Looking for first job in the US

[JillA 2]

Nice, real nice.

To the OP: Best of luck to you finding a job soon!

Edited August 9, 2009 by JillA

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Big Sigh . . . personal insults are a violation of TOS and add absolutely nothing to the conversation. Offending posts has been removed.

Please do not post Off Topic type of comments in this forum. Offending posts have been removed.

Edited August 9, 2009 by Kathryn41

[JlovesC 0]

I thank everybody that so far have answered this post with so many good advice. My resume has been touched by a professional and has all the essential information like previous experience, education, and skills (I speak spanish, french, and portuguese). I guess is the bad economy to blame for. I have been networking and I'm sure I'll find something soon. I was just wondering if the experiences out there were similar.

For those with bad comments: please, be aware that not everybody is into whatever you are.

Thanks everybody for the nice words.

[milimelo 4,234]

Took me 13 weeks last year to get a job and I started looking even before I moved so had a few interviews lined up a week after I arrived. In the final 2 weeks of searching went to maybe 7 interviews out of which 2 came up with the offers. Took the first offer and didn't regret it as the second one was a good $7K below the first one.

Of course, once I accepted the offer, the interview offers started rolling in - guess that's how it goes...

OP, steer clear from monster.com and career builder and especially yahoo hot jobs - these days they seem to be full of scams (work from home jobs using Western Union...). Go directly to the corporate site of the firm advertising position and apply from there. Follow up after a week or so. If you're around a university, lots of admin jobs there - apply both to full time and temp positions. Temp positions can get you into a permanent position.

Good luck and hang in there! I'm sure you will find something soon!

[soniew910 0]

McDonalds is hiring burger flipper and cashier. Walmart is looking for cashier. How about a Human billboard?

[FutureAmerican 2]

I agree that Healthcare and Law Enforcement are two industries that aren't suffering as badly in this economy, at least from my experience. I graduated with a Bachelors in Materials Engineering in 2006, and despite having nearly 2 years subsequent work experience, was only able to work as an Engineer for 2 months here (in the Oilfields) before I lost that job. I have however had great success working in Healthcare Security - I started as a Security Officer for a local hospital a few weeks after I lost my Engineering job, and have now been here 8 months and got promoted to Supervisor after 4 months. I've applied to literally hundreds of Engineering/Technical jobs, but have only had one phone interview in the meantime, which went nowhere as the company cancelled their recruitment drive.

My other recommendations are to try job fairs - but they will be overcrowded and the lines extremely long - I went to one in July last year, and never had to wait more than a few minutes to talk to a company...went to another one in March this year, and the lines were out the door! Reminded of the "job interview" scene from the movie "Fun with ####### and Jane"!!

[champi 13]

Maybe my comments are not relevant since they're not based health/administrative related industries..

One thing you can try is contacting staffing agencies. My husband is in software development field. We contacted about 22 recruiting/staffing agencies, by phone or in-person. We both spent about 2-3 hours every morning looking at job sites like monster/careerbuilder as well as following up with recruiters. They had 3-4 phone interviews lined up in a period of 2 to 3 weeks. The one big problem we kept hitting is not having "US experience" or "X industry experience" (replace X with finance, mortgage, etc). He finally landed a job through craiglist ad last week at a small company and started a job this week.

Also, don't be surprised if you've to take up a job with lil less pay or lower designation. Tons of qualified people out there who are willing to take jobs that they're too qualified for.

[V-G-1 1]

Cell-Phone Industry is recession-proof too. Apply to at&t, Verizon, T-Mobile, (not Sprint); and cell-tower companies like American Tower. We survived the 09 layoff accross the country..it did not hit our company. In fact they are in hiring mode now.

[chizkeyk 0]

Are your skills transferable to the health care industry? I think it is one of the few industries that are recession-proof. I am a health science grad (non-clinical) and found a job very quickly after I arrived in the States last August. We just recently moved and I found a new (and better) job again very quickly. Maybe I am just one of the lucky ones.. who knows but I'm now on the right track with my career and I know that with hard work and networking I can work my way up into management quickly

So yeah, if you think your skills are transferable to the health care industry, definitely look at what the hospitals around you have to offer.

I would say health care and teaching are the two industries that will NEVER have enough people to work in them!! That's actually not bad to keep in mind - my future MIL keeps suggesting I get a nursing degree (super easy to obtain in NY) - maybe she knows that will be the fastest way to get a job

Nursing Degree? As in RN not CNA? Easier said than done.... It's tough to become a Registered Nurse but its a rewarding career. Money and job security.

To the OP, try considering becoming an RN (Registered Nurse) - A 2 year of hardwork will definitely pay-off than getting a job now and you'll have a limited salary range of $8 - 15.00/hour.

Try to consider venturing in a Pharmacy School... Retail Pharmacy are paying 6 figures anualy to fresh board passer Pharmacist.

Goodluck...

Edited August 12, 2009 by chizkeyk

[Sandrila 1]

thank god my previous employer promised me he would hook my hubby up with a job at his company.

He started his first day of work 6 weeks after arriving.

[Jose Rizal 1]

Its a hard job market right now. And certainly sometimes being an immigrant does poses additional difficulties.

Quite true. I have talked to a recruiter who informed me that I can't go with the selection process because they cannot call overseas to do a background check on me. At the digital they can't do that? What the...?

[FutureAmerican 2]

Jose - Don't know if this would help, but whenever I've gone for job interviews, I've always taken along a copy of my Police Check from my home country (United Kingdom in my case) - this seemed to help a lot, particularly in my case for security jobs where they needed to check for criminal history.

[Pinto Pony 0]

I have been here 3 weeks and still nothing successful in the job front. I am stretching myself out and trying to look in other fields outside of my degree which is science and even applying for retail jobs. I am hoping that the kids going back to school leave some openings for me! It is pretty hard going at the moment!

[Ala Hamad 0]

Maybe my comments are not relevant since they're not based health/administrative related industries..

One thing you can try is contacting staffing agencies. My husband is in software development field. We contacted about 22 recruiting/staffing agencies, by phone or in-person. We both spent about 2-3 hours every morning looking at job sites like monster/careerbuilder as well as following up with recruiters. They had 3-4 phone interviews lined up in a period of 2 to 3 weeks. The one big problem we kept hitting is not having "US experience" or "X industry experience" (replace X with finance, mortgage, etc). He finally landed a job through craiglist ad last week at a small company and started a job this week.

Also, don't be surprised if you've to take up a job with lil less pay or lower designation. Tons of qualified people out there who are willing to take jobs that they're too qualified for.

I'm facing the same problem, I have 8 years of experience and I worked with a US companies and been a consultant for few other and still "YOU DON'T HAVE US EXP"

I've been looking for 3 months now

[redBlue 1]

Maybe my comments are not relevant since they're not based health/administrative related industries..

One thing you can try is contacting staffing agencies. My husband is in software development field. We contacted about 22 recruiting/staffing agencies, by phone or in-person. We both spent about 2-3 hours every morning looking at job sites like monster/careerbuilder as well as following up with recruiters. They had 3-4 phone interviews lined up in a period of 2 to 3 weeks. The one big problem we kept hitting is not having "US experience" or "X industry experience" (replace X with finance, mortgage, etc). He finally landed a job through craiglist ad last week at a small company and started a job this week.

Also, don't be surprised if you've to take up a job with lil less pay or lower designation. Tons of qualified people out there who are willing to take jobs that they're too qualified for.

I'm facing the same problem, I have 8 years of experience and I worked with a US companies and been a consultant for few other and still "YOU DON'T HAVE US EXP"

I've been looking for 3 months now

volunteering,internship,co-op programs may work to get a US experience.I know it does not pay the bills ,but it will open up some doors,believe me!..good luck......