New Zealand Web Developer wanting to move to Portland! (job market, taxes)

[Jimioh]

Hi all!

Having just traveled to Portland, and spent about a month in the city over Christmas, I have decided that I would like to move there to live. I am a New Zealander, and have met a few people from Portland, here in New Zealand. I am an experienced and qualified Web Developer, and am relatively young, 25.

I am looking for information, advice, and contacts to find a job in Portland.
If anyone has any information about strategy, how best to apply, and talk about visa sponsorship, or would like to pass on my information to someone, that would be greatly appreciated.

If my contact details are wanted, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me.

Can't wait to be in Portland cycling over the Hawthorne bridge!

Thanks in advance,
James

[davefr]

James,
The only way to get a job is to come here and spend a lot of time building contacts, networking, pounding the pavement, etc. You're likely not going to be able to do anything in NZ to get a job lined up.

The job market in the USA is terrible and Oregon is even worse. Web site development is not a sought after skill.

You need to also branch out well beyond Portland. Focusing on just one area will significantly hurt your chances.

Sorry but that's the reality.

Good luck.

[Nell Plotts]

We can't just move to New Zealand because we love the country any more than you can move to the USA. To get a job here you need to have immigration status that permits employment. Assuming you have papers that permit immigration then comes the job search.

Best of luck.

[Rob Allen]

The company I work for has an opening for a developer - they're looking for 4-5 years of experience designing and developing enterprise web applications on a Java (J2EE) platform.

If you'd like to apply, send me a Direct Message.

[marks_in_se]

I see job openings for web developers all the time, but you will need to be well versed in the latest tools. Here is a sample job listing from craigslist:

Web Developer (http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/web/1562148748.html - broken link)

Everyday there are usually a few listings similar to that. Getting an interview for those listings is tough I reckon with Oregon having very high unemployment now. You will be hard pressed to land a job in Portland Oregon while you are still in NZ in my opinion, but anything is possible they say.

[JonMystic]

If our overqualified locals have such a hard time getting a job, why would some foreign person have an easy time getting a job? American greencards are also very hard to get.. I'm in the IT industry, so I say to you, good luck! Your job may be outsourced to India tomorrow anyhow..

If you are not married, you can always try to find a woman to marry to get a greencard.. But Portland is the worst place for IT jobs, you may want to try Texas or Arizona. It seems the best paying jobs are in the ugliest places in the USA, but thats why the industries moved down there, cheaper to operate and less taxes.