J1 America Summer 2012

paglynn

Is anybody from Galway or to be more specific, NUIG going on a J1 trip to the USA this summer?
And as well as that, are they going to the East Coast, perhaps Boston or New York? :rolleyes:

Rickson1

Unfortunately i'm not from Galway (from the 'black north' lol) but i'm planning on J1 to USA in the Summer as well. Thinking possibly Chicago, NY, Miami or Ocean City. Ocean City is meant to be great for everything from jobs and accomodation to nightlife. NY and Miami are supposed to be a bit expensive but plenty of jobs. Chicago is meant to be strict on i.d (big factor!) so i'm not sure yet.
Are you heading over yourself? Cuz that's what i'm doing.

paglynn

yea, hopefully i will be heading over, i need to get a few details squared away (I will be staying with relatives to get my bearings).
And a few people i was going with dropped out, but i am willing to go on, but i need a few companions!!
if your going, make sure you have your details done and dusted before either the 28th or 29 of March (thats the deadline)

paglynn

Yep, I have to get a few details squared away though (accomodation with relatives to get my bearings in the first few days. Paying for a hostel is supposedly a serious drain on finances)
Why dont you consider Boston? It has a solid irish community and that can help you get work faster, if you manage to get a few contacts through playing GAA etc.

Caliden

Rickson1 wrote: »

Unfortunately i'm not from Galway (from the 'black north' lol) but i'm planning on J1 to USA in the Summer as well. Thinking possibly Chicago, NY, Miami or Ocean City. Ocean City is meant to be great for everything from jobs and accomodation to nightlife. NY and Miami are supposed to be a bit expensive but plenty of jobs. Chicago is meant to be strict on i.d (big factor!) so i'm not sure yet.
Are you heading over yourself? Cuz that's what i'm doing.

With regards I.D. most of the big cities are all strict on I.D.
Boston will I.D. if you look younger than 35 but you may get lucky with a bar that doesn't.
I'm not sure on other cities but the U.S. in general will i.d. you if you look under 25 or anyone in your group looks under 25.

Rickson1

Deadline is 28th/29th of March? Ahhh naw you can't be serious? I'm waiting for my passport to be renewed and it won't be done til after that. Looks like I ain't heading to USA this Summer on a J1. F**ksake!! Otherwise yeah I would have considered Boston no sweat because of all the Irish as you said. What a nightmare. Gonna have to look into other things e.g. Spain for the Summer to work.

lil_lisa

paglynn wrote: »

if your going, make sure you have your details done and dusted before either the 28th or 29 of March (thats the deadline)

Who told you this?

Caliden

Rickson1 wrote: »

Deadline is 28th/29th of March? Ahhh naw you can't be serious? I'm waiting for my passport to be renewed and it won't be done til after that. Looks like I ain't heading to USA this Summer on a J1. F**ksake!! Otherwise yeah I would have considered Boston no sweat because of all the Irish as you said. What a nightmare. Gonna have to look into other things e.g. Spain for the Summer to work.

Give USIT or whoever a call and tell them the story.

When I applied for Boston last summer I had to renew my passport because the expiry date wasn't long enough so it was a few days passed the expiry date

Kerrybai

I would ring contact usit, go4less etc to confirm the deadline, Im pretty sure ive heard of people booking j1's much later.

Also regarding ID's most places the Irish go to, ocean city, boston etc are aware of the amount of underage Irish and will require a passport. There are some exceptions, for example Myrtle Beach is supposed to be quite relaxed in terms of asking for Id and also accepting non passport Id, such as a 'fake' drivers license.

mikeythomas90

Rickson1 wrote: »

Deadline is 28th/29th of March? Ahhh naw you can't be serious? I'm waiting for my passport to be renewed and it won't be done til after that. Looks like I ain't heading to USA this Summer on a J1. F**ksake!! Otherwise yeah I would have considered Boston no sweat because of all the Irish as you said. What a nightmare. Gonna have to look into other things e.g. Spain for the Summer to work.

Bull**** I booked a j1 today & no mention of any deadlines

dungarvan19

Hi ya im goin 2 boston on de j1 im trying to find sum people to go with! Wat date are u planning on leaving?

HavingCrack

Kerrybai wrote: »

Also regarding ID's most places the Irish go to, ocean city, boston etc are aware of the amount of underage Irish and will require a passport. There are some exceptions, for example Myrtle Beach is supposed to be quite relaxed in terms of asking for Id and also accepting non passport Id, such as a 'fake' drivers license.

New York City bars pretty much never, ever id. I used to live there and usually only got carded 1 night out of 6. DC is pretty similar and Seattle and Portland are both pretty lax also. Irish drivers licences are accepted in these cities whenever ID is required. Whenever I go to California the ID thing is such a shock to the system.

States which are particularly strict in my experience are Massachussetts, California as I said, North Carolina, New Jersey (really bad), Maryland and Virginia.

mixthetricks

Im heading to Boshton too...flying in on the turd of June,,,,get **** faced for a week....look for jobs y day...an get **** faced by night (and day too). Looking forward to travellin on me own again. Woohoo...lets goooo!!

Kiwi71

Anyone heading to Miami? and wants to share accomadation?

Rickson1

Not booked yet though planning very start of June. What's the normal thing everyone does going on j1 e.g. stay at a hostel for a week until you find somewhere to stay for the Summer?

mixthetricks

@ Rickson1 Yup I've my flights booked. Flying into Boston on June 3rd on me ownio....Get a cheap ass hostel (they all look pretty expensive ~$350 p/w :O) so get a job first and a decent base to live for the summer and let the hair down and the good times roll
Mick

Rickson1

Cool man, i'd say it would be alot easier to find somewhere to stay for the Summer whenever you're there. Regarding the jobs, do you not apply for most of them on the j1 jobsite? I always see posts about people going over with no jobs but I keep thinking why do they not apply on the j1 site for them?

mixthetricks

I've literally applied for around 80+ jobs...no messing......and got about 3 responses. And without sounding too self righteous....I've a feckin legend CV when it comes to construction/Bar Manager positions so no idea what to do....just keep on trucking I guess
Looking forward to the 3rd tho...exams over for a year and out the door

HavingCrack

mixthetricks wrote: »

I've literally applied for around 80+ jobs...no messing......and got about 3 responses. And without sounding too self righteous....I've a feckin legend CV when it comes to construction/Bar Manager positions so no idea what to do....just keep on trucking I guess
Looking forward to the 3rd tho...exams over for a year and out the door

Very few places are going to hire 'unskilled' labour from abroad to be fair when they can just hire someone already in the US.

Caliden

mixthetricks wrote: »

I've literally applied for around 80+ jobs...no messing......and got about 3 responses. And without sounding too self righteous....I've a feckin legend CV when it comes to construction/Bar Manager positions so no idea what to do....just keep on trucking I guess
Looking forward to the 3rd tho...exams over for a year and out the door

Well over here it's a resume for starters and the layout is completely different from the Irish standard.
Have a look on monster.com for examples of a good resume.

If you're applying to craigslist you can be guaranteed that there are a few hundred people applying to the same jobs so I wouldn't be waiting on a response for each application.

Best advice would be to arrive into any of the Irish owned bars and have an oul chinwag with the bartender and see if they can help.
Even just walking around looking for help wanted signs in any bars/restaurants and dropping in your resume should get you something quick enough.
I'd sort out a U.S. phone asap so at least you can be contacted quickly instead of just having an email address

mixthetricks

Sorry.....thought I said I've quite the resumé when it comes to Construction and Barwork. Eight years fulltime in each. If thats not skilled I dont know what is But thanks for the notion Havingthecrack. @Caliden ... yea man i think your dead right.....just get around Boston and keep my eyes and ears open an let the ol Irish charm do the rest. Should be right. Have a phone sorted too so all good. Thanks for the info guys