mrken30

I have a few contacts in the newish Jaguar development center in Portland, there is also Daimler and Audi in the area. I am not sure what your skills are but it may be worth reaching out to those companies. I know Jaguar moved here due to proximity of Intel. There are also a couple of Truck manufacturers around the Portland area.

Could you use your skills in the aviation industry, because we have Boeing, but there are also quite a number of smaller aircraft manufacturers/ designers.

Good luck with the job hunting. The job market is tough at the moment with a lot of companies having hiring freezes. I am not sure if the UK market is any different.

rbackhouse

Have you considered contracting to get your foot in the door somewhere ?
Not sure if your industry does much in the contracting space though but it might be worth investigating.

Back in the day (25 years ago now) I couldn't get anyone interested in offering me a job via direct applying due to a lack of degree. There were plenty that would take me on as a contractor though and then invariably they would like my work and offer a permanent position.

Also if you haven't done already, put your resume on GlassDoor. It's also a good resource for company salaries, reviews and interview questions that get asked.

tom169

Or perhaps exclude it altogether? Make sure you have a US address and phone on it.

You shouldn't be asked in the interview about your immigration status unless it's a government job or government contract that mandates US citizenship.

However, you could be asked about your ability to legally work.

Pulaski

Agreed x2.

Anything that hints that you aren't a regular Joe looking for a job should be avoided. You may be asked at an interview about your employability, but and mention of visas, sponsorship, and status is likely to see your application filtered out before the hiring manager gets to even see it.

Steerpike

This sounds like good advice ...

Steerpike

I'm guessing he's facing the 'legally able to work' topic head on in the resume because his resume shows nothing but UK experience, which could reasonably be interpreted to suggest he's a Brit, which then brings up the status question. A resume full of UK experience and no mention of status could backfire perhaps? But the suggestion above of simply stating 'legally able to work in US' or similar should be good enough.

mrken30

I have been asked about employability due to me resume mentioning UK companies and UK schools. I don't mention LPR on my resume anymore. It may be obvious if you are from overseas. In this case it may be worth mentioning that you are legally allowed to work in the US as mentioned in #14. If your resume does not give away your nationality, leave that bit out until interview.

The jobs at Jaguar were not well advertised, maybe because the hiring manager/ HR person was English and was not fully aware of options available for advertising positions. It's surprising how many jobs are listed on Craigslist , even at fairly senior levels.

mrken30

Also housing is very cheap in Detroit and there is plenty of water unlike California. There are some nice places like Ann Arbor and good schools aswell List of public Ivy Schools & Colleges . Michigan gives grants for kids to attend college, comes out of Federal Welfare money.

I think Detroit has potential to make you a lot of money.

livinginnyc

Hey Harvey (suits fans unite!)

I know exactly the pain you're going through - I have an extremely niche skill set and have found it a nightmare to get my resume read despite having tons of experience and a senior background at a major UK firm.

I recently got advised to consult and contact headhunters and within a few weeks of taking this approach - its already paying off. big time.

One of these headhunters is actually British who knows exactly our pain and put alot of my concerns to rest (including a gap in work due to green card issues.etc).

mrken30

It's not always bad, a lot of it is luck. I moved here in 2008 after being laid off in the UK a few months earlier. It took me 3 days to get a job. A lot is just timing and luck. There were maybe 2 or 3 jobs at that time being advertised. I did have a 2 hour commute each way for a while , which really sucked. I see maybe 1 or 2 jobs a year that are in my field.

vikingsail

Sorry to hear your predicament. Here are a couple of ideas that come to mind.

Consider speaking to a US friend or family friend and doing a full on mock interview to see what it is that may or may not be the issue? Someone with a HR/ managerial background would be even better.

The second idea is to explore Higher education jobs with your background, maybe research, contract, temp work. I believe Higher ed is generally speaking more forgiving and used to dealing with International qualifications and experience..

vikingsail

As a So. CA resident I would move to MI in a heartbeat. Beautiful state, its not all Detroit and even then its not that bad. We have the same 'war zones' that everyone knows to avoid here in So CA.

Harveyspecter

It wasn't on my CV, and looking back I only put it on certain cover letters. I have now amended it to a blanket "Eligible to work in the USA" if I add it, thanks.

Thanks for your post. Unfortunately we are based in my wife's hometown at the moment which is heavily agricultural and pretty much as far from automotive as you can get. Seattle with aerospace is probably the nearest but reading replies it appears Jaguar have a center in Portland I am going to investigate after replying here.

Great, thank you. Can I drop you a PM with my email address? I applied to Daimler earlier in the week there, it's more a manufacturing job but it's a start. I have considered Aviation, but most jobs I have looked at seem to require specialist experience I don't have.

Ideally I want permanent, having come off the back of 5 years contracting in the UK and I'll be honest that I have no idea how contracting works here with regards to health insurance etc so I have been looking at perm jobs mostly.

Exactly that, I wasn't getting any responses and it was suggested to me because of my purely UK work history so it seems a matter of opinion. However for some months now my CV has not had any reference to my legal status.

I'll have a gander on CL to start with, thank you.

Possibly, however it's not just me I have to think about. My wife doesn't want to move there for starters though I'll consider it for a short term thing if nothing else comes up.

CA doesn't get horrible winters like MI though, and coming from the UK I like my warmth!

Thank you for your post, and you PM Glad to meet a fellow fan too!

Certainly, as I say I am still in line for a position I really want in the South East, it;s just a question of timing for when they get an opening.

Thank you, the one problem with that is interviews for me tend to be on a very technical level and I don't know anyone with the experience to conduct such an idea, I'll give it some thought.


In summary: Thank you all for your efforts so far. I have spent 2 hours on linkedin this morning polishing up my profile and have connected to about 10 recruiters in areas where there are jobs for me. I am now going to do my daily job hunting grind and also look up the Jaguar Development Center in Portland. Thanks all.

london_calling

I've met a few sad types who f'd up their entire careers just to live here. God knows why. In a couple cases they remained relentlessly upbeat about the land of opportunity etc. I've even seen a few posts on this forum of that nature. Guess it depends what you find important in life.

vikingsail

Thank you, the one problem with that is interviews for me tend to be on a very technical level and I don't know anyone with the experience to conduct such an idea, I'll give it some thought.

It's likely not the technical part that is the issue in your interviews. Clearly I don't know you and have not met you but those who do may feel comfortable providing feedback on the soft skill set items of an interview that may need a little polishing or alteration to be successful. How best to illustrate what I mean...well this article touches upon some of the issues, it is oft joked about but is so very true that we speak a common language but that doesn't equal a common culture...

https://hbr.org/2013/04/common-language-doesnt-equal-c

My own experience caused me to analyze and realize that my speech and emails which I thought were being incredibly polite and deferential were actually being interpreted by some of my American colleagues as indecisive and somewhat passive aggressive...