bobby_1234

Hi,

I'm very keen to move to the US, I've been a number of times and love a number of things about the place, including the big open spaces, mountains, deserts, beaches etc basically how many different mirco countries there are in the one place.

I know from reading other thread here that the road is extremely tough to make the move. I have no family over there that could sponser me, no $1m to invest, no business, already have a UK gf so marriage is out! haha. So that seems to leave me only with finding a company which could internally sponser me to transfer on a H1B.

I'm currently doing a PhD in mathematics, and have a masters and undergrad in Physics. Does anyone know any companies that have offices in the USA that would be good routes for me to look at? I guess IT industry/finance/science will be my industry when I do finish the PhD. Unless I am lucky enough to land a postdoc in the USA which would make things a tonne easier, but they are few and far between in my field, so not holding my breath for that.

I know it's not going to be easy and could take a number of years, and that is something I am willing to accept, but this is something I would really like to happen, so am willing to put the work in.

Thanks for any advice

chrisbeale

Have you spoken to your PhD supervisor? Networking is the best way to get post docs, so try and get to every meaningful conference and talk to people, many positions aren't advertised openly but money may be there. Out of interest, what branch of mathematics do you work in?

ian-mstm

You got good advice over 2 years ago... nothing has changed. http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6445094

Ian

Marocco

Do you have published papers, conference presentations, etc? If so, then academia would be the most obvious choice. Look up people in various maths/physics departments in the US (depending on what you do) and email them, asking if they have any openings for you.

If you don't have any published work or don't want to work in academia, then you need to decide which industry you want to work in. Is it finance? Then you should study some financial mathematics, learn a programming language if you don't know one already, and contact a recruiter. No one's going to give you a job as a junior quant, even with a PhD, unless you can show them you can do something.

retzie

bobby_1234, are you in pure or applied?

I do have one blanket suggestion that should apply to both - one big employer of maths PhD's are the National Labs. These are Government research labs, who will employ non-US citizens (most maths-y government jobs won't.) They have a wide range of projects, so I suggest you surf through them and start sending emails to leaders of projects that interest you.

This is NOT true for pure mathematics.


Very true and this is going to apply across the board. Using the PhD as a 'smart certificate' is not going to get you very far. Just because you know you would easily be able to do the job, does not mean they will hire you. Your ability will need to be proven in a recognisable form.

bobby_1234

Hi, I work in Applied (Mathematical Physics) in my field of QG it is notoriously difficult to get an academic position with or without multiple papers published during the PhD (this is in fact the default expected of me) and so on (even students from top 10 US schools like MIT etc seem to struggle) there is simply an over supply vs the number of positions etc. So the academic route whilst being my preferred career pathway is certainly not something I can pin my hopes on (although it would be nice).

So I guess I need a plan B, which would probably IT/finance (I already know a number of programming languages as part of what I do, so this wouldn't be an issue). I'm guessing the only route would be to search out multinationals that have a history of transfering their employees, so I was hoping some people may know some companies that I could look in to. It's quite frustrating because I've seen a number of 'friends of friends' move over to the USA recently who weren't even graduates, just had regular jobs etc, yet were lucky enough to have a company who wanted them over their.

Thanks for the advice about the national labs, I wouldn't have expected them to hire non US so I will certaintly take a look into this.

bobby_1234

On another note. If I did move over there on a postdoc say or H1B job would a potential future wife be able to come along?

meauxna

Not as a fiancee. There are derivative visas for spouses in most categories (saying 'most' in case there is an odd one that doesn't..)