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My name is Cristian, but everybody call me Cris
I am a sales expert in a company working in the Automotive industries.
After long time I finaly got an offer to come to work in the US (I fell in love with America when I was young and come over there for some months of study) and I may be moving to somwhere around Detroit in October.
I would like to hear from you all what I have to pay attention to, what to avoid as hell, what to look for and everything in between.
The company I will go to work for is active in the Engineering, Design and Consultancy field, I will receive the proposal next week, so far what we already discussed will be:
1) I will work in Italy till mid October (need to assess some stuff here before coming abroad)
2) Since i am the only sales dude i will be in charge of every new business
3) As far as i will stay in Italy i will have a little cutback from my actual paychek on the fixed income side, but i will have a bigger variable, objective oriented, extra pay
4) the variable, meant as %, will remain even when i will finaly move to the US
5) in the US, besides the paycheck (which will be object of negotiation upon receiving the proposal) i will be provide with some benefit, namely: company car, appartment (with the other guys already working there), health insurance, cell phone to use for work duty
6) for the first year we will negotiate a suitable number of flight for me to come back, i will aim at 3, which is the same idea that they have.. seems an easy negotiation.. Will see.. but i can easy settle on two if need arises.
7) main focus will be developing the US market. Including but not limited to the Automotive industries, in fact my goals will be to move to other "big name" in other field, namely aerospace, defense, mining and farming/agricultural
8) the growth of the US branch will pass through a strong cooperation with the italian HQ at first, where we will be like a front-end for all the activities as far as we will not be authonomous, hiring American people and increasing the "localized skill"
Before I go further, please forgive me for my poor English.
What I would like to know:
a) Salary: since I have a salary composed of a fixed and a variable part, I am trying to find the right, average value of the fixed part? I know it depends on many factorr including education, experience and all, the problem is that I know what I can ask here, but I have no clue on how that will project to the US.
b) Still on Salary: is the taxation different from fixed and variable parts of a salary? here in Italy we have threshold that apply on your total income, how does it work in the US?
c) Since the company will provide me housing (I will share the house with other guys overthere) I will take advantage of this benefit at first, but then I will buy a house on my own: is there any requirement for a foreign citizen to be allowed to have a loan from a US bank? (besides having an income source and an account with them?)
d) Driver license: renting a car in the US is cheaper if you have a US issued driver license, so I will try to get one ASAP, what does this entail? how much is it? how long does the school (provided you must attend one) lasts?
I am very excited for the opportunity, but I am also concerned for the high number of variables I have to take into account.. any help will be appreciated
in the meanwhile, thanks to you all for your time
Cris
P.S since this is my first post I hope I have not made any mistake..
When you arrive to the Detroit area, you should contact two individuals/entities.
1) I assume you will open a bank account in Michigan. You can speak to an employee at the bank about their requirements for purchasing a house. I am sure you can even email them if you already have the bank account.
2) You should also contact an Accountant who will file your annual taxes. He/She can provide you with details more so than this forum. Just my opinion.
Greetings Sir
Yes, I will open a Bank account with an American Bank because for taxation reason my US salary will be payed by the American branch of the company (in Italy we are already over taxed, but when you are payed from abraod, they tax you even more..). I will follow your suggestion and ask directly to the bank to know what I need to present for documentation and then I will have the time to prepare it the proper way.
For the accountant: usually this kind of service is provided directly from the Company, but in this case I have not asked directly, so I thank you even more for the heads up and see if this service is included or if I will have to pay for it.
It looks like you don't realize what you are getting yourself into, be prepared for a huge cultural shock. I suggest using streetview and youtube extensively first to see what it is like. Did you even consider the climate there?
Hi Cris,
Yes, depending on where in Italy you're at you will get a climate shock
I assume your employer is providing the needed visa paperwork for you. As far as I know this is crucial in order to get a driver's license and also to open a bank account.
This is the paperwork you'll need to get a driver's license: http://michigan.gov/documents/sos/Ap...8_222146_7.pdf
You might want to contact the DMV in order to find out what tests you'll need.
What your taxed on depends on what you claim (ex. number of dependents), then they will take a percentage out of your pay for Federal Pay, State Pay, Social Security, and Medicaid. You will be able to claim your taxes yearly to get some of your money back, if you don't know how to do this, there are plenty of tax places you can go to (ex H&R Block). You do this when you receive W-2 forums from any taxable income.
As far as getting loans, it should be ok if your credit is good. Being from another country, I'm not sure how that goes. But having a sufficient income will help.
If you already know how to drive, and your countries traffic laws are similar to ours, then it shouldn't take much to get your license. If you have to do the test, then you will have to study (if you don't know) for drivers test questions. I did alot of practice test online. When you think your ready, go down to the DMV and tell them you want to take a written drivers test (make sure you have whatever you may need to confirm your identity). When you pass that, you can schedule an appointment to take a road test. You can look on the state of MI website or DMV website or just google search to answer more of these questions. Oh as for the cost, you will need to pay for a license, a road test, if you have a car already, a license plate, registration, and you will need to get insurance too in this state.
Quote:
Originally Posted by drro
It looks like you don't realize what you are getting yourself into, be prepared for a huge cultural shock. I suggest using streetview and youtube extensively first to see what it is like. Did you even consider the climate there?
Drro seriously? didn't you say you have never even been here let alone can give someone advice on living in Detroit? if so then do everyone a favor and leave this to the locals because your negative bulls*it oops I mean "help" is not needed what so ever. What was the point of trying to show him one of the most blighted neighborhoods in the entire city? A place he probably will never even go to. He already mentioned his job has a place for him to stay already, you honestly think that they would put him in a place like Delray? are you high? Does most jobs send people to go live in Englewood Chicago? or Bankhead Atlanta? or South Central LA? ect. no? then STOP IT!
OP: regarding this, that streetview shot does not represent most of metro Detroit, not even in the slightest. There are waayyyyy more suburban neighborhoods than blighted ghettos. Unless you are just about dirt poor, then there is no need to even worry about living in the ghetto. You will likely be a good 10-15 miles from a place like that. Welcome to America, welcome to Michigan, and welcome to Detroit. Congrats on your job . Feel free to ask us about any concerns you may have or just tips on what to do/see, where to go, ect.
Drro seriously? didn't you say you have never even been here let alone can give someone advice on living in Detroit? if so then do everyone a favor and leave this to the locals because your negative bulls*it oops I mean "help" is not needed what so ever. What was the point of trying to show him one of the most blighted neighborhoods in the entire city? A place he probably will never even go to. He already mentioned his job has a place for him to stay already, you honestly think that they would put him in a place like Delray? are you high? Does most jobs send people to go live in Englewood Chicago? or Bankhead Atlanta? or South Central LA? ect. no? then STOP IT!
I didn't necessarily mean it in a negative way. He didn't express any concern about safety or the condition Detroit finds itself in so I assumed he is clueless about those things. I will never understand why people try to compensate the crime and decline of the city with the 'safe' suburbs around the city. It doesn't work that way, you still need to know which areas to stay away from. How is he supposed to know if negative comments are not allowed?
Coming from Europe, cities like Detroit, Chicago, Newark, Baltimore, Philly, LA, etc. do give us a cultural shock. I have experienced it myself. Europe is like Disneyland compared to American cities and most Europeans are clueless about what the US is really like.
It looks like you don't realize what you are getting yourself into, be prepared for a huge cultural shock. I suggest using streetview and youtube extensively first to see what it is like. Did you even consider the climate there?
I didn't necessarily mean it in a negative way. He didn't express any concern about safety or the condition Detroit finds itself in so I assumed he is clueless about those things. I will never understand why people try to compensate the crime and decline of the city with the 'safe' suburbs around the city. It doesn't work that way, you still need to know which areas to stay away from. How is he supposed to know if negative comments are not allowed?
Coming from Europe, cities like Detroit, Chicago, Newark, Baltimore, Philly, LA, etc. do give us a cultural shock. I have experienced it myself. Europe is like Disneyland compared to American cities and most Europeans are clueless about what the US is really like.
The thing is, it DOES work that way. Most people that live in large metropolitan areas in the US actually live in the suburbs and spend most of their day to day life there. When interest is expressed from the OP about wanting to live in the CITY of Detroit, then we can talk about what he is getting himself into. Every city, especially big cities have places you need to stay away from, I think that's common sense. I'm pretty sure no one in the world thinks Detroit (or any of those cities you mentioned) is completely safe. What is the point of him watching videos showing the worst neighborhoods that make up a very small percentage of the metro area? Watching videos isn't going to do a damn thing for the OP. I'm curious as to why someone would want to even go to that area if they don't know anybody there. Go ask people in the suburbs how often they are in the ghettos of Detroit. In fact, go ask most Detroiters how much time they spend in Delray or Brightmoor if they don't know anybody there. I barely know people who hang around there (unless they know someone there or are up to something illegal) so I know you don't. If your in a place that you have no business and you feel unsafe, keep on driving, get out of there. Again, common sense.
And again, how can you give someone advice on "how bad Detroit is" or "what someone is getting themselves into" when you have not lived here, you have absolutely no experience in Detroit other than what you see on the internet and the fact that you told the OP to go watch youtube videos geared towards showing ghettos to see what the Detroit area is really like just proves that you have no experience here.
"RENT" a car (in USA) or "HIRE" a car (in UK), means to use a car for a few days, on holiday/ vacation.
To "LEASE" a car, means to keep a car for several months, or a full year.
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ahh that explains things.
