Job prospect as a non native

[cfbs2691]

Originally Posted by gweilo845

That has not been my experience. I did temp/contract work for about 10 years, about half of it with brokerage/finance companies, and it was very rare for a temp/contactor to get put on permanently.


I did three stints with Wells for up to a year each that never went anywhere, even though I consistently got good feedback from my managers at Wells and the agency as well as others in the company. I eventually told them they would need to offer something permanent or I wasn't going to waste any more of my time. Temp/contract jobs are good to get experience and pay the bills, but they offer little (if any) benefits and you will be the first one let go if things slow down.

I've been a recruiter for a few years (nationwide)and my experience has been the complete opposite.
It's "try it before you buy it".. if the candidate's job performance is acceptable, they're brought on direct.
(Of course there are times where there's a specific project and the job will be for a specific amount of time.)


I am not questioning your work ethic in any way.

Is this practice specific to banking/finance and/or to your area?

[Thedosius]

Originally Posted by cfbs2691

I've been a recruiter for a few years (nationwide)and my experience has been the complete opposite.
It's "try it before you buy it".. if the candidate's job performance is acceptable, they're brought on direct.
(Of course there are times where there's a specific project and the job will be for a specific amount of time.)

Contracting into permanent positions has been my primary career vehicle as well but I am in IT so perhaps the Finance sector operates differently.

[gweilo845]

Originally Posted by cfbs2691

I've been a recruiter for a few years (nationwide)and my experience has been the complete opposite.
It's "try it before you buy it".. if the candidate's job performance is acceptable, they're brought on direct.
(Of course there are times where there's a specific project and the job will be for a specific amount of time.)


I am not questioning your work ethic in any way.

Is this practice specific to banking/finance and/or to your area?

No offense taken. It might just be the industry. During my time, I knew of literally a handful of people that got moved from temp to permanent. Like I said, Wells Fargo even has a specific term for "permatemp" employees.

[StPaulGal]

Originally Posted by gweilo845

No offense taken. It might just be the industry. During my time, I knew of literally a handful of people that got moved from temp to permanent. Like I said, Wells Fargo even has a specific term for "permatemp" employees.

I think it's a Wells Fargo thing.

I had a roommate a few years ago who was a temp at Wells Fargo. She had a very similar experience where it was made 100% clear that she was going to be employed with them for exactly one year and 364 days because that was the maximum amount of time they were allowed to keep someone as a temp. There was no potential whatsoever of being hired directly in a permanent capacity.

Another friend with the exact same educational background went through the same temp agency to get the same sort of job (sort of clerical/light accounting type work) and she was hired directly by the employer immediately after a 90-day trial period.

In my opinion, temp work can be a double edged sword. It's a great way to get your foot in the door or even just put food on the table if you are between permanent positions, but you also need to be realistic about where a particular temp role is heading and don't stop searching until you have a stable, permanent job offer in hand.

[ChristmasElve2016]

Originally Posted by Thedosius

The Twin Cities job market is strong, and Finance is one of the larger industries here. I'd be shocked if you struggle to find work given your background but you may have to be here to follow leads much better. If anything I suspect there is a shortage of workers with your skills here so you should get some very nice offers. Being German and speaking English will be a plus.

One firm that you did not mention is the Royal Bank of Canada, whose American wealth management division HQ is in Minneapolis.

https://www.rbcwealthmanagement.com/us/en/

It's my former workplace (up until about 10 years ago) but I still have contacts there (in IT). Still, if you need any 'inside info' such as who a hiring manager might be if you find a job that looks interesting to you, PM me and I'll see what my people can find out for you.

Accounting firm Deloitte has an 800 person office here as well
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/foot...is-office.html

as does KPMG
https://home.kpmg.com/us/en/home/abo...eapolis-1.html

Voya (formerly ING) Financial
https://corporate.voya.com/careers/n...olis-minnesota

Thank you so much for your advice and the offered support. I agree with you, looking for jobs from abroad (I'm currently in the Netherlands) is rather difficult. However, I still try to keep my eyes open. I'll have a meeting with Henkel (a German consumer goods company) in the beginning of December. They approached me after I participated in their workshop at a recruitment event. I'll definitely ask them about their Minneapolis office.

[Thedosius]

Originally Posted by ChristmasElve2016

Thank you so much for your advice and the offered support. I agree with you, looking for jobs from abroad (I'm currently in the Netherlands) is rather difficult. However, I still try to keep my eyes open. I'll have a meeting with Henkel (a German consumer goods company) in the beginning of December. They approached me after I participated in their workshop at a recruitment event. I'll definitely ask them about their Minneapolis office.

Voya (ING), which I mentioned in my post above, is based in the Netherlands. Perhaps there is someone you can meet there regarding positions here.

[ChristmasElve2016]

Originally Posted by Thedosius

Voya (ING), which I mentioned in my post above, is based in the Netherlands. Perhaps there is someone you can meet there regarding positions here.

That's a great idea, thank you. I wasn't aware of that connection between VOYA and ING.
I actually do know a college recruiter from ING. I'll directly send him an e-mail tomorrow.

[Thedosius]

Originally Posted by ChristmasElve2016

That's a great idea, thank you. I wasn't aware of that connection between VOYA and ING.
I actually do know a college recruiter from ING. I'll directly send him an e-mail tomorrow.

I'm glad I could help. I thought of another couple companies that may be worth looking into and are headquartered here:

Ameriprise Financial
https://www.ameriprise.com/


Thrivent Financial
https://www.thrivent.com/ (membership used to be only for Lutherans but it's been opened up to other Christians...I'm not sure about restrictions on employees).

[ellysbelly]

As a recruiter (different industry), being able to work in the US without requiring sponsorship will be very beneficial to your being able to secure employment (I'm certain that you're already aware of this, but I just wanted to reiterate it!)

Also, as resume/CV styles can vary from country to country, it might be wise to have a knowledgeable American friend review your resume to ensure that it's in an Americanized format and use American terminology, as many large corporations utilizes applicant tracking systems (ATS) that search your resume electronically for keywords (additionally, be sure to have your resume in a simple font-- such as Times New Roman-- and with minimal formatting, to ensure that it's easily read by the ATS).

Welcome to MN!

[ChristmasElve2016]

Originally Posted by ellysbelly

As a recruiter (different industry), being able to work in the US without requiring sponsorship will be very beneficial to your being able to secure employment (I'm certain that you're already aware of this, but I just wanted to reiterate it!)

Also, as resume/CV styles can vary from country to country, it might be wise to have a knowledgeable American friend review your resume to ensure that it's in an Americanized format and use American terminology, as many large corporations utilizes applicant tracking systems (ATS) that search your resume electronically for keywords (additionally, be sure to have your resume in a simple font-- such as Times New Roman-- and with minimal formatting, to ensure that it's easily read by the ATS).

Welcome to MN!

I have the whole month of January off, during this time I wanted to start preparing my US resume/CV.
It's definitely something that I need to work on. So far I've just been reading articles online about how to structure resumes and cover letters in the US.