1year usit visa san francisco

aoifemc997

Hi i am starting to apply for the 1 year graduate visa to travel to San Francisco in september time hopefully.

I am planning to go on my own and will be looking for an IT job.

Is there anyone else in the same boat as me? Or any tips for someone in my position? I am quite nervous about going on my own but have some contacts over in San Francisco.

iusedtoknow

your best bet is to get in with some recruitment agencies that do contract work. We usually hire through them for short term assignments (6-9 months). There is no end of work in IT

In SF it is split among a few different fields

1. City Startups
2. Established tech/bio tech (oracle, cisco, genentech, google,Facebook, twitter)
3. SV incubators

What sort of field are you in?

aoifemc997

with the USIT visa I don't think you are allowed to get jobs through recruitment agencies.

My degree is Business Information Technology - so I am open to any type of IT jobs really. Have interest in consulting and web design, along with marketing in the business end.

I just wasn't sure if the established companies would take me on if they have locations here in Ireland which I could apply too.

I really want to get a job sorted before I move over to the states.

William F

AOife, I'm in the same boat as you but I have no idea where to start.

InTheTrees

Craigslist is the default job seeker website. Everything from Brain surgeon to burger flipper. Its also here you'll find accommodation, cars etc.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/

Have you ever considered Silicon Valley as opposed to SF? Being further down towards San Jose will give you a whole extra world of opportunities in tech companies.

Although I'm sure SF is just as full of IT jobs, they may be a bit more business focused.

iusedtoknow

InTheTrees wrote: »

Craigslist is the default job seeker website. Everything from Brain surgeon to burger flipper. Its also here you'll find accommodation, cars etc.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/

Have you ever considered Silicon Valley as opposed to SF? Being further down towards San Jose will give you a whole extra world of opportunities in tech companies.

Although I'm sure SF is just as full of IT jobs, they may be a bit more business focused.

Not really, the area around SOMA and Caltrain is jammed with start ups and more established firms. Google, Facebook, Mozilla, Adobe, trend micro all have IT offices there, most have business offices either in SV or the fidi area of the city.

DUUUUFFY

There are plenty of people in the same boat! I'm heading over at the end of next month! Looking for work in the GIS/Geospatial tech industry! I've been keeping an eye on positions over the last month or two on craigslist and indeed, and have applied for a few positions so far. I think I'll be lucky to get something before I get over there though, but you never know! I'm keeping my options open with regards to working anywhere around the Bay Area anyway.

I'll be traveling over on my own also, which I don't really have a problem with on this type of visa! I went through the Boston IIIC which is a good bit cheaper than USIT. The process is quick, when you consider that you have to send everything by mail to the US, so that is something to consider!

I'm pretty sure you cannot gain employment through recruitment agencies on this visa!

InTheTrees

iusedtoknow wrote: »

Not really, the area around SOMA and Caltrain is jammed with start ups and more established firms. Google, Facebook, Mozilla, Adobe, trend micro all have IT offices there, most have business offices either in SV or the fidi area of the city.

Yes. There's high tech companies in SF.

But Silicon Valley is where the high tech action is. Cupertino, Mountain view, sunnyvale, etc. Once you get south of san mateo driving south is like driving through a history of the computer industry. Its a fascinating place.

But SF is a more cohereant, european style city. You can live there without owning a car for instance which is a big plus.

iusedtoknow

InTheTrees wrote: »

Yes. There's high tech companies in SF.

But Silicon Valley is where the high tech action is. Cupertino, Mountain view, sunnyvale, etc. Once you get south of san mateo driving south is like driving through a history of the computer industry. Its a fascinating place.

But SF is a more cohereant, european style city. You can live there without owning a car for instance which is a big plus.

the bolded bit is important...the history of the computer industry, but things have changed in the last few years. Most if not all of the startups that were purchased by yahoo in the last 18 months were from incubators and offices that are in the city.

Twitter is 100% in the city, as are mozilla and googles chrome & innovation (google glass etc) team are based here as well. The valley shifted up to SOMA in 2010, and TBH it looks like a bubble that's gonna burst soon enough - but it looks like a fun ride (I'm in the slow and steady bio-tech industry)

InTheTrees

iusedtoknow wrote: »

the bolded bit is important...the history of the computer industry, but things have changed in the last few years. Most if not all of the startups that were purchased by yahoo in the last 18 months were from incubators and offices that are in the city.

??

We're getting into a SOMA vs Silicon Valley match?

SOMA is an area of south SF that is about a square mile. Maybe twenty square blocks? An old renovated part of the City that is now home to numerous small high tech startups. Certainly a vibrant area full of innovation. And a fun place to work I'm sure.

But its not the centre of the US (the worlds?) High Tech Industry.

Googles HQ in Mountain view wouldnt fit in SOMA. Neither would Yahoo's in Sunnyvale.

Or Apple's, or Intel's, or Oracle, or Adobe, or Facebook, or AMD, or.... any of the many other massive multinational tech giants based in the valley.

It dwarfs SF on the map and in population. And in Venture Capital $'s invested.

If you're into computers, Silicon valley is a fascinating place to work. You'd have to admit that even if you prefer to be in the south of market st area.

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

iusedtoknow

InTheTrees wrote: »

??

We're getting into a SOMA vs Silicon Valley match?

SOMA is an area of south SF that is about a square mile. Maybe twenty square blocks? An old renovated part of the City that is now home to numerous small high tech startups. Certainly a vibrant area full of innovation. And a fun place to work I'm sure.

But its not the centre of the US (the worlds?) High Tech Industry.

Googles HQ in Mountain view wouldnt fit in SOMA. Neither would Yahoo's in Sunnyvale.

Or Apple's, or Intel's, or Oracle, or Adobe, or Facebook, or AMD, or.... any of the many other massive multinational tech giants based in the valley.

It dwarfs SF on the map and in population. And in Venture Capital $'s invested.

If you're into computers, Silicon valley is a fascinating place to work. You'd have to admit that even if you prefer to be in the south of market st area.

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

yep mozilla (firefox) adobe (200 employees mostly developers) , google downtown (400 employees), facebook downtown (300) and twitter (2000) are small "startups". Whenever my company have meetings with these companies, it is always in their city offices, even though our headquarters (Where I work) is closer to SV than it is to the city.

SV really is important but the trend has started for the business side to be at headquarters and for development to be done in satellite offices. The city has grown in importance and is a way for these companies to attract the biggest talent.
I deal with a lot of developers from a certain big firm. While they're headquarters is in SV - they were located up to the city, along with 4 other big groups to attract 20/30 something developers that didn't want to live in the blandness that is Santa Clara, Cupertino, Mountain view etc. Heck even Zuckerberg has moved his primary residence up to the Mission district.

Knex*

Hi,

Myself and a few friends are in a similar position. We all did a Business Information Systems degree, and we're planning on heading to Austin for a year in September.

I would advise, however, going with IIIC rather than USIT, and it works out a fair bit cheaper. We graduated last October so need to be over there by this Oct, but one of our classmates went with them last year and definitely found them to be the best option.

cerebus

InTheTrees wrote: »

??

We're getting into a SOMA vs Silicon Valley match?

SOMA is an area of south SF that is about a square mile. Maybe twenty square blocks? An old renovated part of the City that is now home to numerous small high tech startups. Certainly a vibrant area full of innovation. And a fun place to work I'm sure.

But its not the centre of the US (the worlds?) High Tech Industry.

Googles HQ in Mountain view wouldnt fit in SOMA. Neither would Yahoo's in Sunnyvale.

Or Apple's, or Intel's, or Oracle, or Adobe, or Facebook, or AMD, or.... any of the many other massive multinational tech giants based in the valley.

It dwarfs SF on the map and in population. And in Venture Capital $'s invested.

If you're into computers, Silicon valley is a fascinating place to work. You'd have to admit that even if you prefer to be in the south of market st area.

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

Just on the venture capital front: there has been a bit of a shift in the last couple of years - there are now more venture dollars invested in SF than anywhere else, believe it or not. I work in VC in the bay area, and our team opened an office in SOMA and based somebody there about two years ago, and many other firms are doing the same. In very general terms, there are lots of consumer and mobile startups in the city, while the south bay/valley still seems to be the place for hardware and hardcore engineering... though saying that there are lots of companies working on HW in SF as well!

Definitely still lots of stuff going on down the peninsula (YC hasn't moved, for example ) but the Bay Area technology/funding scene is always evolving.

Some data here:
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2013/06/americas-top-metros-venture-capital/3284/
http://correlatedcausation.com/where-start-ups-are-raising-vc/

SanfranCal

I do not like the website Craigslist.com. For job hunting, I suggest that you go to Monster.com. Also consider posting on Linkedin.com. I believe most professionals post on this website.

SanfranCal

When you search for an IT job in California and if you use Monster.com, I suggest that you search in the following cities: San Francisco, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, and San Jose.

Consider getting an apartment in San Mateo, California. That area would be a mid-point for job hunting between San Francisco and "Silicon Valley." I am sure you know that Silicon Valley is not a real valley, but rather a generic name for the cities I have mentioned previously.

Also, look into CalTrain as a means of transportation between San Francisco and the cities I have mentioned above.

Good luck to you.