Job Opportunities for Expat Spouses in Houston
 

Hi


Thanks for reading my post. I am an Indian living in UK. I have lived in Aberdeen on and off for 7 years. I have an opportunity to move to Houston with the same company. We (me and the wife) are planning to move around March 2015. My wife is a career woman and had to change her career path already when we moved from middle east to Aberdeen in 2012. Although she works in banking, she is thinking of exploring opportunities in the oil and gas sector (support roles rather than technical roles). Does anyone have experience in trying to find such jobs in Houston? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Re: Job Opportunities for Expat Spouses in Houston
 

Will you be getting an L-1 visa to transfer with your current employer?

The visa YOU get will determine whether she can work in the USA or not.

As for getting the job, same way you get any job. Network, apply, interview. If she gets the type of visa that allows work, she will have more success once inside the USA, rather than applying from the UK.

Rene

Re: Job Opportunities for Expat Spouses in Houston
 

Thanks Rene. We will be getting a L1 visa. That should allow her to work in the US. The intention of my thread was to seek input from "oil field" spouses in Houston and to see if they had an easier ride in finding opportunities or if they found it difficult.

Re: Job Opportunities for Expat Spouses in Houston
 

No 'easier' ride. Just competing with everyone else, so make sure she is clear up front - she is eligible to work in the USA. Otherwise, she won't have any consideration at all.

Here in Houston there are zillions of trailing spouses, some legal to work, others legal and not caring to. Anyhow, her personal situation isn't normally a topic for any recruiter or hiring official. She will look for work like everyone else and interview like everyone else and bring to the table her own abilities, like everyone else.

They aren't exactly handing out jobs here...(I know you don't think that.) It is very dependent on expertise and requirement for it. I had no trouble finding work in oil and gas as a spouse (my husband's company transferred him here) - however I specialize in a very narrow segment of the industry. It was just knowing which companies provide that very service.

She may have less chances against the other folks already in the O&G industry doing the support roles she will apply for. But we here in the cheap seats can't possibly know her special skills that could put her resume into the "call to interview" pile. This is up to her to network, apply and pursue opportunities.

As for banking, banks are everywhere in Houston. On every corner that doesn't have a pharmacy.

Good luck to you both!

Re: Job Opportunities for Expat Spouses in Houston
 

Out of interest, do you have Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the U.K.?
If so, are you aware of the risks of losing this status if you no longer live in the country.

Also, if you are intending to get a green card, are you aware of the country-specific quotas that affect Indian born persons? Unless by some chance your spouse is born in a country not impacted by the quota limit.

Re: Job Opportunities for Expat Spouses in Houston
 

Thank you very much. Agree with all your comments. We are under no illusion that this is going to be easy. She looked for entry level jobs in o&g when we first moved to Aberdeen and that wasnt easy. So she had to look for banking instead. I guess there are opportunities in Houston to do some certifications (supply chain or QC) to give her a better chance.

As she doesn't possess any specialized technical skills related to O&G, it will take her longer to find an entry level position. But we are hoping that dueto shear size of Houston , there will be plenty of opportunities.

Usually O&G job opportunities arise due to networking. Is there a good avenue for networking in Houston?

Thanks again for your feedback. Really appreciate it

Re: Job Opportunities for Expat Spouses in Houston
 

JAJ

No, we dont have ILR in UK. Never spent 5 years continuously. As per the current rules of my visa category, I need to leave UK by 2017 for an year and then comeback and stay 5 years for an ILR. Easier option was to move out now to US under L1A and apply for GC under EB1C (multinational manager). Although we love Aberdeen, oversight from HR in 2012 means that we cant get an ILR in UK this time around.

Re: Job Opportunities for Expat Spouses in Houston
 

Compared to Aberdeen, there are so many more jobs available here! Your wife has many options to find them. Once you start working, you will hear of things as you network. There are recruiters galore, and of course simply trawling the company websites for open jobs. There are a lot of jobs on many sectors here in Houston.