Brit wanting to move to LA..its TOO hard! (Los Angeles: environment, vacation)

[ark01]

Hi all,

Im a british (proffesional) citizen living and working in London, UK, I am 25 years old.

I recently got back from another vacation to america, ive been and seen NYC and also been and stayed in florida, west palm, but also went all around, miami etc, these were'nt tourist vacations.. i lived and breathed the lifestyle/culture, ate the food from walmart and drove a car on the I95 stuck in traffic...i basically sampled what life had to offer out there....

My problem now is that I have seen the light... america is better the UK!! I want to move accross the pond and start a fresh life in the U.S like many other brits sick of the rat race in london and sick of weather/lifestyle/ misrable people here...., im looking at LA as i've been told west coast, weather, lifestyle, cultures are some of the best.....

I've done all the research into HB1 visas, J1 visas, etc etc....and i will need job sponsership to enter..

Here are the facts, im a Architectual technican (CAD designer) I unfortunalty did not persue my degree in architecture/design so i dont have a degree :-( growing up in London people always say you dont need a degree u can get a job without it...ive got a good job...but they didnt say if you want to leave england you will need one to enter U.S!! arrghhhhh

So this is my dilemma! I've been applying for jobs in states with cover letter, great CV (with more than 4 years exper.)... but alas nothing so far...

can someone please offer some advice? Shall i go to LA for a vacation looking for work to get sponsered? shall i apply for an intern and whist there look for sponsership? what are my options? i appreciate anything anybody has to offer, are there people that have been in my shoes and succeeded? if so what did they do? thank you for reading!

[Lumerian Feast]

A few comments:

-- A company that sponsors a non-citizen for a job has to go through a legal process, getting a Labor Certificate from the Dept. of Labor, which is all very complicated and time-consuming. No company is going to go through this hassle when they can easily hire an American with just as much, if not more, experience. Most of the jobs that get sponsored are jobs where there is a shortage of experienced American workers, or jobs where there's a personal connection. Sorry to tell you this, but there's no shortage of architects and designers in America. Still, there are some companies that hire foreign workers; you can subscribe to online databases that give you names and contact info. But there's a good chance you'll have to settle for something not-so-glamorous, at least at first. An internship might be useful, since you can develop personal relationships, which will encourage someone to go through the Labor Dept. paperwork. But internships don't pay, and many places in the US (esp. LA) are pretty expensive.

I had a good friend who was English, and received his Master's degree from a highly regarded American university, and he still had to leave the country for a while because he couldn't find someone to sponsor him, even though he had been living here for years.

-- I know this is an informal online environment, but even so, your spelling is atrocious (though I appreciate the irony of misspelling "professional"). If your cover letter contains such errors, your application will get thrown out pretty quickly.

-- American and British résumés have a number of stylistic differences; make sure yours follows the American style. There are plenty of online examples. (BTW, in the US, a CV is a multi-page document that is mostly used by people seeking academic or executive positions; I don't know if Brits use "CV" the way we use "résumé," but just so you know, most other job-seekers here use a one-page résumé.)

-- Sitting in traffic and eating at Wal Mart aren't good examples of "what life has to offer" here. Most people hate those things. Using that as an example of what you think the American lifestyle is comes off as sounding uninformed and a little too "British" and will annoy people more than it will charm them. Also, if you're sick of the rat-race in London...well, sorry to burst your bubble, but American corporate life isn't one big session of Kumbyah either. There's a reason why we stole "The Office" from you guys.

[ark01]

Thank you for the speedy (positive/non positive) reply my friend!

Well i am very aware how difficult this situation is... I have a few friends that are actually living in the states now and they say it is hard but not impossible to move over.....(however they are married now to americans...)

There must be a way.... legally!... i guess i will have to do more research....

Im sure america has alot more to offer than shopping in walmart and getting stuck in traffic but that was just some humour I added into my post.... i guess you didnt get it...

The weather is one of the biggest reasons.. Everywhere in the world has problems! No where is perfect! but there are more advatages in LA then London, depending on what your looking for...

As for spelling....i hope this post is better.

[Lumerian Feast]

Originally Posted by ark01

Thank you for the speedy (positive/non positive) reply my friend!

Well i am very aware how difficult this situation is... I have a few friends that are actually living in the states now and they say it is hard but not impossible to move over.....(however they are married now to americans...)

There must be a way.... legally!... i guess i will have to do more research....

Im sure america has alot more to offer than shopping in walmart and getting stuck in traffic but that was just some humour I added into my post.... i guess you didnt get it...

The weather is one of the biggest reasons.. Everywhere in the world has problems! No where is perfect! but there are more advatages in LA then London, depending on what your looking for...

As for spelling....i hope this post is better.

No problem -- the negative aspects were intended as constructively as possible! Good luck.

By the way, if you have friends currently living and working here -- those are the first people you should hit up. Maybe they can convince their bosses to sponsor you.

[tc4gold]

Hi,

I am a Brit living in LA and though the weather is good, the stress can be horrible and the traffic.

It is a wonderful life but getting your green card is very hard right now. My roomate from Pakistan is still trying after 4 years and he has two degrees.

Have you tried applying to go to university here? If you are very good at sports you could try for an athletic scholarship like I did? There are other types too but I am not sure what. Also try looking for companies in London that do a lot of business in the US and often want staff to come and live here. Again look for jobs in other states if it is easier, get here and then once you have a green card you can move.

[ark01]

Thanks guys for the replies....

I have contacted them already and they did the same process..one started as a paid intern then was offered sponsership afterwards... maybe I should try that?

I am a Brit living in LA and though the weather is good, the stress can be horrible and the traffic.

What sport do you do? which univeristy are you at? how are you finding it compared to london?

I have a friend that just got back from LA completing a small 4 week course... she is now back and currently saving for her university fees... I should probably do the same... but dont really want to go back to education...Looking into american companies is also an option.....

more posts are welcome!

[marilyn220]

Originally Posted by ark01

Hi all,

Im a british (proffesional) citizen living and working in London, UK, I am 25 years old.

I recently got back from another vacation to america, ive been and seen NYC and also been and stayed in florida, west palm, but also went all around, miami etc, these were'nt tourist vacations.. i lived and breathed the lifestyle/culture, ate the food from walmart and drove a car on the I95 stuck in traffic...i basically sampled what life had to offer out there....

My problem now is that I have seen the light... america is better the UK!! I want to move accross the pond and start a fresh life in the U.S like many other brits sick of the rat race in london and sick of weather/lifestyle/ misrable people here...., im looking at LA as i've been told west coast, weather, lifestyle, cultures are some of the best.....

I've done all the research into HB1 visas, J1 visas, etc etc....and i will need job sponsership to enter..

Here are the facts, im a Architectual technican (CAD designer) I unfortunalty did not persue my degree in architecture/design so i dont have a degree :-( growing up in London people always say you dont need a degree u can get a job without it...ive got a good job...but they didnt say if you want to leave england you will need one to enter U.S!! arrghhhhh

So this is my dilemma! I've been applying for jobs in states with cover letter, great CV (with more than 4 years exper.)... but alas nothing so far...

can someone please offer some advice? Shall i go to LA for a vacation looking for work to get sponsered? shall i apply for an intern and whist there look for sponsership? what are my options? i appreciate anything anybody has to offer, are there people that have been in my shoes and succeeded? if so what did they do? thank you for reading!

There is a high unemployment rate here. For every ONE job about 100 or more people are applying for it. Many of them with degrees. Your best bet to acquiring a decent paying job in LA is to KNOW someone.

People don't quit unless they're leaving the city or retiring. They will work the same job from high school to retirement. Seriously. Try to network or get a job with an AMERICAN company in England FIRST, then try to transfer to their offices STATE SIDE. Doesn't matter which state (Cali, Texas, NY, etc.). The point is to try to get here, then you can see what's available in Los Angeles.

Good luck to you in whatever you decided to do.

[CMDallas]

Originally Posted by ark01

Hi all,

Im a british (proffesional) citizen living and working in London, UK, I am 25 years old.

I recently got back from another vacation to america, ive been and seen NYC and also been and stayed in florida, west palm, but also went all around, miami etc, these were'nt tourist vacations.. i lived and breathed the lifestyle/culture, ate the food from walmart and drove a car on the I95 stuck in traffic...i basically sampled what life had to offer out there....

My problem now is that I have seen the light... america is better the UK!! I want to move accross the pond and start a fresh life in the U.S like many other brits sick of the rat race in london and sick of weather/lifestyle/ misrable people here...., im looking at LA as i've been told west coast, weather, lifestyle, cultures are some of the best.....

I've done all the research into HB1 visas, J1 visas, etc etc....and i will need job sponsership to enter..

Here are the facts, im a Architectual technican (CAD designer) I unfortunalty did not persue my degree in architecture/design so i dont have a degree :-( growing up in London people always say you dont need a degree u can get a job without it...ive got a good job...but they didnt say if you want to leave england you will need one to enter U.S!! arrghhhhh

So this is my dilemma! I've been applying for jobs in states with cover letter, great CV (with more than 4 years exper.)... but alas nothing so far...

can someone please offer some advice? Shall i go to LA for a vacation looking for work to get sponsered? shall i apply for an intern and whist there look for sponsership? what are my options? i appreciate anything anybody has to offer, are there people that have been in my shoes and succeeded? if so what did they do? thank you for reading!

awww... thats sweet, It nice to know that not everyone hates our (meaning Americans) guts out there like the media keeps telling us.
Anywho, I can tell you this...anyone can especially if your from a big city basically anywhere over 300,000 people.
L.A. is probably just as bad as London, just because you see sunshine and daisy's now doesn't mean in 5 years it'll seem so perfect. What ever you have in London, they have it in LA, possibly worse...or better...but present none the less. If you want a more relaxed life, find some hole-in-the-wall town. LA is no dancing flower city (thats probably Seattle )...no but seriously, I really like your enthusiasm, but the US, especially the Large cities (LA-SD, NYC, Chicago, Houston, the Bay Area, Philly, DFW, Miami) are no walk in the park. These cities will RUN YOU OVER! They are just as bad as London.

Now that I'm done scaring you, which if you really are determined shouldn't make a difference. here is some non-scary advise.

It is easier to come to the US from Canada, or even the UK. So already you have an advantage. Try and Get a better education. Come and Visit LA and get an Idea for the criteria need to live there (the cost of living etc). so in other words yes come on a vacation to LA... while you're at it keep you mind open to other cities. Portland would suit you well, Seattle, Austin, Milwaukee, or even Fort Worth as well. These cities tend to go slower, but are still no picnic. They are Fairly big, I personally you should go for smaller cities first. Then Go on to NYC, LAX, Chicago, DFW whatever....

BEST OF LUCK

truly... you have no Idea

[ark01]

Thank you all for the positive replies...

Living in a big city is not the problem for me... its getting out there! I could choose to move anywhere else but the reason for LA is because its a big city with alot of cultures....

NYC was nice... very similar to London, but just hated the cold......Miami is nice too but i've heard west coast is nicer....(its more about the people that live there for me)....

however what I like about the states is that there is choice... there are many other citys to choose from unlike Britain...

I think you are right about getting to know people first... they wont hire someone from abroad based on a nice resume and excellent cover letter, I'll need to meet people face to face, its going to be the only way..

***heres my progress

I've found a company that places paid internship from the UK to USA and hopefully can accommodate me in my current proffesion... i think i will possibly give that a go and see how it turns out there... it will be for 12 months on a J1 visa, i guess that will give me some time to meet people...and find some possible solutions while im out there...

Thank you all for your help.....

[internat]

How was it different?

Originally Posted by ark01

NYC was nice... very similar to London