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I know that the United States is a dream for many of us. We often have a vision of a country with a ton of professional opportunities. And that can represent a steppingstone for our careers. But we also dream of the USA through what we see in movies, TV shows, and music videos. The desire to settle there is so strong because we’ve been immersed in the American Dream since childhood. And we are often willing to do anything to make this dream come true.
Unfortunately, the competition to settle across the Atlantic is extremely high, and only few people can actually make it there.
“Finding a job is an obstacle course in itself. But then, you still have to solve the work visa issue!”
Frantically speaking, most Africans don't understand their rights, opportunities, or don’t even have any idea of what they have to achieve to do so; or are never really prepared for the complexity of expatriation in the Western World. Yet, they are so determined that the determination itself becomes an obstacle because they are often drawn towards wrong beckons or prefer to ignore the signs that cry out that they may be on the wrong track.
In this article, I wanted to discuss these signs more specifically, which I met myself or observed with the people I coached. These are not necessarily categorical signals that you have zero chance of living and working in the USA. But rather, they make you realize that you are doing things off course from how you should. They also help you see that you must change your strategy (and quickly) if you want to make your dream come true.
Spending Hours Creating Résumé
The first sign that should reveal that you are on the wrong track is the time you spend writing your resume before making your first move. It’s already a real headache when you have to apply for a position in your own country. So, when you have to adapt your resume to a completely different labor market, and to a new corporate culture, it’s even more complicated! And if you’re a perfectionist (like me), it’s even worse! And worse still, it’s never really suited to the American market.
If you spend hours and hours listening to all that is being said on the net and redoing your resume multiple times because what’s-his-name told you that, but whoever told you something else, you’re going to waste your time and energy. This does not mean that you should not adapt your application to the offer; you MUST adapt it. The most important thing is to have a good foundation.
How can you live and work in the USA? And for that, you have to be inspired by the template recruiters are used to. Further, it has to be the one which they can find in a few seconds, filtering only the information they are looking for. Otherwise, even your diplomas and many years of experience in the sector will not be enough to get you an interview.
To be absolutely sure, it’s simple. Send four applications and see how many responses you get. If you do not have at least three answers, you have a problem with the quality of your documents. So, even if you target the offers, you’re applying for, or the employers that sponsor the visa, you still need a good resume and a good cover letter. Otherwise, your application will not even be read by a human being.
Applying for all Open Jobs on the Web
Whoever told us this: they lied! That you should go ahead and apply for all the open jobs you can find on the internet. So, you too spent several hours refining your resume and cover letter. And after applying for an ad that perfectly matches your skills and located in the city and state that you are interested in, you finally receive the answer of a recruiter!
Full of hope, you open your email and … it’s the cold shower. He tells you that although your profile is very interesting, he cannot follow up on your application. Why? Simply because his company does not sponsor the visa for foreign workers.
Honestly, it is often the fatal blow for all of you who wish to live and work in the USA. After investing so much energy and placing so much hope in an offer for which you know that you have the right profile, you find yourself facing a closed door. And having absolutely no leverage to change things.
“Truth is: Less than 5% of American companies sponsor the visa!”
As a reminder … You do not technically have the right to work in the USA. You do not hold U.S. citizenship or have a Green Card, which means that you need a visa to get a job. The problem is not just that not all companies sponsor visas, but that those who do are usually able to sponsor only certain types of work visas. Do you know that only 1 in 16 companies in the United States recruit and sponsor the visa?
On a generalist website, you will almost never have this information. Nor any indication on the type of visa for which you are eligible. The generalist job boards are very useful for finding a job if you are an American or a Green Card holder, but they are not made for foreigners who need a visa. The risk is to spend hours applying for jobs in companies that technically CANNOT hire you. Do you see how counterproductive it is?
Keep Applying, Keep Waiting
The main difficulty you often share with me about your job search in the U.S. is to simply not receive any response to your applications. I’ve already told you about it, but it’s also a situation I had to face. Although I sent dozens and dozens of resumes, I had virtually no feedback from recruiters. And that made me literally crazy. It’s extremely frustrating to feel like you’re working really hard for no results at all. But it’s even harder to not understand what you are doing wrong.
Why won't you find a job in the United States? Well, I have some figures that should help you to see things more clearly.
“According to a study made by LinkedIn, one in three Americans is actively looking for a job!”
I don’t know if you realize what this represents, but more than 400 million people, already living in the United States, are looking for a new job. It’s a huge competition (not to mention foreign workers)! And 75% of them do this by applying online: exactly like you do!
It means that for each job ad to which you will apply, you must assume that the company will receive an average of 250 applications. It is impossible for the recruiter to read them all; thus, they will select between 5 and 10% of them with an ATS robot (Applicant Tracking System) for the biggest companies. And they won’t even bother to open the rest. This means that you have less than a 5% chance that the recruiter will read your resume. And you have a 95% chance that it will end up in the trash of their mailbox!
If you have no response to your applications, look for no further explanations. You are simply in this notorious 95%.
When You Fall from a Horse, You Try Again
When your efforts don’t work, you think it’s probably because of your resume. So, you start all over again! You go back to step 1 and always do the same thing.
You’re going to rework your resume for the umpteenth time because you saw this on the net, or what’s-his-name online said that you should. And then you’ll send more applications to try to get answers, etc. You can spend a lot of time like this … All year long, maybe even a decade.
Am I wrong?
Stop wasting your time!
Understand that the above efforts are absolutely useless. You lose a lot of energy applying for positions that you don’t like or for which your profile doesn’t match, with a resume reviewed thousands of times, for a 5% chance of being contacted by a recruiter.
The lesson you need to draw here is that you have to use the time you invest in your research in a smarter way. This is because, even if you are one of the five resumes that will finally land an interview for the job, you must understand that you leave with a serious handicap compared to other candidates. Even if your profile is interesting, you do not technically have the permission to work in the United States. And you are not even there to do the interview. Do you still think it’s the right way to find a job in the United States?
When you start with such a handicap, you have to be smarter than the others. And you have to go get the job openings for which you are not likely to be competing with so many American candidates.
Call us today at +1 817 822 8441 or <travel@usherafrica.net>.
Our Address:
2321 S Beltline Rd Ste 144
Grand Prairie TX 75051
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