Job opportunities for a young, degree educated IT Professional looking to move from the UK (Miami: sales)

[odell09]

Hi all,

I am 23 years old, and have recently returned from Ft Lauderdale with my fiancee. A large proportion of her family have relocated to Ft Lauderdale, which is why we were visiting.

The reason for the trip was the first stage in moving to Ft Lauderdale ourselves. At present, I am degree educated (A batchelor degree with honours in Multimedia Technology) and work for a large IT organisation in the UK as an IT Salesman/Account Manager. I also hold several post graduate diploma's that relate to this field of work.

I am now beginning to look for jobs in the Ft Lauderdale/Miami area in the IT Sales arena, and have recently signed up to Government Databases that allow me access to employers/jobs that come with a h1b Visa (this allows me to secure a job in the USA, and come to work for six years, by which time I hope to receive sponsorship). I am wondering if anyone has any advice, experience or contacts that may be able to help me.

I am also an FA Qualified Soccer coach, and whislt in Ft Lauderdale made some excellent contacts (including Athletics Directors of local schools, and owners of Soccer Schools) who would be happy to offer me a part time job coaching soccer. As well as working in IT Sales, it is also my dream to contribute to the local community by coaching soccer.

I hope to be working in Ft Lauderdale by this time next year, having already begun my job search. With my fiancees family to support us, we have a real chance of making this dream a reality.

I welcome any advice/help, and would love to know of anyone who works in the IT Industry themselves.

Kind Regards

[jhlcomp]

What direction would you like to pursue? A career in IT as a multimedia developer or sales? If you can get very specific it would be helpful. Once I get a better idea of your skillset it would be helpful. Mind you, multimedia developers or sales types are not likely to be granted a visa because your skillset is plentiful in this country. Your best bet is to have a skillset and educational level (not just a BA or BS) where we have a shortage. The number if available visas have (to th best of my knowledge) been exhausted. I do not mean to be discouraging - it just means you will have more challenges before you.

There are tons of posts that discuss this on City Data. I encorage you to conduct a thorough search to get a better idea of the process and requirements.

[odell09]

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate any help I can get, and will be sure to check the rest of the forum.

Whilst my degree focused quite heavily on Project Management and the technical side of multimedia (web design, animation etc) I have since gained experience in Sales and Project Management in an IT environment (working for a large Public Sector IT organisation) , so I am looking to pursue this rather than the technical side of things.

In terms of H1B visa allocation, the USA have a quoata of 20,000 per year, which is renewed from the 1st of October. To qualify for a H1B visa you must be degree educated to a Batchelor level, and like you say have required skills. I do hold a Batchelor degree, and I do believe that I do have enough to offer the IT industry, but am also looking to use my qualifications in coaching soccer to contribute to the United States. Whilst my passion for working in IT is unrivalled, I would also like to take the relevant exams and gain the relevant qualifications to coach soccer and sport in the educational system in America once I am there. Whether or not I do this part time, or look to pursue it full time in a few years will only become clear in time.

Any advice or guidance you can give me would be most appreciated.

Thanks very much

Leigh

[ruski]

There are a number of IT-oriented companies right in Fort Lauderdale and surrounding areas (Miami, Boca, Palm Beach)

- Microsoft has a large office, they target South America
- Citrix
- Motorola
- IBM
- Telefonica

There are a number of large companies with good size IT departments too.
- hey, Burger King's HQ is in Miami
- a bunch of data centers in Miami
- a bunch of pharmaceutical companies
- a number of banks
- cruise ship companies like Carnival or Royal Caribbean
- staffing companies like Spherion
- Autonation

Things are kind of on the quite side with hiring though. But a good professional shouldn't have too much trouble finding something.

Also would be good to get in touch with a company like TekSystems - they can place you somewhere on a contract that can eventually turn permanent.

[odell09]

Hi all,

I have to say, I really enjoy visiting this forum.

Just putting the feelers out really, my dream is to move over to Fort L with my long term girlfriend. She has the majority of her family over in FL and we love the place.

To give you an overview, we are both 24. She is a fully qualified hairdresser/indian head massuese and I am an IT Consultant. I have worked for a large government backed organisation in the UK for nearly two years, and am now working for an IT business as a Sage CRM and Microsoft CRM consultant. I appreciate the job market is in a delicate state in the US (very similar to here I would of thought) but what scope of opportunities are there over in Fort Lauderdale for my line of work?

Thanks

[odell09]

as you can see, I am following up on my original post. Now that I have a more defined career path I am keen to revisit this. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated