Jobhunting tips
 

I am after any jobhunting tips from you guys.

I was also wondering:

My big question is how much to play up the English detail. Obviously If I am calling someone or meeting face to face - they can tell from my accent straight away. However, when im simply sending a CV in unless they actually READ the resume they could skip over the English part. Is it worth just saying something in the cover letter about being English (with a green card) to give myself an extra chance I can get people to even open it and look inside?

Re: Jobhunting tips
 

What kind of jobs are you applying for?

Re: Jobhunting tips
 

That might be going a bit far.

Do you think the English thing is an advantage then?

Good luck.

Re: Jobhunting tips
 

Good question and very relevant.

When I was applying to a company with international operations then I played up the international (not "English") experience I brought to the table.

In my field a broad experience is often useful, so when I thought it was helpful I played it up. Sometimes I would focus on the purely technical aspects.

Golden rule...tailor every application!

Re: Jobhunting tips
 

IT jobs - but not very technical ones (ie BA type of thing)

Re: Jobhunting tips
 

What's a BA type of thing?

Only advice I would give is to make prominent in some fashion that you can legally be employed in the US without an employer having to sponsor you.

Re: Jobhunting tips
 

- Don't ever expect to receive any sort of response.

- Lots of places have online applications that are a pain in the ass to complete because British qualifications just don't fit and it won't allow you to click "next" until you put a GPA or your major or whatever in a certain box.

- Computers do the first sift of CVs (they call them resumes here). It's all done on keywords, GPA and the like.

- If you are lucky you might get a telephone interview with an HR drone who has no technical background in the job you are trying to get.

Avoid all this by networking.

Re: Jobhunting tips
 

Right now I happen to be in the middle of the process of hiring an IT BA - if you mean Business Analyst? Not your part of the country, but in answer to your original question I don't think, for that sort of role, it is worth playing up the English side of things.

As I mentioned previously, it might be worth playing it up depending on the company you are applying to, but not in general for the role.

Re: Jobhunting tips
 

Depends.....you want it to appear to be an American resume, anything fancy might not get through the auto readers or the prat in HR.

If you can't because your work experience etc is so obviously foreign, then do make it really clear you've got a greencard and that you don't need sponsorship to work here.

Other than that, I'm probably the last person you should get tips from, I'm thinking about just turning up at a studio and start working until I either get kicked out or HR tries to cover their tracks by "fixing" the paper work :D

Re: Jobhunting tips
 

Network, network, network. Whether you're English, American or Martian getting an introduction to the hiring organization is the biggest advantage you can get as it will get you that first look (which 95% of applicants won't get). LinkedIn is a good place to start but take every opportunity you can to talk to new people, find out what they do and see if they can help you. Something like 80% of jobs are never externally advertised but get filled by contacts or referrals - if you don't try to use, and expand, your network, you're missing most opportunities.

Good luck.