Thread: Newbie Alert!

Hey all I'm Nicola, 24yr old student from good old England, UK! Looking to do something a bit different after graduation - maybe a working holiday in the USA. I ventured to the States (travelling) in 2008, and I'm really keen to go back - so any ideas, advice or stories from experience would be great!

Hi Nicola,

and welcome to the forum :)

In order for you to come to the United States lawfully as a nonimmigrant to work temporarily in the United States your prospective employer must generally file a nonimmigrant petition on your behalf with USCIS.
Now I know that's not what you wanted to hear, is it? You were looking for a bit of casual work etc I guess?

Try checking out the USCIS website USCIS Home Page and see if anything there looks like it might help.

There's always a student visa if you wanted to study over here, but you wouldn't be allowed to work and you'd have to show proof of financial support. Maybe not quite what you wanted either.
How about a B-2 visa? That would allow you to be here 180 days. Still wouldn't allow you to work though.
What subject will you graduate in?

purps

Hey Purple,

Yeah, although not great news, it's certainly to be expected - and you're right, I was considering rather more 'casual' employment. I've visited a few 'gap year' type websites that offer summer job programmes etc, but I notice they like to whack on a big charge for the privilege, and I was just wondering if there was a more effective way of doing it - say contacting an employer personally etc.

I looked at the 'study' route actually, just before I applied for my masters here in the UK. As keen as I was, my bank balance wasn't too sure. I had a hunch international students paid more, but didn't realise it was something like 3 times the amount! (So that idea was swiftly forgotten..)

Qualifications wise, I currently hold a BA in History and Archaeology, and I'm just completing my MA in the History of Medicine. A career in this field would obviously be my first choice (I'm considering teaching History GCSE or A-Level), but when I consider work abroad, I'm mainly thinking of casual experience - a break from the ratrace and the copious studies! I'm looking at more of a working holiday/experience, doing something different, maybe with a chance for a little travelling in the process. A little something extra for the CV really. I looked at volunteer work, but again, finance would be an issue, hence the need for paid work!

Although I would be unemployed, the B-2 visa does interest me, as I think I'd get a real feel for the States and maybe through meeting new contacts something more permanent could become of it. Or perhaps that's wishful thinking! :-/

Hey Mudh0ney,

Yeah your problem is the wish to work while you're here. Without the right visa you won't be able to do that. Getting the visa will be difficult. Contacting an employer personally? Not likely to work for you unless you're actually applying for a position where they're going to sponsor you for a greencard application based on employment. That won't happen for temporary employment. I'm not familiar with the sites you mention, I'd be sceptical of them though. .
As far as your qualifications go, once you've graduated your Masters, you'd be in good shape as far as the qualifications needed for permanent employment here go, the problem is the shortage of work, and the necessity for a US company to show why they need to hire you as opposed to a US citizen.

The B-2 would be a good bet for you I'd say, and definately give you the opportunity to check things out and do some networking while you're here. Contacts are everything, in business.
Have you tried linkedin? It'd definately be worth doing for you. Not necessarily wishful thinking, thousands of people make the move every year. ;-)

Quite true about the 'why would they hire me as opposed to an American citizen' thing - I guess my refined English charm alone won't quite cut it, haha. Excellent advice though, thankyou for your feedback, I'll check linkedin right away.. watch this space!

Hey Nicola,
Unfortunately it's the way the US immigration work on employment sponsored green cards, kind of stops the abuse of the work visa system. Hey, you'll have good (and diverse) qualifications once you have your Masters, so no reason to think that it would be impossible for you to get a job here.

Good luck with it, and yeah, I'm watching the space ;-)