Moving from UK to Chicago (job market, transfer, school)

[elanor davies]

I have been trying to find ways to relocate to Chicago from the UK. It's such an amazing place. The probem is I apply for jobs but don't get taken seriously because I'm in the UK. I'm a qualified Accounting Technician but am still studying to become an Accountant so I don't yet have a full profession. Does anyone know if there any companies that are willing to recruit from overseas or any other way of making myself known? I also have a young son aged seven to think of. Any advice or information that anyone can provide would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

[GoCUBS1]

Originally Posted by elanor davies

I have been trying to find ways to relocate to Chicago from the UK. It's such an amazing place. The probem is I apply for jobs but don't get taken seriously because I'm in the UK. I'm a qualified Accounting Technician but am still studying to become an Accountant so I don't yet have a full profession. Does anyone know if there any companies that are willing to recruit from overseas or any other way of making myself known? I also have a young son aged seven to think of. Any advice or information that anyone can provide would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

You may want to apply to a company in the UK that has a Chicago location. After working for the company in the UK, you could then apply internally for a Chicago job. There are many international companies in IL that open jobs to overseas employees. I've seen this done in Engineering and R&D at Siemens, Motorola, Abbott, etc. Not sure how it works in Accounting though. I'm sure it depends on skillset demands. And the job market's not too good right now...

[elanor davies]

Thank you for your reply. I don't know why I hadn't thought of applying to a UK company with a Chicago branch! I'm not sure if there will be very many but I will have a look.

Thanks again

[jiraiya]

take a look at your resume. people in europe write resumes completely different then in the states, so that may be one issue. i know a lot of people dont realize there is a difference. if they dont like your resume, you arent going to get a second glance. i personally dont work in that field, but i know there are tons of those jobs in chicago. people from all over the world come to chicago, so i dont think its because you are from the uk...on the otherside, there are many people here that are "qualified" for the same position, so relocation expenses may be an issue.

[jiraiya]

if you havent had a lot of work experience, your resume should be a page, and add a cover letter. i worked with a guy, from the uk, in ireland who showed me his resume, it was like 4 pages...thats way too long in the states

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

Originally Posted by jiraiya

if you havent had a lot of work experience, your resume should be a page, and add a cover letter. i worked with a guy, from the uk, in ireland who showed me his resume, it was like 4 pages...thats way too long in the states

Yeah, the longer ones are generally referred to a C.V.'s (Curriculum Vitae) rather than resumes. Some companies in the states actually do prefer the longer, CV format. It's rare, but I've had to submit one before. A standard American resume is a sort of CV's Greatest Hits.

[elanor davies]

Thanks so much to everyone who replied to my post - I really appreciate the advice. I had no idea resume's were so different to British CV's. So do resume's just briefly list employer's you have worked for? My CV is pages long but only because, in the UK at least, you really have to be able to show exactly what expertise and experience you have. Is this not the case with a resume? Or does all the detail go into the covering letter? I know I must sound stupid but all of your advice has been really helpful!

Thanks again

[dragoro]

generally they list the employers, what you did, time worked there and a way to contact supervisor.

[jiraiya]

i really wouldnt put your supervisor, you can typically have a list of references to give out (not written on your resume, another sheet you give upon request), which if you have a good relationship with your supervisor and he/she knows your looking to leave you can add them. its not uncommon for people to leave their companies and not want their supervisors to know they are looking. resumes vary a lot. if you have recently graduated, you should have some generic school info...school, your degree, and if you dont have much work history any major projects you worked on independently. typically you put your company, your position, their location (city and state), and time period you were employed. what you should do more than anything is just do a generic internet search on google.com for resumes in your specific field, i think you will be quite suprised at the difference. you really shouldnt put anything personal on it...hobbies, gender, age, race, that you have a child, etc.

[Attrill]

A good guide to how to write a resume for the US market is here .

Applying from another country can make things harder, I agree that the best route may be to find a company based in the UK and and get transferred to a Chciago office. I worked for a company owned by WPP for a long time and there were plenty of employees from the UK. A lot of them took jobs with WPP in the UK looking to move to New York or Chicago.

Hiring someone who is not a US citizen can be difficult. I've hired a few Canadian residents and had to push hard to get the money spent on legal assistance for navigating the immigration process and getting people to accept the risk of their visa requests being denied. This is despite the fact that there is a NAFTA visa that Canadians can apply for on an expedited basis, and it costs $50 or so. Do some research on what is available for visas and apply early and often.