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by DrNuke 1693 days ago
Mind, you do not have any competitive advantage from applying for jobs in the US while staying on a tourist visa. On the contrary, that might expose you to way far more trouble than your enthusiasm and willpower deserve. Why not sending applications from Europe to European subsidiaries of US firms, get hired in Europe, then climb the ladder and get moved to the US? That’s how it works, for many people. EDIT: @gregjor comments above put the matter in the perspective and pretty eloquently.
1 comments
666b20753a29 1693 days ago
The idea of climbing a corporate ladder doesn't jump out at me personally, but this is definitly something to consider.

My ideal company size is like 2-10 employees. I thought I could just waltz into SV, join a cool early-stage startup, etc etc. Lol. Startups seems even less likely to sponsor than large companies, as they don't have the capital to spare on a bureaucractic process like that. And European tech hubs just don't have the same culture unfortunately. By the time I'm eligible to simply pick and choose startups to join in SV, I'll (hopefully) have too much responsibility to risk like that.

Thanks for the advice anyhow.

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arp242 1693 days ago
"Climbing a corporate ladder" is not how I would phrase it; instead I'd say something like "proven record of getting stuff done".

Sponsoring a visa is a lot of work and a fairly large upfront investment for an employee. Making that kind of investment on a 20-year old bootcamp graduate is rather risky. It might pay off, it might not pay off. Better pick someone who has at least a few years experience and has demonstrated basic ability in an actual work setting.

You'd have to be very very lucky to get a job in the US on a sponsorship with your current CV. Same for any country really.

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666b20753a29 1693 days ago
I've always thought that because it's not a big monetary investment relative to the TC they're paying, it's more about the lack of legal capital a company has (esp with the startups I targeted), the hard # limits on H1-B's, the time investment, and all the bureaucracy.

But yes, this makes total sense and it's easy to see why filling entry-level positions with local talent is far more rational.

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arp242 1693 days ago
Yes, you pay in time and effort you have to put in to it. At the end of the day, "time is money" for a business.
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