USA Graduate Work Visa - New York

AllWasWell

Hey everyone,
Myself and two other girls are planning on going to New York in September on the graduate visa. I was hoping for some advice from people who have done this already. I am currently in the middle of my masters in Multimedia which I finish in August, and this means that I'll be applying on my undergraduate which I graduated from last October (Film Studies). I was wondering what the job prospects are like? Is it difficult to find work? I've been looking up jobs that I might be interested in, basically anything in a production company but it seems that the only ones I'm qualified for are more like internships for students in the middle of their degree and they are unpaid. This has put me off a bit because I'm worried I won't get any work or if I do it won't pay well enough to cover my rent! Does anyone have any advice? I was thinking could try and get work experience between now and when I go but it's difficult because as I said i'm in the middle of my masters and I have a big work load.
Also regarding accommodation, do most people find an apartment to rent with the people they go with, or look into house sharing? I was looking up renting furnished rooms in queens and it seems the most affordable (roughly 500-600 a month) and usually includes all utilities and sometimes wifi! Would it be better to wait until we get over there to start looking for accommodation once we're set up with jobs or should we book before hand?

I'd appreciate any advice from anyone who has been in New York on this visa

AllWasWell

Would really appreciate any help

Jarrod

Hey OP, I'm currently in Washington, DC on the graduate visa and having some difficulty finding work. The biggest issue I've had is finding an internship that is paid. A lot of under graduate students here do internships for college credit so finding a paid one can be tough.

What company are you planning on booking it through? I went with USIT, who told me that I didn't necessarily have to find an internship but that my sponsor would approve a job as long as it met the educational requirements. This was not the case however, as after I got here the sponsor told me that it does have to be an internship and not a regular job. As you can imagine, this seriously narrowed down my options. I'd do everything you can to secure something before you go, as any savings will be eaten into quite quickly once you get here.

I can't really help with regards accommodation as cities will differ but based on DC prices $500-600 p/m is pretty much the low end of what you'd expect to pay. NY may be different but I don't know.

AllWasWell

Thanks for your reply. We are thinking about going with the IIIC in Boston as they seem to be the cheapest and the sponsor assists in finding work when you get over there if you haven't secured a job before hand. I wasn't aware that it has to be a paid internship, but it seems as though that would be all I'd be able to get with my experience anyway. What area of work are you looking for?
How long have you been over there?

Jarrod

I studied Nursing in college so my job prospects were already somewhat limited as this visa doesn't allow work as a nurse/carer. I knew that going into it so my plan was to look for work in research and health policy areas. I've been here 3 months and in that time I've had two interviews. One was for an internship which unfortunately I didn't get whilst the other was for a research assistant position at a pharmaceutical research company. This was obviously before I was told that the position had to be an internship and not a job.

I'm not sure if IIIC are as strict from that point of view, maybe somebody else would know. As I said in my previous post, USIT assured me when I was paying that I could look for a regular job as long as it met the educational criteria, their website also backs this up so you can imagine I was not best pleased to find out that that wasn't the case. It might be worth checking that out before you book anything. I've also noted that a lot of internships run in line with the college year so September could be a pretty good time to go.

Edited to add: It doesn't have to be a paid internship if you've got savings to live off. I just said that because for me an unpaid internship is not an option.

shtory

I started the one year visa in NY then moved to NJ and commuted to the city. My advice would be to nail down a good unpaid internship before you go, to get you started at least. Job opportunities can come from doing these. I did Film and Video Production for my college degree and i worked unpaid for Resource Television in Brooklyn (http://resourcemagonline.com/category/6retv/). I had a great experience there, really hands on, given alot of responsibility and got a freelance job as a result of the work i did with them. They hire on interns 4 times a year, in September they would be taking on a new lot i'd say, it'd be worth contacting them. They do skype interviews and and are fun to work with.

http://resourcemagonline.com/intern/

AllWasWell

Thanks for the advice, it's great to hear from someone in the same line of work. How long did you work unpaid for? It's not really an option for me to work unpaid for more than 2 or 3 weeks because I honestly wouldn't be able to afford it, especially with the cost of living in NYC but I appreciate the advice and it's definitely something I will consider. I've been told by some people that if you contact a company and offer to work unpaid for a certain amount of time, you can sometimes negotiate with them to hire you full time/paid after that if you did a good job so thats something else I'm thinking about.

You said you're commuting from NJ, do you mind me asking how much that travel costs a month roughly? and did you find the accommodation to be much cheaper out there?

Also, which company did you go with? Because a lot of them have conditions that the work you do must be full time, and I imagine if you're freelancing its just odd work here and there?

krnkll24

Hi 'ALLWASWELL' I am just hone from a summer in USA, spent a lot of time in NY and really want to go back on the graduate visa. a lot of ppl i met over there wer living in queens and seemed to manage ok on the rent. I graduated last oct so I have to get the ball rolling if im to go. just wondering if you have had any luck with jobs/accom?/

otter1988

Hi,
I am moving to new york in a couple of weeks on the one year graduate visa. if anyone is interested in maybe sharing a place feel free to pm me. thanks