It's US for us

A new visa makes it much easier for Australians to work in the United States, writes Kristie Kellahan.

Marina Chetner is living a version of the great American dream.
 
The 29-year-old from Sydney works as an account manager in advertising sales for a communications company in New York City.

Her office is on the 36th floor of a tower in Manhattan's bustling Midtown.
 
By day, Chetner meets clients and touches base with colleagues in the London office. By night, she visits the trendy bars and restaurants of Soho and Tribeca.

"The sheer amount of companies you can do business with in this city is amazing," she says. "I'm so excited to be working in the same city that gave so many people their big break.

"If you're in ad sales, there's no other place that does it better than New York City." Chetner's way into the US market came via Canada.

After working in publishing in Sydney she applied for, and was granted, a one-year Canadian working holiday visa and then landed a job with Redwood Custom Communications in Toronto.

Towards the end of her 12-month stint she was offered a company transfer to the New York office. "I took it up instantly," she says. "I mean, it's New York."

Her employer sponsored Chetner to obtain a working visa for the US: called an E-3 visa, it's a new category for Australian nationals working temporarily in the US in a specialty occupation.

It's valid for two years and can be renewed. Chetner's visa is valid until 2010. It remains valid only while she works for Redwood.

It used to be that the road to working in the US was paved with difficulties.
 
Thousands of Australians applied each year for the green card lottery, with only a tiny percentage lucky enough to score the golden ticket.

Most people who landed a job there did so via a company transfer.

Good relations between the American and Australian governments have led to the introduction of the J-1 visa, to allow Australian tertiary students and recent graduates to work for a year in the US in practically any industry.

International Exchange Programs, Australia's largest non-profit, work and travel organisation, is one of the registered sponsors of the new visa. It reports a surge of interest in the visa, introduced at the end of last year.
 
"The States has always been a notoriously difficult place to work in," spokeswoman Naomi Joyce says "This has opened it up to so many people as there are very few restrictions on the types of industries you can work in."

Joyce says her outfit does not line up jobs for the visa holders but it gives advice and contacts, plus access to an online jobs magazine.
 
"The majority of people will use contacts from home to find a job or they look online," she says. "We've seen many students and graduates go over and find work in everything from hospitality and retail to the performing arts."

The visa program is operating on a test basis for two years, with both governments scheduled to assess its long-term viability at the end of next year.

Joyce recommends that interested students and graduates "get in quick" if they are interested. More  information is available on the website, www.iep.org.au.

Rebecca Taylor, 24, is one of the graduates seizing the opportunity. She's headed to Long Beach, California, for a 12-month stint in the music PR business.
 
"I'll be interning at a record label, where hopefully my communications degree will come in handy," Taylor says.
 
"It was really easy to get the visa and the great thing about it is you can work in any field. I didn't study for three years to go and work at a ski resort."

For Taylor, the depth and breadth of the entertainment industry in the US holds great appeal. "I'm looking forward to the networking I'll be able to do," she says. "You can experience a lot in 12 months and I am excited to be around inspiring up-and-coming artists."

Paul Lyons, group managing director of Ambition, a specialist recruitment company dealing mainly with the finance industry here and overseas, has seen a surge of interest in working in the US from young professionals.
 
"Most Australians go to Europe or Asia to work because of their heritage but more and more they are taking up the opportunities in the United States," he says. "The benefit to your career tends to be more on the personal side than the technical side.

"Employers will see that you've developed your skills and life experience in two or three years away; you are likely to have done that much more rapidly than if you had stayed in Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne."

Chetner's New York stint has given her years of experience in a relatively short time. "I've broadened my skills and experience by working in a fast-paced environment with so many agencies and different brands. And I've learned how to use my Aussie accent to my advantage."

Home advantage, Paul Lyons, from finance recruiter Ambition, says it is an advantage to be an Aussie when looking for work in the US.

"Aussies have a brand image of being hard-working, gregarious and adaptable, with high-level communication skills," he says. "We are also known for speaking our minds."

Lyons says that before the credit crunch there were many opportunities for Australians in the big finance capitals New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago.  "If you look further afield in other industries, there's reasonably full employment over there at the moment," Lyons says.
 
"If you are skilled, can get a working holiday visa and have some drive, you will find work." 

Published: 24 May 2008