Working in America

Working in the USA

If you’re planning on staying in America for longer than 90 days you are required to obtain a visa. With a tourist visa you can not work in the United States. There are different options for which visa will suit you, the ESTA is for expats who are not working in the US. You can apply for a working visa which allows you to work up to 3 years; however this can also be extended after expiry. If you want to permanently work in America a green card is the visa you need. It allows you to live and work in America for you whole life. Every year 50,000 people b the US government draw in the Green card lottery to win a visa.  Getting a visa in America is not easy, but also not impossible.

Culture in America

Similarly to the UK a working week in America consists of 40 hours a week; however overtime is common and usually is ex

The unemployment rate in America is lower than the UK at only 4.9%. The most popular states where jobs are found are:

• Washington
• California
• Delaware
• Colorado
• Oregon

There is lots of work opportunity in the USA, especially in the service sector. In particular sectors such as software engineering, medicine and health, environmental protection and the computer industry have lot of opportunities. The technical sector is booming and Silicon Valley is the most common place to find these opportunities.

CV’s and applications

Curriculum vitae’s should be brief and to the point, it should only be 1 page as opposed to 2 in the UK. It is common to look for jobs on online websites such as CareerBuilder, DiscoverJobs.com and Jooble.  Networking is important in America and its good to establish connections to help with your chances in securing a job. Linkedin is also widely used by employers to find employees.  Here you have some tips for preparing your CV:

• Make a note of employers from the past in chronological order, starting with your first employer
• List  your skills, experiences and competencies
• It’s not  unusual in America to add a photo to your CV, because qualifications are most important

Topics that should be excluded in conversation are religion, politics and ethnicity as can be very sensitive subjects.

Fancy a life in America? Check out the pages we have linked for you below, they will help you prepare for your move to America like a true expert. 🙂