Adverts and Recruitment

To find a job in the USA is becoming more and more difficult, especially for people without a work Visa. American and French companies sponsor less and less candidates. Few companies are ready to recruit foreigners because administrative forms take a very long time to process (about 6 months) and are very costly (from $3000 to $5000, including legal fees).

If you are looking at offers on generic websites, look for the one with " Visa Sponsor " mentionned, dedicated to foreigners and offering visas.

Please consult our section Departure / Passport-Visa or the website http://www.usvisa.com.
The official US website for different types of available visas is: http://travel.state.gov/visa_services.html.

For more information on the main routes to employment, our partner, Expertise in Labour Mobility, offers you a brief abstract of the main focused point of the labour market (click here to display).

The Resume/CV

If you are seeking a job in the US, it's important that your resume is in accordance with the American market norms.

1. Your resume must no contain: photos, date of birth, marital status or nationality.
2. You must choose a chronological or functional resume depending on what you wish to highlight in your experience.
3. It is important to develop the experience from your previous position(s) with accurate examples: set up of a new service, results, turnover, increase in percentage, benefits for the company…etc.
4. You must use action verbs, such as: lead, plan, set, analyse, create,… showing that your were part of the company's growth.
5. Your resume must be on one page (but 2 are accepted if you have more than 10-15 years experience).

The Cover Letter

You have to write a cover letter that assures you an interview.

It's with your cover letter that you will give the first impression. It will determine whether the manager or HR wants to read it.

Your cover letter must be brief and efficient. You must set out your goal regarding the position you are candidate for. Insist on the fact that you are the ideal candidate.

1. Address the letter with a name. A letter starting with "To Whom It May Concern" or "Dear Sir or Madam" will catch less attention.
2. Be brief: your cover letter must have a maximum of one or two paragraphs.
3. Clarify the position that you wich an interview for. Describe your goals in 1 or 2 lines.
4. Notify that you will contact the HR manager 2 or 3 days following your cover letter in order to fix an interview date.

How to find a job ?

In the United States, a variety of techniques is used to search for employement. For example: want ads in the newspapers, headhunters, networking, internet employment listings, company websites and hotlines, etc.

Companies often keep a data bank of curriculum vitaes (CV). The CV is scanned and saved onto a databse which is searched when there is an opening. Hint: be precise in the vocabulary of the CV and do not hesitate to use technical jargon appropriate for the job so that it can be easily searchable.

The internet is becoming a popular method of searching for employment. Some addresses of Web sites to find work in the United States are:

There are also numerous " Careers and Jobs Centers " which will help you find employment, create your CV and make contacts. Search the internet or look in the Yellow Pages to find a listing of Career Counseling firms. The most known of them is

You can also view the want ads of the San Francisco Chronicle http://www.sfgate.com. The Sunday edition is extensive.

How to manage your telephone interview?

More and more companies offer a telephone interview before meeting a candidate. It's a first selection and allows interviewing candidates that are not immediately available for a meeting.

1. Prepare a telephone interview the same way as you would prepare a face-to-face interview.
2. Prepare a list of questions/answers and use a mirror to train.
3. Prepare your resume and cover letter, with the list of your strong skills you want to highlight.
4. Let the interviewer asks the question before you start answering.
5. Give examples to your answers
6. Explain actions you have done and give examples. The aim is to show how your attitude as been a key factor for previous companies, and that it will be the same for the next one. The tone in your voice is very important for that.
7. Before the end of the interview, do not forget to ask what will be next step: when will you get an answer? Where will happen the face-to-face interview. If you do not have them already, take the details of your contact.
8. Important: always let your contact hang up first,
9. Send a "Thank you note" to your contact, in order to thank him for the interest he had in your resume, and the time he took for the phone conversation. It's a rule in the United States, and a lot of foreigners ignore it.

The employment process

Once you found the company that wants to employ you and give you a Visa, the process is simple: you must provide documents to set up your Visa demand. Most of the time, this dossier will be completed by lawers working in partnership with the company.

The file must be validated by the US Labour Minister, then it will go through the INS process. This step takes at least 2 months, and the INS will indicate whether the demand has been approved by sending the appropriate forms. Those documents will have to be filled and showed at the US consulate to accept your Visa application.

For practical information go to http://www.americasemployers.com