How to find a legal job in the USA in a week

America is a country of great opportunity. It seems that you just have to want and show at least a little activity, and you will immediately have a legal, well-paid job. That's what recruiting agencies say, anyway. But if you don't want to pay for something you can handle yourself? ForumDaily has compiled a guide for those who want to find a job on their own. Let's try to fit it into a week.

Monday: submit an ad to the newspaper

Despite the fact that we live in the age of information technology, newspapers have not been canceled, and employers sometimes look at the Employment section of the Classifieds section in local newspapers. Often, for those looking for work, the advertisement will be free. The main thing is to tell something about yourself in a couple of phrases that will attract the employer’s attention.

This method of finding a job was wisely used by Oleg Panchenko, a swimming coach from Oregon. He wanted to train children, so he found out what newspapers were required to be brought to city schools, and placed an advertisement in them. “On the second day I received a call from the school and the rehabilitation center. And two months later, when the school year began, I started work. Before this, I spent hours on the Internet, but I did not come across any suitable job offers. Several good advertisements were from agencies. But as soon as I declared myself, I got lucky. In addition to these two calls on business, I received a lot of calls from agencies, also offering me work, although not in my specialty. But the fact is that they offered,” says Oleg.

Tuesday: become a volunteer with a scholarship

Although a volunteer, by definition, is a person who voluntarily engages in unpaid social work, there are two types of volunteering in America. One is free, and the other is paid for. Only officially it is not called a salary, but a stipend. It is small ($12-14 per hour), but for an emigrant who wants to improve his English, gain connections, experience and do a little work on his resume, this is a good start.

CEO Russian information reference service from California, Tatiana Shevchenko says that this is a great start, and not only for young people.

“One of the most famous programs is AmeriCorps was created to attract young people to volunteer. The scholarship was awarded to financially support volunteers. You can join AmeriCorps even without any work experience. The program works on the principle of recruiting; you can sign a contract for a year or two. Each month a volunteer receives a stipend and at the end of the year a check for up to $5000. It is believed that this is money to help with studies or to pay off a loan, but you can simply cash it out and spend it at your discretion,” says Tatyana Shevchenko.

The AmeriCorps program was created to involve young people in volunteering. Photos of nationalservice.gov

Although AmeriCorps was created to attract youth to work in community organizations, there are no age restrictions for volunteers. You can come at 40 or 50 years old. Of course, you may not be hired for a construction job, but if you need to engage in public affairs or work under a social program, age is not a barrier.

Site AmeriCorps is quite complex, and if you can't find openings in your city, it's easier to use the online classified ads site Craigslist. In the “jobs” section, you need to look for advertisements from non-profit organizations (nonprofit organizations or NPOs) and find the word AmeriCorps in the job description. Another option is to find an AmeriCorps organization in your state and get information about openings. For example, if you live in New York, you will find it convenient to search on Online, where all volunteer programs are combined, including those in which they pay a scholarship.

Wednesday: learn about job vacancies in the public sector

Some people believe that working in the public sector is an American privilege, and it is useless for an immigrant to look for anything here. But this is not entirely true. First you need to understand that the public sector has structural features:

a) federal workers (work in institutions of the federal government);

b) state employees (working in organizations under the state government);

c) local authorities (work in the local administration);

d) employees of the municipality (work in urban services and organizations).

The main condition for those who want to work in federal organizations or in the state is that they must be a US citizen. To work in the county or in city structures, it is enough to have a green card.

You can look for work in the federal government on the official job sheet. The same applies to working in the state - each state has its own official website with vacancies. And they don’t at all come down to the classic work of a bureaucrat, when you sit at a desk, sorting out pieces of paper. For example, working in a park or nature reserve is also a public service under the state government, and there is a separate job for park worker vacancies. broker.

The same is true with searching for work in a county or municipality - on the official websites there is a list of open vacancies for which you can apply for one online. An innovation in recent years is that you are called for an interview not after a written test, but based on the results of a questionnaire that you fill out at home.

Working in the public sector is not very lucrative, but it has its advantages - good pension contributions, health insurance and almost zero chance of losing your job. In 2011, a USA Today study found that in many federal departments, it is more likely to die on the job than to lose it.

CEO Russian information reference service from California, Tatiana Shevchenko is confident that many immigrants could easily get a job in the public sector if they had a little higher self-esteem.

Tatyana Shevchenko says that work in the public sector is not very profitable, but it has its advantages. Photos from the personal archive

“Some people think that their English is not good enough, their education is not high enough, and they do not even try to find work in government agencies. But in fact, neither one nor the other is the key factor. There are vacancies that require minimal knowledge of the language (for example, for an accountant) and confirmed education in the country from which you come. Yes, at first it may not be the job you dreamed of - for example, an administrator in the social sector. But I have many examples where people started with a not-so-prestigious vacancy, and within 10 years grew within the team to become a manager,” says Tatyana.

To work in the public sector, it is very important not to be afraid of interviews. For some, it turns into an insurmountable psychological barrier. And if failure occurs, then many give up working in the public sector. But, according to Tatyana Shevchenko, if you approach the interview not formally, but with a little preparation, then you can give the Americans a head start: “You need to study a little the interview culture in the public sector. Know how to dress, what to bring with you, how to behave. The main thing is to win over the commission, be friendly, and create a pleasant impression. And this may be more important than whether you have an accent or what university you attended.”

Thursday: find a temporary job

If you don’t strive to find a job that you need to grow old and stay out of retirement, try using the services of agencies that are looking for a temporary job. Such agencies are called Staffing Agency, and with these keywords you can find the right address in your city. there is siteswhich unite agencies, but for the sake of completeness, it is better to purposefully search for an agency in exactly the county where you plan to work.

The advantage of contacting them is that most Staffing Agencies do not take money for their work in advance, and when you get a job, an agreed amount is deducted from your salary. The downside is that they only find temporary work for you. But in fact, “temporarily” can be a year, or two, or three, depending on how long the project will last for which the company does not have enough workers. In addition, if a temporary job does not require qualifications, in some cases it is hired without an interview at all.

Friday: contact a free agency

Most agencies specialize in helping to find a permanent job. You can find such an agency nearby by specifying the search words “job bank" There are both paid and free agencies on the market. The free ones are funded by the federal government and, in addition to searching for vacancies, they help you create a resume and tell you how to behave in an interview. Some offer free English courses and even vocational training. You can find such a center in your city on the United Federal Online.

Will there be any benefit from going to a free agency? Everything can be different, but Mikhail Borisov was not able to find a job with their help. “I came to such an agency two years ago, completely fresh, so to speak, off the plane. I was glad when they gave me a stack of booklets and some printouts, but it turned out that there was only one theory that I had nowhere to apply. I left my resume in their database, and vacancies began to arrive by email: they offered to wash floors or wash windows. But I wanted to get a legal job at a construction site or, first, to work as a courier. But this organization had one advantage - you could use a computer to look for vacancies. I searched on Craigslist, Monster, Dice and, in the end, I was able to find a job much faster than the agency,” he says.

There are fraudsters in the market for agencies that are looking for work, who can take a down payment from you, and provide vacancies that are either invalid or non-existent. A list of fraud agencies can be found at Onlinededicated to deception in the field of employment.

Weekend: go shopping

Please note that job vacancies can be found on job boards at local stores, libraries and community centers. Do not ignore advertisements given by public organizations. Yes, it may not be the highest paying offer, from $10 to $21 per hour, but working in a public organization is a good investment in your resume. If you plan to look for a job in the public sector in the future, then a public organization is a great place to start.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Everything you need to know about US work visas

8 blunders in US interviews and in preparation

9 tips on how to get an interview for a US visa

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