stephenry

Hi,

I'm a Scot currently living and working in the UK. I quite a highly qualified electronics engineer and I'm looking to move to the US for employment. Fortunately, I already have a full US passport as I was born in the country.

What I'm trying to figure out is the best approach to obtaining a job in the US. It appears that there are two main ways:

1) Work for a US company and have them pay to transfer me to one of their US offices.

2) Apply on-line to a suitable position and attempt to get the job (while remaining in the UK and only relocated to the US after I have obtained the position).

1. is not possible for me as I work for a French company and I guess it would take sometime to obtain a new job that would be willing to resettle me in an other country.

Does anyone have any experience with 2? Is it a realistic proposition to obtain a job in the US whilst being resident in the UK (despite being able to work in the US unimpeded).

Kind regards,

Steve

tonrob

It can be very tough for someone to get a job in a different part of the U.S. to the one in which they currently live, so I can imagine it would be even tougher if you're not currently living in the U.S.

Not sure the extent to which this might vary by industry.

penguinsix

Check some of the tech job sites, like dice.com.

If you have an area in mind, see if you can find a friend / relative who will 'loan' you an address or use Skype to get a Skype In phone number in that area code. Having a local number or address on the resume gets you past that first 'he's not from here' bit so you can get your foot in the door (really--many of them use the area code as a simple 'throw this one out' check when the resume comes in)

My recommendation however is to find a job while in the UK, preferably with a UK company so you can get a 'package' of moving assistance and other benefits. Not as common in tech as it is in say banking, but even a few thousand £s for moving would help

henryh

Make sure to include on your resume the fact that you're a US citizen and willing to relocate, since otherwise the UK address could put employers off.

caleyjag

Since you are already a citizen, why not take a holiday to San Jose (as an example) and do a fact finding mission?

Perhaps attend a conference. I went to Semicon West once - I met loads of corporate folks there that were interested in talking about hiring opportunities. That was in better times, of course, but depending on your niche skills there may be a demand for you somewhere.

One thing I have learned is that it seems very important to try and get in through the side door. Applying to jobs on Monster works but is generally ineffective - often your carefully prepared CV will just sit in a pile, unread, as far as I can see. If you can get some kind of personal exposure to the people making the hiring decisions, that seems to make a massive difference.

What level of academic qualifications do you have? I have a few ideas for plan, depending on how you answer this question.

notacrime

Both good bits of advice.

dice.com monster.com and even craigslist.org are good places to post your resume. It's a good idea to post your resume because then headhunters will be able to find you. LinkedIn is also a good resource and is widely used in the US. PM me if you want to link up, I have a bunch of contacts in the SF Bay area particularly.

chartreuse

OTOH, you'll also get a shed load of fraudulent emails (as my experiment this week demonstrated) so be sure to use a throw away address.

hobbes79

I managed it. And kinda like yourself, US immigration wasn't a problem since I already had a greencard.

When applying, I would recommend applying for large corporations. Small family owned businesses will more than likely be scared of the foreign address.

Also, being international corporations, they will likely have UK offices. For me, this meant they could get me in for a face to face in North London even though the job was in Boston.

Beyond that, I also flew myself for an interview at the actual offices. I was going anyway to see the wife's family in Maine, but the gesture seemed to go over well. Not sure how keen you are to go or how strapped for cash you are, but it's something to keep in mind.

One more tip would be to make sure you have the American spellings of words in your resume.

BritishGuy36

This is your biggest advantage over almost all others trying to get into the country.

Make sure you mention it on all applications and even put it right there on your CV so they don't miss it.

Times are tough but if you really want to move you can find something.

However - if you have a reasonable job in the UK right now, I'd hang on to it, and wait things out for another year to see how the economy goes.

stephenry

Thanks for the advice folks,

I graduated way back in 2003 with a BEng in Electronic and Electrical Engineering (I'm 27). I did pretty well and got a 1st Class Honours, and got three awards in the final year (top of the class, best project, GPA of 3.9 etc...). After that I did an industry based doctorate (an EngD) which went okay until the company that was sponsoring me went out of business and left me without a research topic. That threw the proverbial spanner in the works, you could say. That completed at the beginning of last year, but to date, I'm still officially "writing-up" and have been working at a large defense company in Scotland doing FPGA-based design.

I think that if I was to get through to an interview I would most likely do okay, as I'm very well versed in my subject area (I'm geeky enough that I regularly read technical books cover to cover for enjoyment in my spare time). And I have a lot of practical (i.e. non-theoretical) experience that would be of immediate use to an employer (something I have not necessarily seen in other PhD's).

I think the approach of getting an interview with a large company is a good one. Hopefully, if I get employed they would put me through an MSEE at a university over there (alternatively, I had thought about the prospect of self funding a course myself -if it would get me on the ladder). Also I am planning to travel to the states on a holiday soon to get an understanding of the situation culturally (and maybe go for a couple of interviews).

I'm pretty convinced that regardless of the economic situation in the US, there are more opportunities to be found in whole of the US (I'm free to relocate anywhere), than the west of Scotland (an electronics dead-zone). Just how to go about it, I don't know.

N1cky

bit of a strange one. But last night on my way home in Los Angeles, there was a huge billboard sign saying 'we are hiring scientists and engineers. I will look at who the company is on my way home, and post a reply.

Bob

Just wondering....have you filed tax return to the IRS? Probably no tax owned but you still had to file.

Also, you register for SS? now that your 27 I don't know what kind of ball ache you can get for not signing up but worth looking into.

As for jobs, network with friends etc, linkedin, dice, coroflot etc are good resources.

stephenry

I've been to the consulate in Edinburgh to apply for my SS number. They appear to what to know my where about ever since I left the US (which is when I was 2), so I've been contacting my old schools and my doctor to obtain proof that I'd actually been living outside of the country. Apparently, a strong Scots accent wasn't enough for them!

Noorah101

Bob's SS was referring to Selective Service....not Social Security.

Rene

Bluegrass Lass

hehehe, isn't this a coincidence. I just got an email regarding an electrical engineering position open in North Carolina. I'm an Industrial/Systems eng, so I just ignored it. However, this does show that companies are indeed hiring.

As part of the privilege of being a US citizen, you are required to file taxes every year, regardless of where you live or where the income came from. That being said, just filing your taxes is not the same as paying any taxes. There is a tax treaty existing between the US and UK. I believe if you made less than $85k p.a., you will have nothing to pay to the US, but if you did make more than that amount, there could be some that you owe to the US (but I have no idea how that's determined). For questions regarding taxes, there is an IRS unit at the London Embassy that helps people out.

As far as Selective Service (the draft), it is a requirement that all male citizens have to register with Selective Service between the ages of 18 and 27. I have no idea if there are any repurcussions for not signing up for it, so it could be worth looking into.

Good luck with your job search, and hope you enjoy your trip to the US.