New opportunities in San Diego?

[soymabelen]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

Typically I'd mention how tough it is in San Diego to find a job. But as you mentioned, the unemployment rate in Spain is over 25%. And when you factor in the younger 18-35 year olds I heard it was really over 35% which is HORRIBLE. I know many people in Spain and it's horrible for them.

Fortunately with the EU they can go to other countries in Europe with a better economy. I'm not sure how easy you will find it not being an American born, American trained graduate. Plus, you wont have ANY experience at all so it won't be too desirable for employers to hire you. There are tons of people looking for jobs that have experience and most likely have more connections or contacts than you which is key in a town like San Diego.

I'd say you have an uphill battle but compared to Spain and how bad things are there, I'd say worth a shot but really work hard to make contacts/connections and probably your best shot is to do an internship somewhere and impress the heck out of them.

Good luck.

I agree. You really need to either come here on a J1 visa, which is for an internship kind of job, or to have a job offer from a company that will apply for a H1 or L1 visa, both of which require experience and expertise in your field of work. You won't be able to work legally while doing your semester here. I believe as a visitor with a student visa you can work part time but only after your first year of studies, which won't apply to you since you are only doing a semester. Good luck.

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by soymabelen

I agree. You really need to either come here on a J1 visa, which is for an internship kind of job, or to have a job offer from a company that will apply for a H1 or L1 visa, both of which require experience and expertise in your field of work. You won't be able to work legally while doing your semester here. I believe as a visitor with a student visa you can work part time but only after your first year of studies, which won't apply to you since you are only doing a semester. Good luck.

Furthermore, it will be tough even if you find a job to make much money in it under your situation. I'm not saying it's not impossible but the others in your situation that I know of, got pretty low paying jobs or did what seemed like endless amounts of non-paid/low paid internships. Fortunately they had wealthy parents that supported their quest to live in the USA.

If you're in that position it can be ok but if not....it can be miserable.