Last modified 01/26/2024
Which are the competences and skills that you must have in order to obtain a professional job in the United States of America?
From the competences and skills that a professional immigrant has, depends if he or she obtains a well paid professional position.
Since the H – 1B Visa for Temporal Professional Worker’s program was created in 1990, more than a half a million visas have been given to graduated professionals in their country of origin or those who have graduated and / or obtain a master’s degree or a PhD in the United States of America. Before obtaining the professional visa, the immigrant must be sponsored by an American company before the Immigration Service, presenting the working offer that has not been covered by North American citizens or immigrants with permanent residency.
Very professional foreign that has not accomplish an specialty in any American superior institution is enforced to demonstrate that he or she has a degree and has to revalidate it determining the equivalence for, at least, a BA (a degree given for having studied a course in the area of humanities, social sciences and others related and that is equivalent to graduating in Letters or a Bachelor of Arts) or BS degree, given by a university for having studied courses related to natural sciences, engineering and mathematics, and which is equivalent to graduating in Sciences or a Bachelor of Science.
In a developed world as the United States of America, it is necessary to have professional certifications that prove specialization in determined areas linked to the profession. Examples are the certificates issued by CISCO, Microsoft, etc. Equally, in the health field, the specializations of nurses in critical units become an advantage when applying for a job.
The working experience will allow the employer to understand that the immigrant not only has knowledge, buy also practical experience in the job position, because, for the American system, a year of experience is the equivalent to a year in the university.
The capacity of communicating in both, the oral and written way, is the second, but not the least important competence that the professional immigrant must have, because the fluidity in the conversation in the local language (English), will be useful for the personal interview and for redacting documents.
The quality of the redaction will allow the immigrant to present a spotless curriculum and presentation letter in every aspect, because an orthographic error or a bad redaction will contribute to the possibility of been eliminated.
Other necessary competences and skills are:
- Having analysis and problem resolution capacity is an important requirement for employers when they evaluate appliers.
- Been creative in the search for solutions, is another competence that stands out in the search for professionals.
- The capacity of relating with other people and been able of working in a team is necessary, because most North American companies are part of working groups with common goals.
- Leadership capacity and initiative.
- Adaptation to new environments capacity.
Summing up, the professional formation, the specialization, the working experience, the fluid command of the English language, the good redaction, the ability of working properly in teams, the analysis and problem resolution capacity, the creativeness, the adaptation skills, the ability to relate, are the most important competences and skills that will allow the immigrant to access to a professional job position with an appreciable salary in the United States of America.
