Careers in America

Iano_128

Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone here has experience/advice on where the best place to apply for jobs in America would be? I don't have any college degrees but have spent the last 3 years working in the IT industry and am currently doing very well for myself in a large company (non american one unfortunately so transfer not an option).

yew_tree

Are you an american citizen? Have you won the green card lottery or are you married to an american?

If the answer is no to all of the above, I am afraid there is little chance an american company will hire you, unless you work for an american multinational here and apply for a transfer.

There are some special visas I think but the US company would need to prove you have skills that they couldn't find over there and without a degree its doubtful. I am actually in your same position.

Sorry to be so blunt but the USA is a closed shop.

Iano_128

Yeah had a feeling that was going to be the answer! Seems like the only way to get over there is to go to College, get a degree and go over on a J1..

Shame it can't be like Australia and you can get a 1 year one working visa! Hopefully what Barack Obama was saying about making it easier will work out in some way . Thanks for the blunt but informative response

yew_tree

No problem. It is all about supply and demand. Places like Oz, NZ and Canada have skilled jobs that need filling and therefore have visas for skilled people from overseas to go an work there. No so in America where there is high unemployment.

I am not sure about the obama plan...I think it is more to to with helping the illegals who are currently there as opposed to letting in more.

Iano_128

Yeah that's very true! That's one thing I was considering, seeing if it's possible to get over to Canada and going to America as an illegal after some time in Canada but then the whole risk of getting caught and banned from the country! not sure how easy it is to get away with or how willing an employer would be to hire someone whose living in America illegally. It's a shame really because I've no interest in going to Oz or NZ. America's always been the place I wanted to go! If I'd had known this back when I decided not to go to College I would've went!

iusedtoknow

Iano_128 wrote: »

Yeah that's very true! That's one thing I was considering, seeing if it's possible to get over to Canada and going to America as an illegal after some time in Canada but then the whole risk of getting caught and banned from the country! not sure how easy it is to get away with or how willing an employer would be to hire someone whose living in America illegally.

This would be a monumentally stupid thing to do. Aside from the legal, ethical and moral side of it

1. You wouldn't get a social security number
2. Without a SS number, no drivers permit, no bank, no cell phones unable to get car insurance or your own apartment.
3. No health insurance - you break your leg? $50,000
4.No IT firm worth their salt would employ someone illegally. When you start they ask you for your visa and SS number
5. Never being able to leave the country if you wanted to stay.

The most you could hope for is labouring on a building site or nannying where you risk not getting paid (but who are you going to go to? The police?) or being reported to the authorities for any infringements.

Iano_128

So how did you get over if you don't mind me asking? I know the illegal way is wrong & wouldn't work it was just a passing thought is all

iusedtoknow

Iano_128 wrote: »

So how did you get over if you don't mind me asking? I know the illegal way is wrong & wouldn't work it was just a passing thought is all

Bit of circular route.

Studied Arts at college, graduated in 2006. Managed to fanagle my way into IT before moving to Spain to live my gf. Kept on working in IT in Barcelona and Madrid.

Kept on plugging away in IT, got a job in a company that had a US division. I applied for a position and got a L1a visa in October.

Iano_128

I see so it is possible The company I'm working for is like a sub company of HP which are a US company and I've been here for the past 3 years now, so maybe a part time college course to get a degree and keep working away in the meantime and see what opportunities open up in the future! I know my company don't exist in the US but I know HP provide the same service we provide in AMER as here in EU so I'll just need to keep my eyes open for opportunities within HP and I can see what comes up.

iusedtoknow

Well one thing I will say to you

The L1 does not specify you need college, but you need to be specialized in something that the company needs quickly and that can't be filled by anyone in the US. It will take time but it is possible on the route. I moved from level 1 help desk to operations to service management. At the visa interview, they never asked me once about college, just experience with the company.

The only other visa H1b, however you need either college or 12 years work experience without college.

Iano_128

Well we both started off in the same place! I started off 3 years ago as an L1 helpdesk analyst, moved up to assistant team lead and am now working as an on site desktop & infrastructure engineer. I'm sure there's hundreds of thousands of them in America however so maybe I need to look more on the path you took. I know with HP at the moment Service Management is extremely difficult to get in to though so will have to see if that changes or what happens.

silja

Keep applying for the greencard lottery too.

Iano_128

I think that's closed until 2015 but I'll keep an eye out to see when it re-opens. Hopefully it's not as hard as winning the money lottery

silja

It's open every year in October, but yes, the next one (open in October 2013) wil be "2015" because if you apply late this year, you will get the result in May 2014, and then it takes awhile to process paperwork and you will most likely move in 2015.

Iano_128

I see I've heard that if you enter you're opening yourself up to a world of spam mail but it'd be worth it if I won Do you know roughly how many people enter a year and how many visa's are given out?

silja

Spam email from an official government site? Definitely not. There is greencard lottery spam, but that is random- I get it (telling me I've won and need to send X dollars via Western Union....) and never applied for the lottery.

I don't know about how many apply/ have won, but it's been posted here before; if you look at the stickies thread about the lottery or search the forum, I am sure you can find it.

Iano_128

Thanks very much Silja appreciate your help Hopefully I'll get lucky..

InTheTrees

Iano_128 wrote: »

Thanks very much Silja appreciate your help Hopefully I'll get lucky..

I did it the marriage way.

But I worked with a guy who did the lottery along with his whole family, one by one. They just kept applying. It can be done. Its the best way too, no hassles with visas, paperwork, lawyers etc etc. They hand you a passsport.

Best of luck.

Iano_128

I might tweet Rihanna later on and see if she's up for the marriage thing! Have been looking in to the lottery success rates.. around .84% chance for Ireland so hopefully ill be the lucky one! Cheers..

InTheTrees

silja wrote: »

I don't know about how many apply/ have won, but it's been posted here before; if you look at the stickies thread about the lottery or search the forum, I am sure you can find it.

Here's the wiki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diversity_Immigrant_Visa

ProudDUB

Keep at it OP. I got my green card on only my second application. But keep in mind, if you get it, you actually have to use it. It's not something that you can just throw in the kitchen drawer, and maybe use one day if things aren't working out for you here. If you are successful in the green card lottery, you have to move to the US within a year of getting it, and actually starting living there full time if you want to keep the green card.

If you don't, the green card can be taken away from you. So if leaving Ireland for more than the year that you mentioned in your original post isn't an option for you, applying for the green card may not be the thing for you. If all you want to do is live and work there for a year, go for it. Just don't expect to be able to hang on to the green card, if you come back to Ireland to live for any extended amounts of time.

Re Pres Obama. Don't be relying on him to do anything for you any time soon. He is in the news a lot for wanting to do something for the millions of people already over there, who are in the US illegally. Immigration is a very sensitive political issue in the US, and their economy & employment situations are not in good shape. Obama is not going to be doing anything anytime soon for the millions of people around the world who want who want to move there, not unless they have very highly specialized levels of skill or eduction that is in short supply/high demand in the US.

Don't go back to college just to qualify for a J1 graduate visa. That is a pretty extreme thing to do. The J1 graduate visa is only valid for a year. Once the year is up, you have to leave the US and return to Ireland. Only go down that road if you think getting a degree will enhance your career prospects long term. Having a degree doesn't magically entitle you to any sort of special treatment from the Yanks, other than getting to go work for a year there after you graduate.

Tearwave

The thing about north americans, (people who have lived and worked in the US will agree with this) is that they do everything possible to "make things work" and don't give up until the job is complete. I see getting a job/visas/citizenship/etc for the US from a US person's point of view. Exhaust every avenue imaginable if you are really determined, if you aren't willing to do this then you are probably better off not going to the US.

Iano_128

Thanks for that ProudDUB.. To be honest, ideally for me i'd love to live permanantly in America. I've wanted that for as long as I can remember, just never considered the green card lottery as an option as I knew little or nothing about it so thought my only real option was to live there for a year and make some connections and a permanent employer.

I'll definitely be entering the lottery as many times as it takes, hopefully not too many but fingers crossed i'll be in America some day. I've a couple of years to wait so maybe for now college is a good idea to get some legit qualifications and it'd make it easier for me to get work if I do get lucky enough to get over there.

Thanks again for your post, real good to see that it didn't take you years and years of trying to get it :-) shame i never looked in to this option before, need to wait until the 2015 lottery now, but can apply in October this year from what I understand from previous comments in this post.

Iano_128

Tearwave wrote: »

The thing about north americans, (people who have lived and worked in the US will agree with this) is that they do everything possible to "make things work" and don't give up until the job is complete. I see getting a job/visas/citizenship/etc for the US from a US person's point of view. Exhaust every avenue imaginable if you are really determined, if you aren't willing to do this then you are probably better off not going to the US.

I'm definitely 100% determined to get over there :-) like I just said i've wanted it for god knows how long but didn't really understand the green card lottery (thought it was a bit of a scam to be honest).

This isn't a half assed decision i'm making, it's something i really want :-)

iusedtoknow

Tearwave wrote: »

The thing about north americans, (people who have lived and worked in the US will agree with this) is that they do everything possible to "make things work" and don't give up until the job is complete. I see getting a job/visas/citizenship/etc for the US from a US person's point of view. Exhaust every avenue imaginable if you are really determined, if you aren't willing to do this then you are probably better off not going to the US.

TBH seeing it from a US point of view won't help.

Europeans can move to anyone of 25 countries and start working straight away.
If that isn't enough, you can get australia, canada, hong kong, new zealand, argentina, south africa and live for anything from 6 months to 2 years on a visa that you can get in the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee. If you get lucky, you can find an employer when you are out there to sponsor you to live there permanently.

The US is different. You need to have an employer who needs you desperately and willing to fork out a few thousandq before you move out (L1, HB1) or be a student or graduate willing to leave after one year (J1) or have a few $100,000's to invest.

You could of course find an american girl/boy and marry, and start the paper work to become legal, be willing to be split up for up to a year while everything gets sorted.

Then of course, there is the visa lottery where you have a .83% chance of being drawn.

But frankly, it isn't easy. A few of us were lucky and got in on L1's and are able move through to perm. Others married and were able to prove it was for love, not for a visa. There are countless 1000's willing to break the law every day and stay illigally in the hope of one day there being an amnesty.

To be honest, when it comes to USCIS there are only a few avenues, and none of them are easy.

Iano_128

I've no interest in going to any of those countries though, I know it won't be easy and I'll probably have to enter the lottery a few times or go to college and get a degree so I can go over, who knows, but I am willing to try and do whatever it takes because it's something I really want, and somebody has to be the .83% right so why not me?

As the old saying goes, nothing worth having is easy.

Dr Turk Turkelton

Go over on holidays.
Bring 10k.
Find an American girl willing to marry you.
Job done.

Loads of people have gone this route.There is plenty of information available in Irish bars in New York.

Iano_128

Seems like a very expensive way to go about it, and does that actually work? Can't imagine it'd be too easy to find an american girl willing to marry that easily, although I suppose 10 g's is a lot of money these days!

ProudDUB

Iano, do yourself a favour and ignore Cuchulainn's not so helpful advice. He is at best, taking the piss at best, & at worst, advising you to do something highly illegal. Paying someone to marry you just so you can get a green card, breaks God only knows how many immigration laws. There is also no guarantee of it working. Couples who marry have to pass a rigourous inspection and interview process before the non American is given a green card. The INS are trained to spot relationships and marriages that are legit and those that are not. If you are busted, you risk jail time, being deported and barred from entering the US ever again.

Iano_128

Ah yeah it's not something I'd ever consider! There's easier ways to go about it and I don't fancy always worrying about getting caught/deported etc; I'm gonna do it the legal way one way or another, whether that's win the green card lottery or go back to college to get a degree to make myself more of an asset to a company over there or whatever it is I need to do I'll be doing it all the legal way

silja

**** Boards.ie does not condone, encourage or advice anyone to do anything illegal, including illegal immigration activity in other countries. Do not further post on such things, even just implying it/ saying so in jest *****

While marrying a US citizen can get you a greencard (it's how I moved to the USA), there needs to be a bonafide relationship, and you will be required to prove it. Paying someone to marry you to get a greencard would be immigration fraud and not just illegal, but carries a lifetime ban from the USA.