how many of u non US residents got hired and moved to a US company?
polycounter lvl 18
can u share your experience and story about how it all went?
how hard/long was it for the company and you to work out the moving?
anyone of you without any degree made it too?
how hard/long was it for the company and you to work out the moving?
anyone of you without any degree made it too?
Replies
Sorry for not really answering your question btw.
thanx for the tutorials, it was a good read,
i wonder hw much harder it is if u dont have any education/degree
all i got is my portfolio and some experience
In summary: Get 12 years exp, or get a Diploma+Degree.
I know many on Polycount are completely against the education system; but it has great importance if they were ever planning to immigrate for job prospects.
also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-1B_visa
some pretty harsh rules in there, notably about spouses and their non-existant right to work and about what happens in case you lose the job. i know i wouldn't like that sort of treatment.
We have great companies in Europe, and one thing is clear, you won't live better there. But if you want to spent all your life there, it's just to find a company that wants you like crazy. They will get you a visa, and all what you may need without any kind of problem.
good luck!
This is rediculous, and not a good piece of advice to be giving out. A company cant just give you a visa, or secure you a visa because they want you. It simply doesnt work like that.
Every employer has to proove to their respective immigration department that you are a better choice than someone local. The only way they can do that is with documentation and education and or relative work related experience to build a case for you that they will then provide to IMMIGRATION. Saying they really want to hire you just isnt good enough. Neither is showing them your art compared with someone else. It doesnt mean anything at all to them. Education and Work experience on the other hand is the language they speak - so thats what your potential employer will use to leverage your case ahead of the competition. The better equipped you are, the better equipped your employer can be when taking on immigration.
If you cant provide your potential employer with any useful ammunition, they cant help you - its as simple as that.
And even then, assuming you pass this point, you must attend your consulate interview, and your chances of securing the visa in your passport can be crushed on the spot. Remember at this point, its just YOU versus IMMIGRATION. Again, nothing to do with how badly a company wants to hire you.
There was a guy right in front of me who ended up in tears that put the shits right up me because I was next in line - hed flown across the county to be at his immigration interview that morning and everything was good - but the interview went bad and he got his visa turned down. So all the time, money everything hed put in, was just fluffed out - theres nothing any company can do to stop that from happening.
Obviously it can all go smoothly, but ultimately the better you look on paper in government talk, the easier and smoother the transition will be for you - end of story.
Btw for the record, I dont have a degree, and I made it into the USA, but not without complications and subsequent ramifications.
It took almost 6 months from when I signed the offer letter from Trion to the day I started work.
I did it by having a total of 9 years of related work experience ( all documented )and 1 year diploma, and even then it was a stretch to make it all happen.
Letters from Employers and Freelance Clients had to be formatted in a specific way clearly detailing the work i was doing and my start and end dates, I needed to contact freelance clients I hadnt talked to for 6 - 7 years and ask them to sign documents which could only be described in some cases as = awkward.
It annoys me when people treat this stuff like its some simple matter that can be brushed aside - it couldnt be further from the truth.
Edit: If I could go back and get my degree when I was younger - I would do it in a heartbeat.
The games industry is an export business. So having a weak dollar and a poor economy actually helps the game industry. It makes it cheaper to develop games.
If you are going to live ALL the rest of your life in USA, move on! but work in a big studio like Valve or Blizzard, studios with FUTURE. But if you pretend to work a few years like too many of us -europeans- do, it's a bad choice that we can't argue. You will work for dollars, and in exchange, it will be a shit unless if you work in a top AAA company earning A LOT.
Having a weak dollar helps north americans, not europeans, ehhhh. And it's cheaper for people outside USA. And the Cheapest would be to work with chineses or koreans.
I have about 8 years of experience and few shipped titles
I do plan to spend my life in the US, or it seams like it for now
I know how hard it is to make work and it sucks cause I missed once in a lifetime opportunity twice (lol)
Guess marrying an American girl is the best option for me after all, still singe hah (lucky me =\ )
Thank for the info and stories, I got hope
They post/email you your course material, you chat with a tutor via Skype/Email/Phone, do your assignments/dissertation and if you're successful you get your masters degree, which is usually validated by a University in the same way as a normal 'on campus' degree, so on paper they're no different.
Might be cheaper than a girlfriend too
Got link or more info?
If I wanna do it in a year, how many hours a day it's gonna take me?
O.o
It might be beneficial to do something a little outside your current work too, learn some new skills etc, and widen your abilities to new areas.
Here's one for an MA in Visual Arts.
http://www.camberwell.arts.ac.uk/courses/coursesbylevel/graduateschoolcourses/madigitalartsonlinevisualarts/
yeah, his view seems totally unbiased...
Is there a Memo I missed?
You should be recommending China instead of Europe, you guys are having more economic trouble then the US.
From what I can tell, my two best bets are Canada and the UK. I'm very much considering looking for work in Canada sometime soon. It seems fairly easy to get myself a work visa there (being a fellow commonwealth country) the games industry seems fairly stable, and it seems like an all around awesome place to be.
This is just my take on it anyway, It's a bit hard to give the OP any good advice when you haven't said where you are from.
yeeeebooooy commonwealth FTW! :thumbup:
Here is some input from a previous such topic: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=87207
but yeah, i've also been thinking of moving overseas, (me living in australia atm) and i was wondering whether it would be easier getting a job in us or canada. visa would be simpler for me if i go to canada, being a commonwealth and all but yeah, america wouldn't be a bad choice in the future... maybe.
:poly142: Might be moving there real soon, and it's super easy getting a work permit for (especially if you're Australian?).
Did someone say it's easier to get into the US from Canada than from outside that whole area? That'd be awsome if it's true, tho sounded like Gav still had a hell of a time.
And yeah, still got europe and asia i think :P
Are you kidding? LOL it's like you are trolling me hahaha :poly142:
Justin, all the nations are having economic troubles, USA is making all the markets to tremble, all is connected, and all that huge debt and weak dollar does not help, nothing. You should understand that if an european goes to USA to work for a few years, all are disadvantages in the return. It's basic economy ¬¬
And BTW, US game companies are falling down like in a meteor shower. So, working in a BIG company with a good future is very important. Being european, you should not imagine yourself to be working in a small studio in the US, that would be crazy imho.
BTW, I know people that get their Visa in less than 2 months. If they want you, a big company can move all the needed papers as fast as possible. They help you to relocate, and they help you in all the ways. It's something we do here in our big companies like acerinox... and it's not related to games.
In polycount there are too many european polycounters working as example in blizzard. I'm sure they could help more than anyone sharing their experience.
So don't think i don't like americans, but i prefer SPAIN over all the overseas countries, sorry :P
so even with the bad economy in the us now it ALOT better than here
im a freelancer for about 8 years, to be honest, i make good money out of it, i work whenever i want, how i want, and if i wanna take a day off i just do
so its good life, very convenient + i can do that from everywhere
the problem is u never get to be one of the team, a real part of the game (the world youre working on, thats how i call it, we are creating a new world when we create a new game) and it kinda feels like i missing something good
so i wanna try working in house on a big title, be a real part of it for once
how many of you did that move? (from freelancer to onsite worker) and how do u like it?
really appreciate the feedback guys. good info/reads :thumbup:
you'll most definitely miss those things after a while. then again, the grass is always greener elsewhere anyway. at least the regular paychecks are a definite plus of the office-slave-lifestyle.
if you don't have any onsite work experience at all you should perhaps really consider going somewhere first where it's easier and faster to secure a visa or you don't require one in the first place, to see if it's your thing at all.
haha. In the west everyone asks for a similar salary, no matter if they come from Germany, US, UK. Here in China when you apply as 3D artist, the Chinese artist asks for 700 usd/month and the westerner...?
Unless you got skills that cannot be found on the local (and very young) 3D job market here, China is a no go for most people here on PC.
Speaking of trouble though, China is the hot shit right now, buy they do have some issues they really need to tackle in the next 10 to 20 years...
if you go to a big studio, make sure your art lead or director is an actual artist and not a corporate suit.
also, i dont know your preference about work space but most studios here have cubicles which i hate and they basically feel like you are just another cog in the corporate machine. so make sure they have actual office rooms like they should.
As an Israeli I`m pretty sure you can play some JewCards to get into the US easier than other nationalities if you are really set on living there though.
Actually stra'ia has the best visa of all time to get into the USA. Its called an E3, if you look it up it will tell you the specifics, but the best thing is if you go there your spouse can work aswell off of your E3 visa. Its like the only visa aside from the J1 that lets spouses have work eligibility right off the bat.
Personally I think there are way more benefits to being at a studio, assuming they are a reputable company working on decent games. Not only because of the (relative) financial security, benefits etc. but also you learn so much from other artists and you're more likely to have significant creative input on the project. Working as a freelancer you're usually just a 'gun for hire' and it's mostly about delivering work on an asset by asset basis. Sure you get to work on more projects, but I'd rather spend longer on a game and really feel like I've contributed something.
I guess it comes down to personality type to a certain extent; some people just prefer working on their own. But I'd consider myself someone who could quite happily spend days at a time pottering around at home doing artwork on my own, and I developed cabin fever very quickly!
BTW, work visa tranfers are possible in the US, so it's feasible that you could work for someone initially and then find another studio willing to take you on if the first place didn't work out. Of course, the company that secures your visa has invested time and money in bringing you over so they might not be too appreciative of you switching on them.
Did you move to the US from another country?
I've read about it, but It still requires a degree. Aswell as needing to fulfill a specialty occupation (of which the description is vague). My best bet would be to marry my girlfriend and have her apply for a visa, since she'll soon have a degree in health/medicine area.
The green card lottery also seems to give the Oceania region higher chances than anywhere else. So like I said in my post, it isn't impossible. But when you compare it to Canada's Working Holiday visa, the stress seems unneccessary.
From everything i've ever read, and all conversations I've had with various Europeans, generally speaking, you're going to earn a smaller salary, pay more taxes, and have comparable or higher cost of living(with some exceptions like LA, San Fran and NY, but even there MUCH higher salary) if you're in Europe. So, even with a poor dollar value, your actual net income is going to be better or at worse, on par being in the US as it was in EU.
So yeah, basic economics... It seems your opinion here is based on random "OMG USD IS WORTHLESS" news headlines more than any actual facts.
Lonewolf: As has been mentioned, without a degree you're going to need 8-12 years of experience. Even worse, your experience as a freelance most likely does not count, unless you've registered yourself as a company or some such other nonsense.
the tables usually turn when you have a family - then Europe (with the exception of the "let's shut down everything to save money!" states) usually becomes the better choice.
Also working in the US ain't as fun as in 2000 when the Euro vs Dollar rate was the other way round
Singapore also seems like a safe bet.
USA and Japan (where I am) are tough as nails to get into, hammer you down while you're here, and offer practically no support to the industry for visa getters.
Although saying that, if you can secure a sponsor beforehand it should be plain sailing, I done it twice in Japan and almost a third time to... the USA
Don't forget that you get much less holidays in the US, it's pretty much half compared to Europe (10 days off in US vs 20 in Europe i think ?)
Yeah, the net income in USA is almost in par, but just in the best cases, and working in the best game companies. For me, it just does not compensate, nothing, because i lost more than i gain, and the money is not all in this life. I don't live to work.
That's what we think here :P. Almost all people here go to UK for game related works, they have better salaries and a stronger Pound. And being european, the problems equals to zero.
In contrast to USA, here we have free sanity (obama did something but it's far away of what we have here), 18% in IVA (sales TAX), you can't be fired once you get a steady job (we have stronger laboral rights), excellent weather, more vacations and holydays, and what for me it's a better life style and the most important thing, the family. In USA you go for a walk at 9.00pm, and it's not weird that someone in the neighbourhood calls the sherif to catch you... because they think that someone at that hour in the street... must be a delinquent. That's pathetic and it is for real. At 10pm we see people here, we have life in the streets. it's another world!
Now, in summer, is very common to see too many neighbours in the street at 1am here, enjoying the fresh air of the night with their family. The mood, the life style, the food, all is different there, and this is something i know from US friends that are now living and working here, in andalucia, and also by family members that worked in the spanish steel factory of N.A.S. in kentucky. The son of a friend/coworker of my mother says the same, he's now working in Texas in projects of civil engineering, and he's wishing to finish and return.
The life style, the mood here, is something we don't like to change. For me, Living and working in USA is not as good as living and working in Europe. All the friends i know that worked there, returned in less than 5 years. You must marry a cute girl there and earn a lot for not returning to you homeland.
Don't get me wrong, but for me, Canada would be a better country for work.