srh

Hello,

I wanted to ask what are the job prospects for engineers like in the USA? Considering immigration was not a problem for you and you had the opportunity of moving there, it was just a matter of getting there and finding a job. How hard is it to find a job in the USA for a person straight out of a UK university? I am open to live in any state except for the more expensive ones.

Ideally I would like to find a job before I move there, is it possible to do that? Otherwise I may have to stay in the UK for a while till I save up enough to make a move. How much disposable income do you guys already living in the USA have after taxes, insurances, fuel/transportation, rent/mortgage & food?

As a young person who wants to own a house in the near future, the prices here are sky high and increasing making it impossible. Seems like some engineering firms also offer private health and dental care so NHS won't be missed. I am just tired of living here even if I can get a 10% better life in the USA I'd by happy and maybe I just want something different. My specific question is what is it like to live in the USA for an engineer? What kind of engineering is more in demand in USA?

I lived in the USA for a few months and liked it and so does my mate who recently moved there but for me it was just a holiday and holiday isn't the best representative of life there although the food and clothing prices seemed to be a lot cheaper.

scrubbedexpat099

You read the forum except it seems the sticky that answers your questions, well some of them, the important ones.

Why makes you so exceptional that a US Employer would go to the trouble and expense of sponsoring you?

GeoffM

Other way around for employment visas generally: you find a job with an employer willing to sponsor you, then you get there.

Tough. Ask yourself why an employer would go through the months long process and cost of hiring a graduate from abroad when he can employ a local tomorrow without the expense.

You might want to read the 3-4 healthcare threads in the last few days, not to mention scores before, where people really do miss the NHS.

Because it varies massively. Some get great jobs in great locations with great healthcare. Others find they have the boss from hell, they hate the area they ended up in, and have crap healthcare.

As you say, not really representative. You wait until you get healthcare bills. mobile phone bills, electricity bills etc, and then you realise it's not just about cheap clothes.

Sorry if that sounds negative but it's not always as rosy as the picture you paint.

srh

1. I am a green card holder I don't think I need sponsorship.

2. I must be blind as I missed the sticky they're all in one forum rather than at the top.

3. That is what I want to know, how much do you have left after all the bills and stuff? I haven't read all of the sticky yet so it might just answer my question of how much the health insurance would cost otherwise...

srh

Are there any graduates or people with 2/3 years experience who moved there and what was your experience like? Do you like it or hate it? would you move back?

kodokan

*curious* How are you a GC holder, since you don't appear to be living in the US?

srh

You can fill in a re-entry application for two years...

kodokan

Well yes, but you're enquiring like someone who's never lived here. For context/ better answers, where in the US are you (your parents?) currently resident, are you currently out of the US studying... what? 'Engineer' is a pretty broad span, and the responses will differ if you're civil, mechanical, software...

GeoffM

Well, being a GC holder is certainly something that would radically change the answers. Anything else you'd care to share?

As to how much spare cash after bills etc, exactly how long is a piece of string? You've mentioned living anywhere but not an expensive state: are you aware you can live in a $10m house and have loads of spare cash, or live in a rough neighbourhood and struggle to pay the electric? And be an "engineer" (domestic? rocket? nuclear? horticultural?) in both cases?

Specific answers to vague questions isn't going to happen.

Pulaski

Maybe. You can be deemed to have abandoned your permanent resident status after as little as 12 months. Did you file for a reentry permit before you left? When did you leave? Have you maintained a residence in the US? A bank account? .... Any ties at all?

Duncan Roberts

"Seems like some engineering firms also offer private health and dental care so NHS won't be missed."

My company does as well, and it's pretty good. But for a single person it would cost about $1000 a year with you paying the first $2600 of treatment. That's just healthcare, it's an extra $100 or so a year and that gets you $1500 of dental work with most work requiring you to pay 30-50% of the cost. Approximate costs would be $60 for a doctor visit, $800 for a crown, several thousand for a simple ER visit, and so on.

Just because a company has coverage doesn't mean that you won't have to pay significant amounts of money.

Sally Redux

It's quite a large country with consequent variations in the cost of living.

sherbert

But this is just one type of insurance - I pay $20 for a doctor visit and $5 per prescription and free cleaning/check up at dentists once per year. So it will all really depend. As others say, if you want answers you're going to have to be more specific. If you want to go to San Francisco, a salary of any less than 100,000 and you're going to struggle. I am pretty sure you could live like a king on that in rural Idaho.

OnwardandUpward

'How much disposable income do you guys already living in the USA have after taxes, insurances, fuel/transportation, rent/mortgage & food?'

Yikes srh I imagine there's a huge spread to answer that! I am semi-retired now with ill health and only work 5 or 6 hours a week but I have a good job with my own business- you'll need top skills to really compete for top jobs.

If you already have a Green card then that's something you won't need to worry about, visas and sponsorship. The biggest problem I have run into here has been healthcare- it's expensive, complicated and employers don't seem as generous with benefits as when I first came out. My health insurance costs $243 a month with $1500 out of pocket- however I am finding it difficult to see doctors who are getting increasingly picky about which policies they will accept, and may end up simply paying for some of my requirements to expedite treatment- which is way more expensive than if I paid for the same procedures in the UK, and would multiply my costs many times over.

If you don't obtain health insurance now there's a fine on your tax return.

To see a GP without insurance is @ $75-100 and there are $12/month generic drugs for common prescriptions. Since you're young if you're healthy you will be able to buy cheaper health insurance or even 'catastrophic' insurance I think just for emergencies ( read the fine print if you do! )

I'm in Houston where there is a wide variety of work and housing choices. Air conditioning is required 6 months of the year at least and for my 2 bed condominium my electricity bills are around $200 a month. If you lived in a cold place you'd be spending the same on heating...

To rent a similar place here would be $1200-1500 a month.

Internet is $75 a month.

Food- depends how frugal you want to be, if you eat out there's tax and tip on top of the cost.

My car insurance is @ $1200 a year ( but I'm way older than you and never had an accident ) Houston has little public transport and is sprawling, you'd almost certainly need a car.

Gasoline is currently @ $2.09/ gallon where I live, it fluctuates.

All in all- there isn't as much 'disposable income' as you'd think. I do ok but as I say I live frugally...I wouldn't have any spare money if I was into the latest gadgets or clothes or expensive social life!

Monster.com etc have job listings.

If you have family here it might be a good idea to come out and stay for a longer while to 'get your bearings'. It's incredibly stressful to emigrate I think, and it's not for everyone.

Good luck!

Pulaski

But unless you have an extraordinarily generous employer, or are dirt-poor and get heavily subsidized ACA coverage, it's swings and roundabouts. You either pay a lot of the cost of treatment yourself, OR you pay high medical insurance premiums. If you are sick or otherwise a heavy user of medical services, you end up paying one way or the other.