Conducting an International Job Search? 34
An anonymous reader asks: "Ask Slashdot recently did a question about leaving America for someplace else, and that got me thinking — for those that left, how did you get started? After you had picked your destination country, did you just hop on a plane and look from there, if so how much money did you keep in reserve? Did you find the job before you went? What is the best site to look at for international job postings?"
It is not going to be easy (Score:4, Informative)
I did not start from the States, but I did get jobs in different European countries. So I have the experience of applying "somewhere else", but given my right to stay and working within the EU, I did not have VISA/work permit issues. Even so it can be a difficult process.
1. Finding the job should be no problem. Got to www.monster., and you will find thousands of jobs. Unless you are very specialised, there should be something for you.
2. Taking the first hurdle. IT recruitment is usually outsourced or at least concentrated in HR. So your application will be scored, and you do take a hit for not "being there", and another for not being available immediately. Following up by phone really helps, but watch the time zones!
3. Phone interview. Again you have to watch the time zones, but it should not be a problem. I hope you speak the correct language!
4. Getting the interview. Obviously the interview is going to be costly if you are not "there". Usually European employers pay reasonable travel expenses, but I doubt this will include a transatlantic flight. In any way you have another disadvantage at this point, because the interview is expensive and difficult to arrange.
5. Moving. Finding a house and moving your stuff can be expensive, but that depends on your circumstances. Employers usually pay a contribution, and the rest is tax deductible (not bad at tax rates around 40%).
So 2. and 4. are difficult. And there is the work permit issue. You can nearly always get a work permit, if the company "sponsors" you. However, most companies try to avoid the paper work necessary. Getting a work permit based on skills (without a sponsor) is possible, but often expensive, and only valid in one European country.
And don't forget that unemployment is around 10%, so there is plenty of competition. Having a distinguishing (relevant) skill certainly helps a lot.
I hope this does not sound too negative. If you are determined to move, it is certainly possible. And you are rewarded with completely unamerican advantages such as state healthcare, an average of 30 private holidays per year, and usually shorter work hours. Plus you can visit all the European countries in a reasonably short time!
What worked for me (Score:1, Informative)
I took the 'burn the bridges behind you' approach and quit my job in NYC, took my future wife home to NZ for a month over Christmas and then went skiing in Utah for 3 months before heading to Scotland. YMMV.
A few months before I was due to move I started researching the IT recruiting companies and IT job sites. Make sure you polish your CV/resume in the format of your destination before you leave too. I also spent a lot of time surfing Edinburgh, the place I was moving to, reading the local newspapers online, looking at maps etc. Ie try to do some familiarization before you leave. Maybe buy a Lonely Planet or Rough Guide book.
Then I got on a plane, flew to Scotland and stayed in a youth hostel.
One of the first things to do whereever you go is to get a local cellphone number so the recruitment and real estate critters can contact you. If you're smart enough to have an unlocked triband GSM phone then you just buy a prepaid SIM and you're rocking. If you dont have one then buy one now. At this point you will have no address or credit history so getting a monthly plan is not an option.
Next I powered up the $30 thrift store interview suit and started visiting the recruiters. One comment I had at this point from a recruiter was that they get lots of CV's emailed from abroad with
'Dear Sir/Madam. I am Otto Maddox and I will be moving to
and they just bin them as the success rate for these is very low. Ie not worth their time.
Turning up in person in a suit, looking them in the eye, shaking their hand and having a talk shows you're serious and have already made the effort to get there. This approach worked well for me and it took me about seven weeks from arrival to starting a job.
Visas are a big thing too as many companies will not sponsor you and I arranged one before I left. The recruiters often asked what my visa status was.
Money wise you need to have a pretty decent sized cushion. I did it on the cheap by staying in a hostel and doing some work there to pay for my stay some days rather than staying in a hotel or B&B. If you know someone at your destination then surfing some couch is a good way to get set up. Regardless you'll probably need a big deposit for an apartment/flat and enough to live on until the first paycheck arrives. There *will* be some gotchas that will require money to resolve. Throwing more money at things can also make them happen faster. I would suggest 3-6 months expected living costs. And maybe some extra padding as well.
What will I do differently when I do it again? I would take a laptop with me as going to internet cafes and the library started to piss me off.
It's not easy to make the jump but the rewards are worth it.
I'd buy a one way plane ticket a few months out and then you're committed.
Moving abroad seems like a huge maybe insurmountable issue to deal with as a whole but if you break it down into little chunks then it's not too bad. You can make it happen.
An American Geek in London (Score:5, Informative)
Once you get it, you can enter the UK without a job, look for a job for up to a year and switch employers at any time. Work permits are also possible but are much more restrictive since you need employer sponsorship, they need to "prove" that no one local could have done the job and to change employers requires a new work permit.
There are a number of good IT job sites in the uk (http://jobserve.com, http://monster.co.uk/ [monster.co.uk] http://jobsite.co.uk/ [jobsite.co.uk] http://progressive.co.uk/ [progressive.co.uk] etc...). I applied to many and got very few responses until I put down a friend's address and phone number in England. I was then able to get some telephone interviews, but didn't get a final job offer until after I moved over. Even though I was fortunate to get a job offer relatively quickly, I didn't start work for almost a month and a half, and didn't get paid for over 2 months (salaried payment in the UK is almost always monthly, often in arrears, which takes a bit to get used to). Contract work is also an option.
A very good website for the HSMP and UK immigration in general is http://www.immigrationboards.com/ [immigrationboards.com] a free discussion board, part of http://www.workpermit.com/ [workpermit.com] a worldwide immigration service (which I didn't use but might be an option for you).
Best of luck!
Re:I don't get it... (Score:3, Informative)
Parent is modded funny but it really should be Insightful. I travel and so do a number of people I know and America isn't scoring very high in the world's opinion right now. It used to be that when people in other countries knew you were from America the conversation would revolve around entertainment, way of life etc. Now you get the cold shoulder and it takes some effort to convince people that you're not like Bush; the undeniable logic being that if he "won" the presidency then the greater part of America must support his actions. (No need to flame on that, it's just the perception someone outside the US is likely to have.)