Tediously

Bit of background information, I just finished my study year abroad in San Diego. I did some professional and social networking whilst I was there, thoroughly enjoyed the whole trip.

I'm about to enter my final year of a Computer Science degree and I've already done most of the research to establish a 5 - 10 year plan, I'm hoping to join a Multinational Corp, aiming for management and asking for a transfer on an L1A Visa. I've read countless threads on this forum, I know nearly everybody suggests getting married; it's not a route I'm considering currently, mainly because I'm 20 years old.

Now for my question! Does anybody know which companies are most likely to offer opportunities for transfers and/or how best you should approach an employer regarding the situation? I'm assuming some people on here went the career route, I'd appreciate your input!

Cheers,
Joe.

kevntrace

I got here on an H1B for a very small tech consulting company back in 1994.

But some multi-nationals you might want to think about;

Banks (Chase, Citibank etc)
Credit Card (Visa, American Express)
Oil (BP, Shell, Chevron)
Other (3M, Google, Microsoft (might be tough with the layoffs))

I'm sure that is not the only set of companies, but might get you thinking.

Good luck.

Pulaski

IMHO you'd be best advised to get the best possible job and then work to get the best possible experience and additional qualifications if applicable, as you'll need that before anyone is likely to want to hire/transfer you. As your career progresses you could switch employers as you learn more (through networking) about which employers are most likely to hire transfer you.

In short, trying to second guess who to work for on the basis of who might be willing to transfer you 5-10 years down the road is likely an exercise in frustration and futility.

AdobePinon

Not to mention that said company will likely function very differently in this regard 5 - 10 years down the line.

Michael

Most of the needs for high tech companies are software engineers with most of the development in the Silicon Valley but also engineering development in Seattle, Boston, Austin, Phoenix, and Raleigh/Durham and a small amount in other places.

In my opinion, your biggest challenge will be to find a job with an American company that is doing software engineering development in the UK. If you get a job that is doing application development, system administration, quality assurance, software maintenance, sales support, or marketing support, it will be much harder to transfer.

However if you can get a job in software engineering, do a good job, have a good relationship with your manager, don't require much more than an airline ticket to the US, can transfer quickly, and software engineering positions become available in the US, I suspect you won't find it too difficult to convince the company to transfer you. If you make it easy, inexpensive, and hassle free for the company, your chances will likely improve significantly. Some may say that is unlikely to happen but I've seen it occur many times. In fact when I was working for a Japanese company as a Manager of an engineering group, one day a Japanese girl showed up and said she was working for me (very unusual since I didn't get to interview her).

On the other hand, if you want all the expatriate benefits such a British vacation allowance, relocation allowance, moving allowance, company paid annual trips back to the UK, company paid housing on arrival, etc., you are probably going to have a much more difficult time getting a transfer unless you have exceptional talent since the company will either hire locally, get contractors from an outsourcing company, or apply for H1-B visas for foreign applicants.

If your intention is to go into management, then I'd suggest working for a British company that has a presence in the US since it is more likely for a British company to transfer British managers to the US than an American company to transfer British managers to the US.

Michael

Most of those I wouldn't consider other than Google or Microsoft since I suspect the others will be a hard sell even with exceptional talent in engineering.

As far as Microsoft, it's not unusual for tech companies to have layoffs only to be hiring a year later. Also Microsoft uses a large number of contractors from outsourcing companies so I suspect many of those will be let go where they need to cut back in engineering.

MsElui

i always think too that you almost HAVE to transfer to another company at least once to have more depth of experience- and often this makes the jump to manager possible. so employer one should be the best for work experience you can get and then the next employer can focus in on the part of the job you enjoy most, or the one with most links to usa or whatever.

i always like the companies i worked at and in many respects didnt want to leave - but moving on the last two times BOOSTED my long term career enormously.

DexterBerkeley

I would echo this. Amongst the expats I now working in the smaller tech companies, it's much more common for them to be European organizations exporting expertise to the US. That is how I got here and a few other I know.

The other thing I would say is you don't necessarily need a big company, the one which moved me was less than 50 people at the time.

AlphaTangoMike

Same for me, the firm that moved me to the US had about 60 employees in London and only 6 in the US office (at the time).

Sally Redux

I'm not sure that just trying for a transfer is the best driver for your career.

You had a great time in San Diego but there could be lots of other opportunities which you haven't even thought about.

Trying to 'pick a winner' at this point will be very difficult anyway.

This is not a criticism of the US, I would say it the other way around as well.

kodokan

Hubby got transferred by a US multinational - he worked for them in the UK for 8 years, then moved to their European HO in Switzerland for 3-4 years, then was moved to the US. This is in a manufacturing industry. It was his pan-European knowledge that made him worth moving here, because they find it useful with the timezone difference to have someone physically here when it comes to global strategising. To our knowledge, the company hasn't moved anyone straight from the UK because those people don't offer any skills they can't get more easily from a US person.

I agree with the advice to take spend the next few years racking up experience and skills, regardless of the company. Once you get some years into your career, it'll almost certainly be clearer which companies might be good ones to move to at that time, and easier to do so as you'll have so much more to offer than if you were a fresh graduate, largely indistinguishable from other graduates.

If you avoid too much lifestyle inflation as your salary rises, you'll also be able to bank a good chunk of money, which would give you another route: paying to do a Masters here, and hoping to network enough to find a job afterwards.

Good luck with your plans - US or not, you sound the sort of organised person who'll do well in the future!

Bagger

Just a thought:

To me it seems more likely that you could get transferred in a small to medium sized multinational. In a mega corp, there are going to be dozens (heck, maybe even hundreds) of other managers at your level, even if you progress well in 5-10 years. Sure, not all of them are going to request a transfer, but, it makes the probability that someone else is just as qualified as you to be transferred higher, should a need for someone with your skills be required in a US office.

If however you're in a smaller multinational, in my judgement, you're a lot likelier to have an array of specialist domain knowledge/skills that few (quite possibly even no one else) would have after your 5-10 year stint. That's the kind of bargaining power that would get you to the US.

Tediously

Great points. I've considered doing 4/5 years in the industry, saving money and then applying to complete an MSc in Management or an MBA, most likely the MSc.

Yeah, I'd gathered there are certain tech hubs across the US from the CsCareerQuestions sub on Reddit. I'm not looking at any of those specialties fortunately, software development/engineering & management is what I'm shooting for.

I can't see myself needing all of the benefits, however one or two of them, such as the vacation allowance and relocation allowance might be nice to have. Could you suggest which ones are more important than the others, having made the move already?

Thanks for the advice MsElui! All of the advice I've received thus far is extremely helpful, even more so that it's coming from people who've been in the position I find myself currently.

Interesting.

Could you expand a little? I'm not solely focusing on moving to CA or San Diego in particular; I'm extremely open to most places and opportunities! It's more the experience of living somewhere new with new people and a different culture that attracts me most.

Thank you for the kind words! I've been looking at the US ever since I visited as a child. I realise that this forum gets countless threads on the topic from people who have a fleeting desire to move to the US and haven't done the research; I thought I'd do my own as to not cause annoyance

Just a side question, which do you think would be more beneficial/cost effective? Doing my masters in the UK as they're only a year long or doing it in the US over two years and costing more money?

Really valid points. I'm currently completing an Internship in MNC of about 130 people. I'm not sure if it's going to lead anywhere yet, it might be a route to consider though...

Cheers for the replies everyone, they're appreciated immensely!

Sally Redux

It was only me thinking that you should choose an area of work that interests you and that you will excel at, and see where that leads; making a transfer the main priority could be restrictive in the early part of your career. We do recommend people to have a long-term plan when they come on here, and it's good that you've done that, but you could potentially be cutting out other good opportunities if you focus on the transfer too early.

Disclaimer: I am a housewife who came over on H4

kodokan

1. Vacation allowance might be a long shot. The trend nowadays is for people to localize after an international move to a 'soft' destination like the US, so you tend to get the same vacation days as anyone else with your years of service. Hubby got 4 weeks, but that was based on him having worked for the company for more than 10 years, not because he had better holiday in his 'old' country and wanted to keep it (we were actually in Switzerland before, with 6 weeks vacation!). Relocation allowance/ moving expenses paid is standard, although if you're the one who's pushed for the move, might not be, as simply paying for the visa processing will be a big enough ask, especially in a smaller company. Assume nothing, be grateful for something, at least until you get to a point where you're senior enough that you're the one doing them the favor by going!

2. Ummm... don't know, sorry. I was basing my suggestion on someone vague thought that I'd read somewhere that people who studied here for a masters (maybe just a STEM one?) could get a visa extension/ replacement for a year or so afterwards, to see if they could find a job that would H1-b them, and stay.

3. You've done a lot of the donkey work yourself, and are being polite and cheery - we like that