
Ask HN: Is having an inside connection the biggest factor in landing a next job? - Bulbasaur2015
In your experience, do non-US candidates have a strong chance in landing a job at a US workplace from merit alone?
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sloaken
It depend on the economy, but in general yes. This is the annoying role where
headhunters can be your inside track.

It is a system I hate, but the reality is if you have 2 candidates. Equal in
most aspects, with one key exception. Your wife's, cousins, neighbor, mother
in-law, whom you have a positive opinion of, because you were both at a party
together once. Said candidate 'A' is really good.

Whom are you going to hire?

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edmundsauto
It generally won't hurt. FWIW, as a US citizen working in tech my whole life,
only my entry level job was from a connection.

Now for the bad news - it's really, really hard to get a job places without
living in that city. Much less country.

That said, big tech is so hungry for talent they put the resources into
relocation, visa support, etc. That would be my suggestion - look at the big
tech (Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Netflix, MS, etc.)

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muzani
Even if it's not related to US. It's really expensive and ineffective to
filter strangers. The easiest, safest way to get a great hire is via
recommendation.

It works the other way too. A lot of top tier talent won't go job hunting or
bother with interviews, so inside connection is the best way to poach a star.

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itronitron
Everyone is hired on merit, but going to techy social events will help you get
past the HR filter. If you are in a US city then there is probably some social
network that publicly schedules monthly open houses at different tech
companies. In Austin, TX that would be BuiltInAustin.com, I'm not sure what it
is in other cities, but there is also Meetup which can be good.

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kat
As a non-US citizen working in the states -yes, you can land a job from merit
alone.

My 2cents of advice are be upfront about what type of visa you will need when
you start the interview process. Don't trust that the HR will know the correct
visa and requirements. Do you own research about processing times for the
visa, make sure you look at recent data for this!

Good luck!

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arcaneman92
Sorry this isn't an answer as I've never thought of going to the US, but
someone posted this earlier today:
[https://hackersurfing.com/2019](https://hackersurfing.com/2019) I think
meeting people in person will greatly increase your chances of landing a job
in the US, because that's definitely how it is down here in NZ.

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Zelmor
1\. yes 2\. EU, but no. Companies hire from the EU first, immigrants second.

