the UNC in my area of my MA and also as assistant professor at another university in Charlotte for my area. All they asked for was a MA in a related area (but it is exactly mine) and maybe some experience with research (hell yeah that is 80% of what I did only - MA's in Germany are scientific), so I should be qualified. I had to fill out affirmative action sheets and was quite stunned when hubbie explained that to me (ok it lowers my chances I understood). Never heard about a law like this!!!! Strange!!!!
So anyway one of the professors actually sent me a personalized letter if I had any more questions about the application or job. They will start in mid-november to review all applicants, I truly hope I'll get it, cause starting to teach and advise will also allow me to start my PhD soon!!!!

@ Zauberblume: Unfortunately I do not have a strong tech background - Kommunikationswissenschaft (PR, journalism, media research, ...)... I already noticed that people with degrees in computer sciences are sought after!!

Good luck,

Anna