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Ask HN: I was asked to leave my job and now I want to work in the US. Advice?

6 points by greenie ↗ HN
For the past year I've been a frontend software engineer at an up-an-coming UK startup. In the interest of furthering myself as an engineer (with the intention to mould myself into a full-stack web application developer) I've been asking for more challenging work from the company for the past six months.

Unfortunately, the company can no longer support my role and we've come to a mutual agreed whereby I'd leave the company and receive severance pay.

Getting involved with the US startup scene is something that's been a dream of mine for a while now and I'm finally in the perfect situation to do something about it.

The only problem is that I have no idea where to begin!

I'd love to come over to the US and meet people who work for startups, hack something together and just get a general feel for how the US differs from the UK.

If anybody could give me some advice on how they'd proceed if they were in my position, possibly create some introductions for me or even allow me to work along side you for a week or so then I would be very grateful indeed.

A little more about me...

Things I'm awesome at: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, interface design and usability, client interaction.

Things I'm good at: PHP, MySQL, Amazon AWS server admin.

Things I'm learning: Python, Objective-C, Sphinx, MongoDB.

Things I do to kick back: Gym, run, read, consume specialty beers, play unhealthy amounts of video games.

tl;dr I had to leave my job and now I'd love to experience US startup culture. Please help!

5 comments

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0x12
You should put up a portfolio of the stuff you've done and apply to a start-up that's already funded for the quickest route to what you want.

Any other path, including funding your own start-up is possible, but harder because you are now out of a job so your runway is very limited.

Every now and then YC funded companies will list jobs, right now on the http://news.ycombinator.com/jobs page there are 7 jobs listed, some of which might fit you well.

brackin
If you want to work at one of the best startups you have to do more than apply. You should try and pick a strategic place, such as the valley or NYC and attend lots of events there and visit startups. When asked what you're working on you could say just finished working at bla, hacking on this in my spare time but looking to work out here.

So that you're not asking for a job but are signalling that you'd be interested in one. I know people with limited experience being offered jobs at great companies just from these meetings and if they know who you are you've immediately got a far higher chance of getting it.

Luckily it's a good time to apply as there's more of a developer shortage than job shortage in tech. If you're savvy then it's not hard at all. Showing things you've hacked together or a portfolio is more important than ever.

All of this seems like a lot more effort than the normal sending out resumes but it's much better. Also I don't recommend cold calling. Start using Twitter more, follow the founders or people within these startups on Twitter and join in with their conversation, show that you're a meaningful, savvy person. Then you can say "I'm going to be in the Valley, think I could swing by and see what you're working on".

greenie
Would you recommend attending any of these "hacker house" places I've seen on sites like Airbnb? Is that a good way to meet people who'd be offering jobs or would you end up around other people competing for them?
dirkdeman
Do take notice that you can't just come to the US and work there. Your employer-to-be has to arrange a H-1B visa for you. This can be a drawback, albeit not a big one.
petervandijck
It is often a big drawback. There's extra paperwork, and H1B visas are limited in amount every year, so you may not get one, and there's a specific date every year you can get them.

(As far as I remember, anyways. Just saying it's not trivial.)