On looking for a job

Well, it's really hard to find a job (in my area, that is Computer Science, Java programming) at the US when:
1) Your current visa doesn't allow you to work, and you need to find an employer who will sponsor a temporary worker visa (H1-B);
2) You're not living in a big city;
3) You don't have any contacts in your industry.

2004 was really tough. At least until March. I was looking for a job, posting my resume (which I thought it wasn't too bad) all over the place, getting emails and phone calls from employers; even a few interviews. The visa barrier, however; was unbeatable.

After March, things got even worse. That was when I learned that the H1 visa cap was reached, meaning that the immigration services had issued all H1 visas they would for that fiscal year (2004 fiscal year goes from October 1st, 2003, until October 1st, 2004). It was right when I started to contact the right people and get a little networking going. From then on, 2004 wasn't looking too good.

Until October, I didn't have much to hope for, so I tried to keep myself busy. I bought a laptop, and started to do some home programming projects to keep me up to date with the technology. Knowing that no employer would contract me before I could actually start working (Oct 2004), I patiently waited until August, when I started the job hunt again. To my disappointment, on October 1st, the first day of fiscal year 2005, the cap was reached again, and I hadn't been able to get a job again. What it was bad, it just had gotten worse.

Since I wasn't planning to be sitting around for another whole year, with no prospect of things being different, I decided to go back to school.

I always wanted to take business classes. It'd be handy when I start my own I.T. company, so I looked into MBA courses and other related degrees. I quickly gave up getting a masters degree, though: too expensive. So I find out about Southeast Community College, a stated funded college, way cheaper than regular universities, providing 2-year Associate degrees. Their program looked good, I'd get all the info I'd need to run my business.
I flew to Brazil, got a student visa, and by January 5th, I was back in school. Please check my next post: "On going back to school."

I quickly learned that, as a student, I could work part-time on campus. I got a tutor position in the computer lab. I helped other students with whatever help they needed. I even tutor some students in Java, since they were taking classes for the Microcomputer's program. It was nice to finally earn some money, but the problem was that they only wanted me 4 to 6 hours per week, and I could work up to 20.

And to everyone's surprise, including mine, I got another position at the college's day care. Read more on that on my future post "On working with children."

For almost the whole of 2005, I was taking business classes, computer tutoring, and working with children. I did not forget, though, that on October, another fiscal year was going to start. Earlier this time, on July, I started looking for full-time jobs and companies that would sponsor the H1 visa for me.

I got a good contact with a company willing to do exactly that. I compiled all the documentation, paid all fees, and by August 10th, I had it sent to Immigration. My application, however, got there a few days after the cap was reached. All H1s for fiscal year 2006 were gone even before the fiscal year started.

I then applied and got a permission to work off-campus (well it's a whole lot more complicated than that, but let's leave at that. This post is already too long, anyway). With my permission on hand, I now could work off-campus, at least part-time. After my first interview with an IT company that develops software in Java, finally, after two years of trying, I got a job in my area.