Getting fed up of these recruiters.... (Seattle: 2015, lawyer, home)

[lostsoul2015]

So, I have a valid work visa but can only do C2C (Corp to Corp) contracts and no W2.
I get lots of emails from Indian agencies who always ask me (from the same company for instance) for:

- my updated Resume (I sent you guys one yesterday....)
- SSN
- Passport
- Visa


Most of them don't understand my particular visa and I have to explain it to them... then they never get back to me. I am sick and tired. All I want to do is work, get contracts and be able to save for my future (I just relocated from the UK) and contribute back by employing people also.

I would love to be interviewed for a full time position but it needs an H1B sponsorship and that is not going to happen anytime soon.

I work in the IT industry with my company here and also back home in the UK.
Marketing the business is so difficult and I am scraping by financially due to expenses needed as part of the visa.

Question: Which agencies or companies are recommended to work with who will actually get me interviews? I have VAST experience, qualifications, won global awards.... and nothing from these agencies. It is such a worry and it's not fair.

I am almost in tears as its a struggle and has been for the past 2 years to try and get 1 single interview from these people and nothing.

Thank you for listening.

[Ruth4Truth]

This is a highly specialized question, not necessarily specific to Seattle. You might want to post in the Employment forum.

I don't quite understand, OP. You're in Seattle from the UK with a valid work visa. And you own your own IT-services-related company? And you're trying to sell your services to companies here? Why are you dealing with Indian agencies on the internet? Do you attend professional conferences in the field? Have you marketed directly to the companies with whom you'd like to work?

[lostsoul2015]

Ruth!
Well, I think you should tuck yourself in bed and let me read you a bed time story here

So I would love to sell my services to companies and that is the whole point however it is a tough thing to crack and been trying for the last 2 years. I need to hire someone to do that but don't have the cashflow. (it's a catch 22 thing at the moment).

These recruiters look at my Resume on job boards and such and then automatically send me emails or call me even though I specifically state what the visa is and what I am looking for - but they fail to read and fail to respond back by email after sending them my visa and passport details as well as my Resume... it's just how it works it seems. Almost kind of like the UK but not quite. The UK is flooded with agencies but they have been pretty bad in the last 5 years (almost little work) due to uneducated and unprofessional people who really don't know how to recruit. The good recruiters have all gone or retired... the world is changing from educated and intellectual people to... people who don't want to work but earn big bucks.

Sorry - little rant there.

I certainly attend professional conferences in the field and do have my name there but they aren't needing services since they themselves are also in the same profession but will "Always" keep me in mind as they say.

Sure, love to work for Microsoft again (as I did in the UK) and have strong contacts here but nothing is coming out. I did have an interest 4 weeks ago for a particular job and they said they need to speak to the HR/visa team but never heard anything back so can only suspect the role got put on hold or they hired someone else.

its tough. I don't get how other contractors/freelancers get work here. I really don't.

[CrazyDonkey]

H-1B aliens may work for more than one U.S. employer, but must have a Form I-129 petition approved by each employer.

H-1B aliens may only work for the petitioning U.S. employer, and employer may place the H-1B worker on the work site of another employer.

H1B can be transferred to a new employer with H1B transfer.
You can also start working for new Employer upon the receipt of H1 transfer case.

https://www.path2usa.com/h1b-visa-petition-requirements

[lostsoul2015]

Hi CD - thanks again. Mine is not an H1B and that was not quite the question

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by lostsoul2015

Hi CD - thanks again. Mine is not an H1B and that was not quite the question

Yeah, I got the clear impression yours was not a conventional visa. I don't think you should be providing your info to any recruiters from India. I also think you should call back that one employer who was considering you, to find out what happened in the end. If it was that they weren't familiar with your type of visa, you can correct that problem, and be better prepared to market yourself going forward.

If you've worked for Microsoft before, I don't see why there would be a problem now, unless they erroneously feel your visa type is an obstacle (for them, perhaps simply because they don't handle that type routinely). Can you contact your former UK employer, to see if they can give you some names in Microsoft-Seattle to call?

[lostsoul2015]

Thank you R4T - as always, you are helpful.

I do have contacts myself but there is nothing happening from what I am being told. Also, I have tried to reach out a few times back to the people who were interested in me but dead silence

Its tough. Again today, got an email from the indian agency...same questions. I am like "Do you not keep a CRM system? Perhaps you want to utilize my services instead!" ... of course, nothing back on both accounts LOL

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by lostsoul2015

Thank you R4T - as always, you are helpful.

I do have contacts myself but there is nothing happening from what I am being told. Also, I have tried to reach out a few times back to the people who were interested in me but dead silence

Its tough. Again today, got an email from the indian agency...same questions. I am like "Do you not keep a CRM system? Perhaps you want to utilize my services instead!" ... of course, nothing back on both accounts LOL

OP, just ignore and delete, for heaven's sake. You shouldn't be taking these seriously. They should only be a very minor annoyance.


What has been your experience with local professional recruiters? If you haven't signed up with any, why not?

[agaace]

Originally Posted by lostsoul2015

Question: Which agencies or companies are recommended to work with who will actually get me interviews?

Not sure what kind of companies you're looking to get hired by and what kind of jobs you're looking into.. you weren't really specific here.

I'm a software developer, and as such 90% recruiters reach out to me via LinkedIn. Once you're hired with one of the big companies (Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Facebook etc.), you are going to be forever getting regular emails from recruiters trying to poach you to the other companies, so no need to ever search for a job again Big companies like that will first interview you over the phone, and if you pre-qualify for a full interview, many will pay for you to come over to the US for a few days (on a tourist visa) to talk to you in person. If you are hired, they will cover your relocation costs as well.

If you're looking more for startup type of jobs, try AngelList, although few startups will sponsor a visa (the cost of H1-B sponsorship for a company is ca. $15,000), even fewer will be willing to bring you over for an interview or cover relocation costs.

If you're looking for software developer jobs, I can help by forwarding your resume to some of those recruiters at those companies (although you could possibly just look them up on LinkedIn as well). If you're looking for other types of IT jobs, I do not have contacts there, sorry.

If any recruiter ever asks for SSN number over email - it sounds like a scam. It's not a piece of information a recruiter would ever need. If they decide to hire you, after the interview process they will pass you on to the immigration lawyer, and THEN and ONLY THEN, the lawyer will need details like that.

Unless you qualify for a different type of visa, keep in mind, getting a new H1-B visa is capped and there's a lottery I believe in early April. So you must be hired and your immigration paperwork prepared by the lawyer and filed on April 1. Then keep fingers crossed to get lucky. If you get lucky, I believe you can start employment no sooner than October the same year. If you miss this narrow window of opportunity this year (or are unlucky in lottery), you must wait another whole year for another chance and start over. Rinse and repeat.. good luck.

Another, much easier, strategy is to get employed by one of those big companies (Microsoft, Google, Facebook etc.) in your home country in Europe first. They often host recruiting events internationally. Then do an internal company transfer to their office in the US, and for that they will sponsor an L1 visa for you. The advantage of L1 is that it is not capped, so you don't need to be lucky in an annual lottery to legally arrive to the US. Then you have 3 years to convert your L1 visa into H1-B. This is the path I went.

Pro tip: There are 2 strategies:
1) In your resume, state clearly that you do NOT have a work permit and are in need of a visa sponsorship. This will deter 95% of companies from interviewing you but once someone does decide to interview you, at least you know they're willing to sponsor you. This is the strategy I always use because I like transparency and don't want to waste my and their time.

2) Do not mention not having a work permit unless they specifically ask about it (never lie about this one!). If they interview you without asking, and your interview is so stellar that they REALLY REALLY want to hire you, then they may be willing to take the hit and sponsor your visa. But honestly, this strategy only works if you're already living in the US. If you're living outside, 99% of the time the first question they ask will be whether you have a work permit in the US.

Good luck!

EDIT: I didn't read your post carefully enough, looks like you're NOT looking to get an H1-B. In such case, the big players (Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Facebook etc) can probably hire you as a contractor. In fact, they often prefer contractors (cost effective) than hiring full time employees, and I believe it's the same recruiters who deal with it. Or at least should be able to forward you to the appropriate recruiter who handles contractors. All that, if this is software development related. I have no clue how other IT services work though, not my industry and not my cup of tea.

[lostsoul2015]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

OP, just ignore and delete, for heaven's sake. You shouldn't be taking these seriously. They should only be a very minor annoyance.


What has been your experience with local professional recruiters? If you haven't signed up with any, why not?

I only respond because they say they have a role with Microsoft - I'd take every opportunity I can.

As for local professional recruiters - I don't know who would be the best to go with or which firms. Most of them only support W2.