working stateside

wheres me jumpa

im just wondering how people actually get a visa to work in america for long periods of time. ive been on a j1, i met loads of people woking in the states for a few years in career jobs.

any help would be appreciated.

decided to give a few more details!

i will have an hons degree in computer systems management. im told that a degree in i.t. is adequate to entitle me to a visa as there is a shortage of skilled workers in america. is this true?

FGR

The US Embassy told me otherwise.

Although skilled workers can indeed acquire Visas for work in the US it must be understood that the greater allocation of Visas is given to those who are unskilled in which to fill the thousands of jobs to which Americans aren't filling.

Ireland is going down the same route.

I might also be in for a green card soon, too.

Kernel32

There is no shortage of IT professionals with degrees in the US. I work in IT over here and have done for nearly 7 years. I got my greencard through marriage, my wife is american and we decided to live in the states and not Ireland. The visa program that most professionals come in on is the H1B. The way it works I think, is you get a work visa for 5 years but an employer has to sponsor you and you are then tied to that employer. If you get fired you go home, if you want to change jobs you must find an employer who will continue to sponsor your visa, which isn't easy to do right now. The vast majority of H1B visas are snapped up by Indian outsourcing companies, they are able to bring in developers and consultants from India. Due to the downturn in the economy the number of H1B's was slashed for a last few years but just recently got an increase. The increase is for american educated foreign nationals who have at least a masters degree, possibly minimum of a phd even.

ForegoneReality is correct about visas for unskilled workers. You are more likely to get a visa to pick oranges in California than work in an IT position. Theres a whole other set of visas for unskilled seasonal workers. The fact that you sound like you don't even have any experience would mean even with a greencard in your hand right now you would have a very difficult time getting a job in IT.

wheres me jumpa

thanks for the info guys.

i havent got any experience. i worked with a temp agency in boston last summer other than that i have nothing! my girlfriend will be working in america as an attorney at law. she will get a visa as she has a network of fellow attorneys who will help with visa's and sponsorship.

i was reading that a degree was good enough in i.t. but obviously thats that idea out the window.

do you mind me asking what you job you currently hold kernel?

Kernel32

wheres me jumpa wrote:

i was reading that a degree was good enough in i.t. but obviously thats that idea out the window.

You can get a H1B with just a degree, but the recent increase in H1B's are specific for higher levels of education along with the education being done in the United States.

In general its tough right now everywhere to get a job in IT with no experience, even 1 or 2 years experience isn't counted for a whole lot anymore.

wheres me jumpa wrote:

do you mind me asking what you job you currently hold kernel?

Well in the last few years I have gone from a senior software engineer to an independent consultant and now I am in the process of becoming the Software Engineering Manager for a company I was consulting with. I am now the guy on the other side of the desk you need to impress to get a job. We will probably hire two or three developers this year all going well but sorry to say we won't be looking to sponsor anyone, that decision is made above me. In all honesty I couldn't justify hiring someone without experience in the current market. A recent grad would look for $40k + benefits but would require constant supervision, whereas I can get mid level experienced developers for $50k to $60k right now, but would be much more productive.

wheres me jumpa

i wasnt hinting at sponsoring me i was just curious as to what you were doing. looks like you have done well for yourself.

if a company sponsors you, does it cost the company money? how do they prove that there isnt anyone local who can do an equally good job?

thanks for help and honesty, although crushing its helpful to be told just like it is!

pwd

the company has to pay to sponsor you.
It's hard. I wanted to move over there very much for personal reasons. Same situation as yourself: an IT graduate. Unless you have extremely strong motivation for wanting to get there, I would sugest forgetting about it, apart from maybe putting in for the green card lottery (ewhich is free to do if you do it directly). Something you can think about again aa few years down the line possibly.

FGR

From my understanding incomes are averaging about 20% higher over there whilst the cost of living averages at 15% lower. Of course, Land is cheap as chips (Compared to Rural Ireland, nevermind Dublin).

These are the reasons why I want to go over .

Ideally I'd need the Greencard however, and eventually work my way to citizenship to allow myself to take up something more interesting (Most PDs start you off on 40,000) though in the meantime a factory or McDonalds would do.

Kernel32

wheres me jumpa wrote:

i wasnt hinting at sponsoring me i was just curious as to what you were doing. looks like you have done well for yourself.

I didn't mean to imply you were! I would love to be able to sponsor some irish IT people to come over but its just to difficult for a smaller company like I am with. The guys that do the bulk of it, companies like iGate have a whole team of lawyers etc who deal with it.

wheres me jumpa wrote:

if a company sponsors you, does it cost the company money? how do they prove that there isnt anyone local who can do an equally good job?

Yes it costs money. Lots of lawyers fees, filing fees etc. Sometimes paying some or all relocation costs. There is also a long delay between starting the process and when the visa is granted, only larger companies can absorb that sort of delay.
One of the stipulations to hiring a H1B is that the job must be advertised nationally and you must show that no applicant met the requirements. I'm not sure how you show that but my guess is the companies that do this stuff know how to write a job requirement spec that would be difficult to fill.

wheres me jumpa wrote:

thanks for help and honesty, although crushing its helpful to be told just like it is!

This is how it is, but don't lose hope! I don't have a degree even, I have a Cert in Commerical Computing from an RTC. I had a couple of good breaks but I also worked very hard. I did dozens of interviews before I got my first job in software back in Ireland and I was working in a warehouse before I got it. I know that IT grads think that have it tough right now, and I agree they do to a certain degree but so do many of us. I know a guy who was a mentor of mine, he was the CIO of a large company. He lost his job and was unemployed for 14 months. His whole lifestyle had to change, he went from making $180k a year to collecting unemployment. There is thousands of stories like this.

On a brighter side I am very optimistic about the future. The last few years has allowed a lot of the so called IT people move to different careers, the ones in my opinion who shouldn't have been in IT. There is increased spending going on, bigger budgets, more IPO's on the horizon for mid sized companies. My advice to you is find a job there, get experience, wait until the time is right. Look for the opportunity in everything, its something I have learned to do much better in the last few years. Keep in contact with anyone who can help you. I have contacts here and back in Ireland that I make a point of always keeping in contact with, never ever burn your bridges.

Jekell

I came over here on something called the PCT visa (professional career training). It lasts for 18 months. It is a visa that you get and pay for (about 2000 euro)
The problem is that you have to find a sponsor first, which isn't easy. I sent out about 150 CVs and for 3 replys. Luckily 1 of them was interested.
You can find details about this on the USIT website

wheres me jumpa

thanks for all the comments guys, ill keep you all posted on any developments!