# UK Expats - hard to get work in the US?



## Riknos (May 19, 2013)

Hi guys,

My wife is American and is currently on her way to England to live with me. She is originally from Massachusetts, near Boston.

I love her family, the states, and would consider moving permanently.

My biggest worry (besides healthcare) is the job situation.

I am currently working as a telecoms engineer - I basically fix faults on servers, so it's all software based, cisco routers and such like.

I don't have any qualifications, or any degrees, I purely worked my way up the company to get here (7 years experience).

I was wondering how likely are my skills to be able to transfer to the US? I've looked on job websites and they all command a degree - I've spoken to friends in the area and they all say the same - no degree, no job.

I'm just curious to hear from others who maybe moved to a similar area / similar roles, and if their previous experience was considered?

Many thanks!


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

The US has always been a bit "degree happy" to my way of thinking. Many jobs require a university degree (in anything) just to reduce the number of applications received. Now, admittedly, I left the US 20 years ago but if you've noticed that the job postings all list a degree as a requirement it looks as though things haven't changed much.

Boston is probably a bit more fanatic about the requirement than some other areas, if only because university education is one of the major industries in the Boston area and in New England overall.
Cheers,
Bev


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

The minimum you need are the standard certifications such as Cisco, CompTia. Throw an associates degree in for good measure. You will find it very hard to find employment in your field with just experience.


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## jsharbuck (Jul 26, 2012)

Agree. My son had 5 yrs TV production work experience in small town America and in Alaska. Even had a commercial that went Nationwide. No degree but had started school in Portland Ore. He could not even get on part time as a master controller without a 4 yr degree.


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## cheeser (Jan 22, 2012)

I didn't need a degree, All I had was a couple of Microsoft certs (which are far too easy to get) and I had a role within 3 weeks of landing in San Francisco.

In my case experience and knowing what the hell you're actually talking about trumps a degree any day of the week. Get your CCNP or CCIE and you'll be laughing mate.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Chester - you had the certifications not just afew years hands on.


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## cheeser (Jan 22, 2012)

I'm not sure who Chester is but if you're replying to my post you'll notice I advised OP to get certs. 

I had 2 Microsoft certs which took a week of studying the cheat sheets and a coupla hundred bucks to sit the prometric exams. Any manager worth their salt knows Microsoft certs are next to a joke. 

Cisco certs carry much more weight, well CCIE anyway. 

My basic point was, In my limited experience of the US IT job market, Degrees aren't always necessary.


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## Riknos (May 19, 2013)

Thanks for all your replies guys, and I'm especially pleased to hear the below:




cheeser said:


> I'm not sure who Chester is but if you're replying to my post you'll notice I advised OP to get certs.
> 
> I had 2 Microsoft certs which took a week of studying the cheat sheets and a coupla hundred bucks to sit the prometric exams. Any manager worth their salt knows Microsoft certs are next to a joke.
> 
> ...


Whilst I can't see myself being able to obtain a CCIE (CCNP seems a push to me at the moment! But then I haven't even started CCNA) It's good to see not all employers shun those without a bit of paper for slacking off in school for 4 years 'studying'.

I used to be a recruiting manager myself, and I always chose experience / aptitude over degrees and bits of paper any day of the week. It's a shame more of the US job market isn't like that!


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