Jennika

Hello all - while reading through some posts from people wanting to move to America, I noticed one user had put this (unfortunately I cannot remember the user name.. Ian something fromKentucky, sorry!) that said 1 year education = 3 years work experience? I was just wondering if anyone could elaborate on this i.e. is this an official weighting?

As I have been searching for many jobs in America/Canada and I find that one of the things that prevents me from applying is needing to have X amount of experience however I currently hold a Bsc hons and I am presently studying for an Msc so I was wondering how much 'experience' this accounts for?

Thanks in advance for any info/help you guys can give!

Noorah101

My understanding is that if you don't have a degree, you can use job experience in lieu of the degree...i.e. for every year of education you are lacking, you can make it up with 3 years of work experience.

Rene

caleyjag

Provided your degree is relevant to the job, of course.

What is your area of study?

Noorah101

That is probably "ian-mstm", if you want to look up his other posts.

Rene

christmasoompa

Just checking, but you are aware that this is only relevant for a H1B visa (which requires either a degree, or 12 years experience, or a mix of the two)? Just that from what you've said above, you seem to be implying that it's the job adverts that require x amount of years of experience, but the 3 years for 1 year of a degree thing is only for issuance of visas, not getting jobs.

Jennika

@ Caleyjag - I have a Bsc in geography and my Msc is in environment and sustainable development

@ christmasoompa - I was not actually aware of that! Guess it was just wishful thinking on my part, however, a friend of mine referred to my Msc as experience which made me wonder if companies use the same format - or maybe she also wasn't aware that it only applied to visas. Nevertheless thanks for clearing that up.

@Noorah101 - yep that was the one, thanks

Bob

If the job requires x years experience, then they want x years of experience.

The job must require a degree to be eligible for the H1B sponsor, where you can use progressive work experience in lieu.

A company transfer does not require a degree if you have specific company knowledge or are in a management position.

caleyjag

Not knowing too much about you, my gut feeling is you'll probably struggle to qualify for an appropriate US visa this early in your career.

The visas are really designed for specialists who bring something tangeable to the table. Usually this equates to technical experts with a body of work behind them, however it's not totally exclusive.

Your best bet right now is to see if you can get with BUNAC or one of the other student programs to see if you can get a J1 visa for one year's work after you graduate. I don't know what state that program is currently in, but if it's active and still has visas left in its quota, then that would give you an 'in' in which to establish yourself and ingratiate yourself with an employer to the extent that they might want to go through the hassle and cost of sponsoring you (see below).


Beyond that you basically have two options:

1. Establish yourself at a multinational in the UK in the hope of transfering on an L1 after at least 12 months working in the UK.

2. Seek out an employer in the US that is willing to fork out the minimum of $5000 them to bring you over on an H-1b. Due to your relative lack of experience, it's going to be a tough journey and they are going to have to employ a talented attorney to turn your resume into a convincing case for sponsorship.

In addition to the cost, the H-1b program brings strict limits on potential start dates - your potential employer must file before April 1st in order for you to have an Oct 1st start date in a given calendar year. It is not very flexible.


The bottom line is that due to your youth and non-technical field of study, the odds are somewhat stacked against you.

Patience and tenacity will be the key.

Good luck!

Bob

After 1st April, or it would be rejected. The visa's open up on 1st April and for the last few years haven't filled up till around the new year mark, where in the past they would have had the quota filled within the opening day.

caleyjag

That's what I meant.

scrubbedexpat099

Doing the Msc in the US would have helped.

Jennika

Thanks for all the replies everyone, definitely opened my eyes a little....