I am a skilled immigrant trying to rebuild my career in the U.S.; where do I start?

In this video, I'm going to share with you tips on how to successfully build your career in U.S. as a skilled immigrant. I am Emmanuel Owusu, also the Executive Director of African Bridge Network, ABN, and I have been helping skilled immigrants build their career in the U.S. for the last seven years. I receive my college degree in Ghana before I move into the U.S. and just like any skilled immigrant, I experienced the initial downgrade. But I have learned to build my career and since then, I have helped many skilled immigrants to build their career here in the U.S.

So who is skilled immigrant? This is a person who received his or her college degree outside the United States, may or may not have professional experience before coming to U.S. and also have the permit to work and live in the United States. That qualifies you to be a skilled immigrant. So a skilled immigrant, you have applied to several job positions and even in the process of applying, you realize the application process doesn't fit your foreign resumes that well. And then you go ahead and apply anyway and then you don't hear back on any of this application and someone will say to you, "What you need is a U.S. made certificate." So you're trying to figure out, "Which school do I go to?"

There's several pathways you can go, that also confusing. And then even if you hear back on any of the jobs you've applied, after the first interview, you don't hear back from the interviewer or the company anymore. You repeat this cycle a couple of times and you are just at the point of giving up on building your career here in the U.S. This is the moment I want to recommend to you, you need help with your career. You really don't need to restart your career from scratch. Let me give you four steps to help you build your career here in U.S.

Step number one, explore careers that matches your foreign degree experience, skill set, and your interests as a person. You start by using occupational information from different job website to determine which of your foreign credentials and experience are transferable into the U.S. labor market. From there, you determine your professional level here in U.S. It's very important that you don't overestimate or underestimate your professional level.

Step number two, resume and cover letter writing. You then build your resume to match your professional level here in U.S. Remember, the U.S. resume format is different from that of your country, so you definitely need a new resume. You also need a cover letter to explain to your potential employer that your foreign credentials and experience are relevant to the work that you are applying to, and also to show them that you are the best candidate for the position.

Step number three, networking and informational interviews. In the U.S., most people find job opportunities through their friends and contact so it's very important that you build your network. Find and participate in a professional group in the industry you are interested in. Make some friends and talk to them as to how you build your career. Also, you may wanna consider volunteering for an organization. It's really a good way to learn new skills and meet new people who will help you get to where you need to get to.

Step number four, interview preparation. Congratulations, you got a call for an interview. This is a big deal. Very important step in building your career. This is where you get to meet with a potential employer to talk to the person about a job and about yourself. It's very important that you take time to prepare for your interviews. Especially question number one, "Tell us about yourself." You want to write this question down. Find a friend to rehearse it with. Trust me, the more preparation you put into it, the more confident you will sound in the interview.

African Bridge Network is a nonprofit organization that work with all skilled immigrants coming from different parts of the world to build their professional career here in the U.S. What makes us unique is the fact that we are made up of individuals who came from different parts of the world, we figured out how to build our career here in the U.S. and now we are here to support you build your career. In a year, we serve about 250 skilled immigrants to build their career here in the U.S. Our services include career advising services where we help you with your resume, cover letter, applying for job, interviewing. Then we have a professional mentoring program and a fellowship program as well. The good news is, all our services are free. They're available both in-person and online. If you are a skilled immigrant and you relate to the tips I've shared with you today, we would love to hear from you, reach out to us and we'll be happy to support you as you build your career here in the U.S