Karen, Abhi, Josh and Lauren have shared with us what kept them motivated during their job search, and their advice for fellow Aussie job seekers looking for work in the USA.
Meet Karen, Field Marketing Manager in LA (From Bendigo)
How did you stay motivated during your job search?
I woke up every day with a positive mantra that today was going to be the day. I spent time eliminating any negative self talk or doubt. This can be really hard when you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel and you have deadlines looming but I’d rather be happy and focus on the task at hand than live in fear of the unknown.
Set a 9am-5pm / Monday - Friday structure
Gave myself targets of how many roles to apply for a day, took courses in this time to give myself opportunities to speak to during interviews and broadened my skill set, worked on improving my LinkedIn, resume and interview questions, and most importantly, at 5pm, I switched off at the end of the day and on the weekend like you would from your job and enjoyed myself.
Do 1 thing you love a day
Go for a walk, exercise, watch the birds, SMELL THE ROSES, it’s a chance to appreciate the small things, take advantage of this!
Practice self improvement
I sat with my thoughts and rationalized them. If I was having a down day, I would try understand why and give myself the pep talk that “we got this”.
Speak to referrals and friends
Reach out to friends and acquaintances. Don’t be shy, let yourself be ok with rejection because it just opens up another avenue of a potential job opportunity.
DON’ T be too hard on yourself. You have made it to the US and have been absolutely crushing it so far, don’t let this set back let you lose sight of all of your achievements!!!
What’s your advice for the Aussie Recruit community?
Sometimes you have to take a step back to see the bigger picture. Keep persevering, take a break and repeat! You are not in this alone.
Meet Abhi, Senior Product Manager in Seattle (From India, worked in Sydney & Melbourne)
How did you stay motivated during your job search?
I kept an eye on the goal, ensured that I spent time on job search/interview prep while also working full-time, and reached out to the support system - mentors, coaches, expert interviewers, etc. Speaking of the support system - Amy is awesome, so be sure to reach out to her!
What’s your advice for the Aussie Recruit community?
Break down your job search into 5 steps
1. job list refinement
2. resume refresh
3. network & referral
4. interview prep
5. visa process
Execute these sequentially but learn about each of these as you start the process. One breath at a time!
Meet Josh, Software Engineer in San Francisco (From Sydney)
How did you stay motivated during your job search?
Set a minimum number of applications to do per week and stick to it.
What’s your advice for the Aussie Recruit community?
I was applying for months before finding a company that was a perfect fit so just keep at it, you'll find something.
Meet Lauren, Director of Customer Success in LA (From Melbourne)
How did you stay motivated during your job search?
Balanced job searching with enjoying some downtime - gardening, sleeping in, exercising, reading, journalling.
What’s your advice for the Aussie Recruit community?
Don't make the E-3 a bigger deal than it needs to be. I've secured E-3s at 4 companies in the US, and done a ton of other interviews along the way - in every case I've not discussed the need for a visa until I knew they really wanted to hire me, and then was able to explain it simply so there was minimal concern about how the process would go. It's definitely not a deal-breaker so it's important not to let it impact your confidence in the job-seeking process.
We went live with Lauren to talk about her experiences moving to the US and job searching tips.
