I must be doing something wrong!?!

[GNS 0]

I also have been unable to find any job....I arrived here in May 2009, received Greencard in August 2009. Have applied and applied and applied, made phone calls sent letters etc etc....NOTHING !

Frustrated isn't the word I am using at the moment...lol. Just got to keep on trying !

Edited September 14, 2010 by GNS

[Think~Pink 0]

I am also having a tough time finding a job.

I have been able to work since June 2010 and having worked previously in a specialised industry is making it really difficult for me to find work.

I don't live in the right state it seems, to find a job in my field, so I am having to look at a much broader spectrum..but am not having any luck at all, especially since my experience is limited in other fields.

I really feel for those of you unable to find work for 6 months or more, I knew it was going to be hard, but never realised it would take this long and I too hate the 'not knowing' when you send an application.

Just today, I spent an hour filling out an application on a website only to hit 'submit' and be told I didn't meet the requirements so they were not even going to send the application to the employer..what a waste of an hour! Wouldn't have been so bad if I knew what the requirements were beforehand..would have saved me a lot of time.

Still, I keep plugging away, hoping that I will get a positive reply. Seasonal work is coming up..I may even apply to do that, at least it will be some money coming in and it's better than nothing.

Edited September 16, 2010 by Think~Pink

[Pursuit 0]

Hi, you may want to try by passing human resources. Their job is to fill current job openings for the managers/departments that have an immediate need. They are very subjective and can rule out your resume for any silly reason.

I suggest you call the companies you are interested in working at and find out the name of the person who that type of position would be reporting to. Call the general line first and ask questions to find out who this would be. Then see if you can get their extention number. If they won't give it out, call back after hours and see if they give you a listing of people to be connected to and sometimes you can get their extension that way. Then call early in the morning or right around quitting time and see if you can get through to them directly without going through the assistant. Once you get them on the phone, tell them the truth. You know they don't have an opening right now, but you have relocated to the country and would really appreciate any advise they can give you to get back into the work force. Offer to take them to lunch.

After they talked to you, regardless of what they say, send a thank you card, direclty to them via mail. Keep touching base. Offer to come in as an unpaid intern for a couple of days so they can get to know you and how you work. If they end up liking you and they don't have a position for you, they may have a counter part at another company who has something available.

If you work through the decision maker, they will inform Human Resources they want to hire you and will make it happen. HR is the gatekeeper. You must bypass them to get any answers.

I used this strategy when I wanted to move back to my home town. I worked in Hotel Sales at the time and came home for a one week visit. There were only two hotels with active listings posted. I applied for them and then I got on the phone and called every Director of Sales and Marketing in the area I wanted to live. I let them know I would be in town for the week and would like to stop by and meet them briefly because I was interested in relocating back to San Diego so they could keep me in mind if anything opened up. I spent all week going to meetings, interviews, etc... By the time I left, I had four solid job offers, two from the open positions and two from openings that were never posted anywhere. I took one of those because it was the best offer.

To everyone reading this, PLEASE do not just sent out resumes, call the job hotline, etc.... Work from the top down, people want to help you and will if you ask them nicely.

You may want to consider starting your own business. My husband just moved here from Australia and received his EAD card. He started his own handyman business and has solid work lined up for the next two months. He got those jobs by telling everyone I know, he knows, etc... that he will be legal to work in a couple of months. He went and looked at the jobs, bid on them and started his first one last week. He has been slowly buying tools at yard sales, flee markets, through craigslist, since he got here. Eventually he will join me in my real estate practice and be in charge of flipping houses.

Good luck!

Thanks for your advise and it sounds good. I havent been that aggressiv yet because honestly this is not what I am used to but I need to change it drastically. Gosh, I wish it just would be easier...

[yorkshirerose22 4]

hello everyone.

Been reading through all these comments and im getting worried lol... Iv just been approved on my AOS, so now im going to start looking for work. I have Qualifications in beauty therapy but of course i got them back home in england.

Sounds like everyones having a tuff time.. My husband is unemployed, he was let go from his job last month. I hope it gets better.

Good lucky

[govols 0]

Your not doing anything wrong but your not doing enough.Online job hunting is great when there are plenty of jobs about but in a recession when more people are applying for the jobs you have less chance of getting the job.Get to know as many people in your area as possible, referrals from working people will get you into a job before it is advertised. Do things like go to your local church and library and get to know as many people as possible you will be surprised how many people will start telling you about job vacancies where they work and may even help you get the job. When I got my EAD I had 3 job offers within 2 weeks. then when i was laid off in the recession I found a new job immediately. Both jobs have been from referrals

[Damian P 92]

I suggest you call the companies you are interested in working at

Sound advice, but take it one stage further: turn up in person. This may not work for a corporate position, but it works just fine and dandy if you aren't overly fussy. I too got pi$$ed off with applying through the usual routes and hearing squat, so in the end I put on my best interview clothes, went into town, and literally started knocking on doors (hotel doors to be precise).

The first place I went to happened to be looking for a night auditor (the position had not yet been advertised) and I was offered the job on the spot. They were as a made up as I was because a suitable candidate just strolled right through their door without them having to do a damn thing.

[govols 0]

My point exactly sit around and wait for the job to be advertised and you are to late

[Damian211111 0]

Yeah it sucks big time. I am 21 years old, no working experience in US.

I have a New York state CNA licence.

No working experience as a CNA,so the chances of me getting a job in this field is close to none, since everywhere i applied to needs experience.

Currently doing EMT hoping to go on to paramedics, wondering if i will still be in this dilemma when complete.

Just got a job in a pretty good real estate agency, and you know how sticky it is now for this field now.

But I am approaching it with a bag full of optimism.

You just gotta try to make it work, you kno.

[ria_s 0]

yeah, I considered this too and tried but I wasn't successful with this either - I still think I need to find something in a similar area, or at least a desk job.

Hang in there! Things are really tough right now especially because of the recession. When I got here I was posting my resume and replying to every job post, ad and whatnot I could get at online and most of the time I didn't hear anything back from anyone. It can get a lot frustrating and not hearing from anyone doesn't help.

I was very depressed then too because I didn't have any employment history to back me up from here. All I had was experience from my home country and they sure as heck won't be calling my former employers overseas just to check how I was as a worker.

But hey things did start looking up. I got a call from Macy's and got turned down which at the time I was upset about. But I did eventually get hired as a customer service specialist for a health insurance company. But yeah as somebody else has said, consider also going out of your own field of expertise. Are you a people person? What about call center jobs?

Best advice I can give is to just stay strong and don't lose hope. You're bound to come across someone who is looking for someone like you.

[Florianns Man 7]

Oh, I started to get worried after reading all the posts. We just submitted our AOS application for 1-485 and I believe it may take some time for my EAD approval, however I am also get started to shop online for job hunting all the possibilities on my profession, i tried to surf some information on my degree of qualification just to orient and educate myself as well:-)I am aware that I cant use my degree as a license professional in the US without taking some Exams for US Board as qualifying Exam, no matter my profession has a wide range areas of expertise and also a critical source of medical knowledge can offer..still I am worried for being idle for a long time... though may experience in pharmaceutical field was indeed a great turning point to me that somehow I can find a job too and hope may exposure on international regulatory matters in pharmaceutical field would not limits my chances ( hoping for the best!!! & cross my finger and all my crossable body parts ;-)))hehe:) this may not be an easy journey that I need to tackle with. Luckily,I was given a chance to lived away from my country before I relocated here and living in my own is indeed enormously taught me a lot...{no more homesick} at this time:-)

Guess???? I started sending my Cv while waiting for my EAD approval just to save some time.I hope this is ok then;-)

Relocation would be the last options to me..my previous company in Kuala Lumpur has a subd's in the US and our President made some inclination that I can always count on them...so NETWORKING... always play a big role as well in finding a job...Sadly, its too far from where I lived.And I would not like to be away from my husband though:-) and this place ( Minnesota) is where I belong...

Good Luck to all of US..and hoping for the best that we can also find a better job later...after all the long journey we went through on this process we deserve to have a LIFE as we had before..:-)