mmagrath

Hi people,
I'm new here and have just spent an hour going through threads and haven't found anyone in my situation, so....

I am looking to move to San Antonio TX.

I'm a final year undergrad student doing Mechanical and Automotive engineering at the University of Bradford (unfortunately ha!). I am fluent in Spanish and have a good level of Portuguese.

For the past few months I have spent my time scrolling though a lot of work agency web sites, searching and applying for jobs wherever I could find them. My university hasn't given me much info on the whole situation as they aren't familiar with people moving to USA.

Does anyone have any threads they can link me on the subject? Either that or any experience at all on finding undergrad jobs?

I was thinking to go and visit (I have a place to stay) on a month-long visa and just go around doing as many job applications as possible. Any experience on this? Is it a good idea?

Again, sorry if this is a repeat thread, my degree is almost at an end and the need for info is rather desperate.

Thanks, you guys

Martin.

mikelincs

Unfortunately the USA is probably the hardest place to move to for work unless you are getting an intracompany transfer or you are married to a US citizen. I suggest you look at the Wiki articles.

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Category:USA_Immigration

and look at this part of the BE forum as well.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=34

I wish you well in your search, but you may well be better off looking at Canada, Australia or New Zealand if you want an English speaking country.

penguinsix

Visa first. Job second.

And I say that with the understanding that you are more than likely going to need a job to get a visa. Yea, it's that complicated.

You are probably wasting your time applying for every job under the sun. The real issue is a job with a visa. You need to make sure that your position is one in which a visa will be granted (more than likely an H1-B) and then that the company is familiar with the process and willing to spend an extra $5000-$10,000 to employ you.

Just out of school, an engineer competing with the top engineers from China and India, along with scads of engineers with experience--it's going to be rough.

Have you considered a masters degree in the USA? That would be a year of school followed by about a year of "practical work training". If you make a good impression than the company may be willing to push for an H-1B for you.

Mr Weeze

San Antonio has an oil boom going on right now - there may be an opportunity with some of the oil companies or rig companies. People are drilling wells every 20 days there. Google "Eagle Ford". There is a shortage of people, so there is a chance you could get someone willing to sponsor you. I don't think it is a great chance (maybe 1 in 10) but better than no chance.

Duncan Roberts

In terms of US immigration, a 1 in 10 chance is pretty massive, almost a guarantee. I know nothing of the industry but it sounded like the OP was maybe focussing on automotive engineering, would that apply to oil work?

Mr Weeze

I'm thinking about the rig companies - people like Helmerich & Payne, etc. There is an extreme skills shortage because of the Eagle Ford play, so that's why I say there is even any chance.

Edit - just for clarity, I still don't think you will find a job this way. I just think this is your best chance in San Antonio. It's not much of a chance though.

LinkTen

I recommend completing your degree, get a few years experience while saving money, and then head to the US to complete a masters. If you complete your masters, you'll get OPT to work in the US once graduated, for a specific period of time. Hopefully in this time you'll find an employer willing to sponsor you for a H-1B visa. Also, keep an eye on the immigration reform news, as one of the propositions is green cards for masters students in STEM fields.

sir_eccles

The place you have to stay, is it your girlfriend's?

Bob

To be blunt, you're going to have a shit time finding a job in the EU where you don't need a visa, never mind the US. If it's automotive you're focusing on.

You need a 10 year plan at least and look for a transfer and really, you're going to need contacts to get you in.

Back in my uni days, of mates who were interested in cars from product/industrial design backgrounds, the bloke who interned at Bentley ended up working for a aftermarket outfit doing custom parts for Landrovers. A chap went to Lambo, but only because his dad was already pretty senior there. The chap who interned at Audi got a job there because he won a national design prize as part of his internship. Plenty of others didn't even get a look in, even after doing internships and this was from a top 2 design university.

Basically have a scroll through coroflot.com and if you can honestly say your portfolio shits on everything in the first few pages of folios, then you're in with a chance of angling a internship somewhere and building up contacts and then work into a full time job and then look for angling a transfer or new job once you've got serious experience.

Other than that, short term, have a wedge of money and look to do a masters either in the US, or to angle a student exchange program during the course for a semester or two.

scrubbedexpat099

Hopefully.

mmagrath

Thanks for the feedback people!! I think the general consensus is that I should finish my degree and go on to do a Masters in USA. I also talked to my tutor at Uni this morning and he also said that that would be a good plan.
I'll reply to each one of you in a separate paragraph:

@mikelincs;
Thank you for the links!! I tried ringing the US Embassy twice a couple of weeks back and apart from expensive, I didn't really get much out of them. I was thinking Canada, but the person I'm looking to move in with has a little lad from the previous marriage so I would have to move to Texas (for the moment). We shall see what the situation is in a couple of years though when he's grown up a bit.

@penguinsix;
You're absolutely right about the Masters plan (I hadn't thought of it for some reason haha). I talked to my tutor this morning about it and he told me how to apply. Unfortunately though, I cocked my second year up (bad year due to family problems) and got put on an Ordinary degree. To get back on an Honors degree, I'd just need to do an extra year on the subjects I failed. After that I would be free AND have the grades to do a Masters in San Antonio or near by. If I do finally choose this plan, I was thinking to find part time work at a Marriott hotel or something along the lines so I could also have an option to transfer over.
Thanks!!

@Mr Weeze & Duncan Roberts;
My degree was originally going to be solely in Mechanical engineering, but one of my A-level subject results fell just short of the grade I needed for Q.Mary or Brunel Uni's. So I ended up at Bradford incorporating the automotive part. I have an A-level in economics and have gone towards the management side of subjects in my final year. Also Mechanical engineering is a pretty wide degree so I could potentially work for whatever engineering sector pays best (Keeping in mind that beggars can't be choosers ha!).
Getting to the point, I don't know much about the oil industry but have 2 friends with parents very high up in it. It's definitely something worth checking out, cheers!

@LinkTen
As I said to mikelinks, the Masters in USA is a plan! If I went there immediately though after the Masters, I would have an entire year to search for an employer. That and if I do end up going for this plan and do land a job in a hotel, I could have more than a year to search for employers. Also another year in UK is about as much strain as I would be willing to put on the relationship with person I would be going to live with there. Sound like a plan?

@sir_eccles
Yes sir it is.

@Bob
Yeah I've noticed the job situation in Europe isn't too good right now for the car industry, even though I have a couple of links in Citroen and Land Rover/Jag. I was thinking to get into the management side of things though. I'm not really bothered what industry it is. I'm better at organizing people/things than actual engineering haha. Beggars can't be choosers though, so to start off with whatever comes my way I will snap up...
I'm not sure my portfolio beats too many of those, but I'll use it as a base to get one that does shit on the ones there already!!! Cheers for that link!
Yeah, I think the Masters idea is the best one. Especially for the time-span I want everything to work out in. All my teachers have said that they regretted not travelling in their 20's, I really would like to get this sorted by the time my degree is done. My uncle also got really high up the ladder quickly with just a degree by travelling around the world searching for "the job after the job". I've also done my fair share of fannying around, not getting the grades etc up until the end of last year. I've been taking it all a bit more seriously since then and want to get out of here and sort everything out asap.
Thanks!!


Again, thanks for all the sound advice!
Martin.

LinkTen

The reason I recommended staying in the UK for a few years was to save money and get some experience. Not many people graduate having £30k-£50k available to do a masters.

Also, I think you need to research doing a masters in the US and the F1 visa a little more. Masters in the US are two years, not one like in the UK. Without any experience within your industry, you may find it hard to get onto a course at a decent university. You can't work at a hotel. There are strict rules about working such as being limited to working part time on campus during your studies.

RICH

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulaski_Simplified

scrubbedexpat099

I think the Hotel work is in the UK.

LinkTen

Ah, apologies then. I must have read that wrong.

Best of luck with the masters plan. It's something I hope to do, one day.