Living abroad comes with privileges and challenges. Since the start of my journey, when Maxime and I achieved our dream of relocating from France to the USA, we have experienced firsthand the difficulties of making this big leap. I’ve always been passionate about intercultural living and life abroad. Therefore, I made it my personal goal to provide opportunities for you to apply for a job in the USA, help you expand your perspectives, and break out of your comfort zone.
With my backstory, I have always been on the job seeker side.
Knowing what it is like, I have always focused on giving you the best personal tips, information, and tricks from my experience so you can feel at ease when you apply for a job in the USA. But today, I found myself with a different point of view that may shock everybody…
Earlier this year, to be more specific, about three months ago, while trying to make the best of the USponsor Me website, I noticed that I needed some help. I started looking for a Marketing and Communication Assistant to hire, someone with extra hands and brains to upgrade this project.
Knowing that the majority of you who read this are looking for job openings, my first thought was to keep this job inside the family.
So, I immediately posted two job openings and started receiving your feedback in no time!!
I was shocked to see that people were excited to give me a hand in developing and expanding USponsor Me. 🙂
At least, that’s what I thought when I started seeing your applications and emails accumulating in my inbox in response to my offer. But right after that, I realized that the reality was different. I found myself in a position not typical for me… I found myself in the “Recruiter’s” shoes for the first time.
And I am sorry that most of the applications I received disappointed me… I thought to myself:
Am I doing enough work teaching you guys how to enhance your virtues?
Or am I showing you the right way how to present yourself to a recruiter?
Am I giving enough information for you to understand what a recruiter wants to see in a job seeker?
After all these questions, I can’t describe how disappointed I was. I was even furious. So, after much consideration, I decided to see it as an experiment that would allow all of us to gain helpful and valuable information.
We will discuss the top five errors I saw on multiple applications that screamed, “DON’T HIRE ME,” and the most essential actions to handle them.
Are you ready? Let’s give it a world!
My requests first, what you need afterward
With this example, I want to talk about so many emails where I saw this “incredible” intro:
“How much does it pay?”
I often didn’t even see a “Hello” or a “Goodbye” in the email. Guys, it’s pretty evident that if you ask this question before anything else, it’s because you do not want to waste time when you apply for a job in the USA for positions with a salary that does not meet your expectations, I hear it well, and I understand.
Let’s be clear. Just one etiquette blunder could cost you your dream job! Employers are picky about who they hire in today’s competitive job market. If you don’t understand and exhibit standard etiquette, employers will likely assume you are not professionally competent.
On the other hand, what conclusion could any recruiter get pretty quickly after that? What did you think came to mind when I read that question as a founder of a company?
You want to know whether the salary will work for you, right? But, the recruiter concludes that you have no interest and do not want anything to do with the company you are applying for.
Concerning me or any other recruiter, I don’t want to work with someone more interested in the payment than the job.
Lesson #1:
A recruiter always looks for someone passionate about the work, duties, responsibilities, and company. They will never give a second look to someone just looking for a “good salary.”
So, if you don’t see a salary range specified on the job opening and the salary is a must for you, DON’T ask how much it pays, and DON’T apply.
You are my last chance! I’m desperate!
This is another example of a general case: Showing your personal before your professional motivations.
I tell you, any recruiter can see what you want from the job miles away. And you make it so much easier when you put on the front line of the cover letter the following:
“have the green card and I’m afraid of losing it if I do not do a job fast”
Guys, this is terrible! Imagine how I or any recruiter can perceive that…
I perceived it as follows: This person applied to this job opening not because he/she wanted or liked it. No, he/she is desperate, and he/she needs a job at all costs.
Do I want to work with someone who doesn’t care about what I’m doing? NOT!
Lesson #2:
Do not treat the recruiter like a mouthfeeder! If you show from the beginning that you have everything to win and you use the least wanted “attention trick”. Petty, I assure you that the recruiter will not even open your resume.
I’m not what you are looking for… But hire me anyway!
Well, here comes the third common mistake I found in the applications.
I was very clear on the job opening on which skills and aptitudes were needed for the job; things like WordPress knowledge and marketing automation were a “must”.. But, for some reason, I found myself reading:
“I’m pretty good at customer service….”
Or resumes showing skills like:
Guys, this resume is not objective at all. It isn’t very clear. You have to remember that I was looking for a marketing assistant. So, I don’t understand how those applicants can help me with what I want…
Let’s be honest! Does that make sense to you? Imagine a situation where you go to the doctor because of an awful headache, and this one offers you medication to treat a foot blister you don’t have.
The worst part is that you know what I do; some of you have followed me for two years. I’m USponsor Me, and I need someone to help me manage sales pages, funnels, email marketing, etc.
Lesson #3:
Clearly, show the TARGET position YOU WANT in your resume. And clearly explain in your cover letter why you want THIS position you’re applying for.
If you find a job opening that doesn’t match what you are looking for, DO NOT apply. The recruiter will not create a job for you from scratch. Be smart with your time; do not lose it with dead-end applications.
I’m interested, but I’m not going to tell you why
So, you tell me in your cover letter:
“I am writing to express my strong interest in working at your company.”
Ok, fine! But, you don’t prove to me why!!! 🙁
Why are you interested? What do you love in particular? USponsor Me is a recruitment company in the USA that recruits international candidates. What excites you about joining us?
Lesson #4:
Never forget to show interest when applying for a job in the USA or anywhere. Prove and talk about why you must be part of the company. At the end of the day, when a recruiter has multiple suitable applications, he will remember the person who is not only fit for the job but is passionate about being part of the company’s vision and mission.
Please give me a visa! Give me a visa, please!
I have to say that when I created the job desk, I was very cautious about being transparent with you about the visa issue: I wrote in bold that I’m not yet sponsoring any visa and that I can not take any J1 person.
And what do people do?
“I want to apply for a job in the USA. Could you give a visa sponsorship?”
I can see that you understand that you need a job first to get the visa. But anyway, I’m so disappointed! Guys, is the company USponsor Me in the USponsor Me database? Did you do some research first? Didn’t I tell you that 90% of companies based in the United States CANNOT or DO NOT need international candidates?
Lesson #5:
If a company is pretty straightforward from the beginning about no visa sponsorship offering and no J1 hiring for a specific job, do not ask! It’s already specified!
Most people go about getting job sponsorship the wrong way and then wonder why they are unsuccessful. You could be the perfect candidate for a job, but if the company does not offer visa sponsorship, it doesn’t matter. Your resume will then be promptly dismissed.
To find an employer willing to sponsor you for the visa, you have to:
- Know which is the ideal visa for you to claim. Tell us more about yourself, and we will instantly calculate the visa you might qualify for and for what jobs.
- Only search among companies offering this type of visa sponsorship/hiring. To find all of them, click here.
If this experience taught me anything, you need to put yourself in the recruiter’s shoes when you apply for a job in the USA. Because, yeah, recruiters are human, like everybody. I strongly recommend anyone do this exercise now! I assure you, it will be handy in your job search.
Do you wonder why you haven’t received a reply from recruiters? Share a comment below with your thoughts on all of these!
