Finding work in the USA?

DonQuigleone

After receiving rejection letter after rejection letter, I'm just about fed up with trying to find work in Ireland, so barring a miraculous job offer coming my way I'm investigating emigrating, primarily to the USA.

Fortunately, I'm a dual Irish/American Citizen, so I don't need to get any kind of visa. I'm 24, and I have a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering, but no other real work experience, and graduated last may. The only thing I really need to do before emigrating is just to finish getting my drivers license, so I imagine I could leave in about february/march. I also have family in New York, Vancouver and Toronto.

My main questions are:
1. How should I go about finding a job in the US? Websites, or job agencies? Should I try applying before leaving, or wait until I'm there?
2. Where's the best places to go? From what I can see, Virginia and New Hampshire/Vermont have low levels of unemployment. I'd also like to be able to find work quickly, and preferably in something that uses my education.
3. I'll be in Vancouver over the christmas period (dec 14th-jan 1st) visiting my sister, is there anything I can do in Seattle over that period?
4. How does applying for work in the US differ from applying for work in Ireland?
5. While I'm an American citizen, I don't have any social security number etc. Can this cause problems?

I'd also appreciate being directed to any helpful or informative websites.

rockonollie

Careerbuilder is one of the better job sites, but research the companies before you start any application. Unfortunately there's a lot of companies that list fantastic jobs on there that either require you to purchase materials from them, or pay for your own training before you earn any income.

Not having a social security number shouldn't prevent you from applying for jobs, but you will need one before you start a job, but they're easy to get, once you have an address in the US, just go to your local Social Security Admin offices and you'll be able to get one. (There's no charge)

The hiring process is quite similar, written application, interview (some companies will eliminate candidates after a 1st round of interviews and then do second interviews) the one big difference is that alot of companies now do backround checks and possibly drugs tests. These cost money so generally they aren't given until they've decided that they want to hire you and as long as everything comes back clean you get the job offer.

DonQuigleone

rockonollie wrote: »

The hiring process is quite similar, written application, interview (some companies will eliminate candidates after a 1st round of interviews and then do second interviews) the one big difference is that alot of companies now do backround checks and possibly drugs tests. These cost money so generally they aren't given until they've decided that they want to hire you and as long as everything comes back clean you get the job offer.

Are American resumes formatted differently from Irish CVs? Will I need to redo my CV?

él statutorio

DonQuigleone wrote: »

Are American resumes formatted differently from Irish CVs? Will I need to redo my CV?

I believe so, from what I've been told a resume is generally a 1 page document. Almost like a summary of your CV. Other can probably advise better though.

rockonollie

It is formatted differently, much more concise than the irish version, which is why a good cover letter is important.

Here's a link with some helpful tips.

http://intraxinternships.com/preparing-a-resume

rockonollie

Coincidently.......yahoo has a cover article today on writing a resume

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/how-to-write-the-perfect-resume-153024611.html

Darren1o1

I have am an Engineer in the US and could give you some tips on resume writing or give you an example. My resume is not 1 page but is not filled with junk and have been pretty successful with it. I also find careerbuilder good. I think as a new grad you would want to be local or close to be getting interviews. Boston and NH are pretty good areas (I am in NH). Is there a specific industry area you would prefer?

DonQuigleone

Darren1o1 wrote: »

I have am an Engineer in the US and could give you some tips on resume writing or give you an example. My resume is not 1 page but is not filled with junk and have been pretty successful with it. I also find careerbuilder good. I think as a new grad you would want to be local or close to be getting interviews. Boston and NH are pretty good areas (I am in NH). Is there a specific industry area you would prefer?

I'd prefer to be in the manufacturing/process control/logistics/supply chain side of engineering rather then the Design/research side of engineering. Besides that, I'm open to everything.

As for Resumes, if anyone wants to show me their resume, or look at my own current resume I'd appreciate that. We can do it over PM/Email or in this thread.

Also, regarding Resumes, should I bother adding my Leaving Cert grades? And how should I report my University grades considering that Ireland tends to report them differently?

I've attached my current CV/cover letter below(with personal details scrubbed ), if anyone wants to look at them.

munchkin_utd

slight tangent from proactively trying to emmigrate.

have you proactively gone knocking on doors of companies to have a chat with the managers in there? Or are you just spending your time sitting at home firing off emails and letters?

I did mech eng back in the mid 90s and was having awful trouble getting a start for the practical placement and only for I pestered production and engineering departments for miles round where I lived I wouldnt have gotten a start.
I ended up in a company that made up a post to do general engineering stuff to help take the workload off other people.
My point is simply that when you make the effort and give it the personal touch you are showing major initiative and effort which is a major part of what folks want when hiring (well, so my dad insists and seeing as he was in charge of hiring in a company with over 300 employees before he retired I wont argue that its a big factor).

DonQuigleone

munchkin_utd wrote: »

slight tangent from proactively trying to emmigrate.

have you proactively gone knocking on doors of companies to have a chat with the managers in there? Or are you just spending your time sitting at home firing off emails and letters?

I did mech eng back in the mid 90s and was having awful trouble getting a start for the practical placement and only for I pestered production and engineering departments for miles round where I lived I wouldnt have gotten a start.
I ended up in a company that made up a post to do general engineering stuff to help take the workload off other people.
My point is simply that when you make the effort and give it the personal touch you are showing major initiative and effort which is a major part of what folks want when hiring (well, so my dad insists and seeing as he was in charge of hiring in a company with over 300 employees before he retired I wont argue that its a big factor).

I'll admit that I have largely been taking the "shoot emails and wait" approach. While I think the approach you illustrate is probably a good way to go, I'm still quite pessimistic. I have tried sending unsolicited emails in the past and I was pretty much ignored. I've also networked with more senior engineers, and while their advice was extremely helpful, they weren't able to link me up with any job postings.

Anyway, I've been wanting to live abroad for a while now, and I'd probably be paid a lot more in the US anyway. Even if I did get a job in Ireland I'd still probably want to move over there in a year or two. At this stage I'm just thinking, "why wait?"

I'll probably try that kind of more "personal" approach when I'm in the US, where my efforts are more likely to lead to success. Finding work in Ireland takes herculean effort for ultimately less pay, worse job security and worse work conditions. Being ignored and rejected just feels masochistic at this stage. There's only so much I'm willing to take.