Dear candidate,
Thanks again for your interest in the Trainee program.
You have been given this link as we think that you are very able to find yourself a Trainee position in the US and/or we can not present any or many Trainee positions in your field which could suit you well.
Finding yourself a Trainee position has many benefits and only few disadvantages.
Benefits
If you have certain wishes, you have a much higher chance to fulfill those wishes.
You have a much higher chance to find a position which pays a higher salary.
In finding yourself a Trainee position in the US, you will learn a lot of skills which will help you also to find a better positions faster when you are back in your home country from the Trainee program.
You get to live in the US, and get paid.
Disadvantages
You need to invest your time and efforts to achieve your dreams
NOTE: Even if you think that it is maybe impossible for you to find a Trainee position yourself, please know that most Trainee candidates worldwide find themselves a Trainee position in the US. So yes, it is difficult but obviously it is not impossible.
Knowing that fact the only question you have to ask yourself is now, how badly do you want to live the Trainee program in the US?
If the answer is that it is your dream to live for 12 or 18 months in the US and experience this possibility with the Trainee progarm, then please continue reading.
If this is NOT you dream, please let your main contact know and we will see what other program options are available for you.
Ready to give it a try?
If your answer is YES, we are here to give you good advice and valuable tips on how to achieve your dream faster.
Make a plan
Write down what YOU think needs to be done to succeed with this project.
Decide on a maximum timeframe. For example: In max. 3 months I want to secure a Trainee position in the US.
Now decide on how much time per day you have to invest to get the project done in the max. time frame you set yourself.
Create a calendar and insert on which day you will execute which activity.
Try to stick to the calendar as much as possible.
Keep your main contact up to date on a regular base and receive a feedback.
After you found an employer who is willing to give you a Trainee opportunity, we will be happy to talk with the employer and later process the visa for you.
General things you should consider
Finding a position in a highly competitive market is mostly done if you have professionals who are willing and able to indicate you to possible employers. Just sending out your resume is NOT going to get you what you are looking for in a reasonable time.
So the goal number ONE is to find other professionals with contacts in the US to support you with your Trainee position search. This is called "creating a network". This can be done via the people you might know like University professors and coordinators, other professionals you might have access to via family and friends. Besides this there is LinkedIn. As you might know Linkedin is a huge network of professionals. Try find and contact those with a similar background like country they were born, educational, interests, etc.
Before you send those people you find your details we want to make sure that you have the tools done to present yourself in the most professional way. Remember sending out your resume will NOT do the trick. As you might have a great personality lets try to show this to your potential employer via a presentational video. Additionally show your professional skills via work related case studies which can be also videos or powerpoint presentations. To present this great material best with an easy access for the people in the US, let's create a personal web page about yourself and your skills. Still not convinced, read about more reasons at this link https://collegeinfogeek.com/personal-website/
Standard Possibility to get a Trainee position
If you don't have network, we suggest the following:
look for open positions in the field you can train in (if you are not sure about the fields you can train, please ask your main contact)
make a list of places you would like to train/intern (like around 30 places)
send your resume to each one, and call insistently, to make sure your portfolio/resume will be seen.
keep track of places and answers you are getting.
try to schedule an interview.
make sure the employer understand that distance is not a problem for you.
Advanced possibility to get a Trainee position
>> Create A Personal Website
Step 1) Create content
Before creating the web page, we suggest to create the content first. This should be the following
US style resume
(when you get this info we might have done this already. Ask you main contact if you are not sure.)
More info can be found at this link http://www.icce.com.br/trainee-usa-evaluation-from-complete-resume.
Keep your main contact up to date on a regular base and receive a feedback.
Presentational video
Just a paper resume can not really present you as a person. A video can do this much better.
Here are some indications on how to create that http://www.icce.com.br/trainee-usa-video
Another example is this one ::view::
Upload the video(s) to YouTube.com or Vimeo. Make sure they can not be found or discovered via web searches as they are not meant for everybody to see. Just for the US employers.
NOTE: You do not need to know everything and if you do not, I suggest not to invest your time to learn how to do that task perfectly. See if you have a friend who knows more about creating a presentational video and ask if he/she can ask you with this task.
Keep your main contact up to date on a regular base and receive a feedback.
Video(s) of your work experiences and skills
If you have previous and valuable work experiences in the Training field, now it is time to talk about this so that the US employer sees your existing skills. If possible pick 1-3 project scenarios you can describe and which show the following:
What was the project's objective?
How did you identify the problems/challenges?
What were your ideas/solutions to overcome the problems/challenges?
What did you do to implement your ideas/solutions?
What happened and what did you learn and what happened that required adjustments? If adjustments were required, explain.
What was the outcome of the project and was the objective achieved?
What did other people say or see you after you did your work?
NOTE: Please only present projects which you think are VERY interesting for an US employer to know about. Make sure that you also show your capability to be a team player and person who can work in an existing team.
Other text content your web page will need/you want to put
Maybe you want to create short paragraphs to introduce some content. Maybe a cover letter type of thing is the right thing for you.
Keep your main contact up to date on a regular base and receive a feedback.
Step 2) Create a web page and choose a template
After having a good idea about the content of your web page it is time to create the web page in choosing a template which allows you to present your content best to the VIEWER (the US employers manager).
Always keep in mind that you make this web page for another person The hiring manager in the US). Put yourself into this person's mind and think what their objective is when viewing your web page. After this is done make sure that the web page has a personal and individual touch (not to individual please. Most people are more conservative then open for “other” things).
To create the web page we suggest to use http://www.wix.com/cv-resume/website.
They allow you to create a Free web page which includes some advertisment.
If you plan to remove the ads you need to pay for the service. A few times per year they grant a 50% discount for the first year.
NOTE: You do not need to know everything and if you do not, I suggest not to invest your time to learn how to do that task perfectly. See if you have a friend who knows more about creating a nice presentational web page and ask if he/she can ask you with this task.
Keep your main contact up to date on a regular base and receive a feedback.
Step 3) Place your content on the web page
Resume: You might have different ways to show the details from your resume but we think it is important that the viewer always has the chance to just download your resume in a pdf format with one click. So please include also a link for downloading your resume.
Video(s): The web page system allows you to implement videos easily. Make sure the video windows has a good size and is well positioned.
Other content: Insert what you created before and see if all makes your web page easy to receive the info the reader should receive.
Individual touch: See what represents you (Fonts, colors, style) but still appear professional enough to not have the reader judge you negatively before seeing the content.
Keep your main contact up to date on a regular base and receive a feedback.
Create a network
Step 1) Get your LinkedIn account ready
Create a LinkedIn account if you do not have one already
Make it look as professional as possible.
Please search the internet for the best tips on how this is done in the best way. Please create a google doc in your google drive folder and insert your BEST findings and what you did (Step by step) so that we can share this with future candidates. Thank you in advance for your help with that
Keep you r main contact up to date on a regular base and receive a feedback.
Step 2) Find and CONTACT possible people to indicate you
Talk to people who know you like for example family and friends, University professors and/or coordinators (see if your University has partner relationships with Universities in the US. If yes try to get the professors names in the US) and business contacts at current or former employers. If you do not have any of this see if those people you know can at least indicate people to you you could contact.
Search for people on LinkedIn who have a similar background (Brazilan, from the same city, studied the same subject, worked for similar companies like you, etc.)
Contact those people and tell them that you are a professional or student from Brazil and that you saw that they are from the same city, field of professional or any other reason why you think they could help you find a Trainee position.
Forward them the link to your presentational web page and ask the person if he/she would be open to help you find a POSITION in the US in the field. Tell them that you can work for up to 18 months in the US (max. 12 months for Hospitality/Tourism and Culinary candidates). Tell them that you will take care of the visa and that you do NOT need a company to sponsor you. NOTE: At this point do not say anything about the Trainee visa as they might not know about this visa and for this reason that might just make things more difficlut. If the person says that they do not know about an open position at their company ask them if he/she would be able to maybe indicate another professional you could ask as well. NOTE: That is a very normal question in the US and the the worst answer could be "Sorry, I do not know"
Keep your main contact up to date on a regular base and receive a feedback.
Secure your Intern/Trainee position
If you found the name(s) of the most influential/responsible manager(s) who can make a hiring decision (that is most likely not a person from Human Resources, they often only process the hiring decision from another manager), make sure you mention the most important things the manager in the US company wants to hear or is looking for in order to select you for the open position for now or in the future (remember that you can wait and that you can start at any time).
If during the interview the manager or HR person asks about your legal working status please say the following:
“I will be able to work for YOUR company for max 18 months (max 12 months for Hospitality/Tourism and Culinary candidates).
In order to get the working permit, I need to present a document (Training plan) which will outline which activities I will execute during the time in your company. I need to demonstrate that I am learning NEW skills which I learn in doing them on the job.
YOUR company does NOT need to sponsor me (the US sponsor will sponsor your visa) and there are NO costs involved for the company (the candidate will pay the program and other fees)
After the company shows strong interest in hiring you (offering you a trainee position) and you passed the main interview(s), now it is time to negotiate your salary and how pays what concerning the program fees, visa fees and travel expenses until your arrival.
About the salary: Depending on your professional experiences and what valuable things you can bring to the company (be sure to know that very well) and your connection to the company, the salary could be the state minimum salary (which is paid in most cases as this could make it easier for the employer to give you this opportunity or higher depending on what you and the US employer think could be fair. To have more knowledge about salary negations without asking for to much or to little, here is more info at this link ::view::.
NOTE: Depending on your available finance and your deal/connection with the US company, maybe the company can agree to pay 50% or even 100% for the program costs as you will pay for the visa costs and flight. But when talking about that, please make sure that there is a chance for them to agree to that or that you do not ask for too much as you are receiving already the GIFT of an open trainee position. Being knowledgeable and sensitive about this topic is very important before talking about that topic as if you ask for “to much” from the US employers’ point of view, you might kill your entire change in receiving a final trainee position offer..
After I receive from you the document with the details (Training plan), I will provide this and other docs to the US sponsor who will verify all documents. After the docs were approved, they will issue a DS form which will allow me to apply for a 12 or 18 months J-1 Trainee visa at the local US consulate in my home country.
The process takes about 3 months until I can start working (training).”
If the person shows interest to move forward, please let your main contact know immediately. If the person you talked to is not 100% sure and needs more info, we are here to help and can talk with the person. Just let us know what is the case.
Keep your main contact up to date on a regular base and receive a feedback.
JUST FOR YOUR INFO AT THIS TIME
After you found an employer
Congratulations for finding an employer which is willing to offer you a Trainee position.
Now that this is accomplished the next step is for the employer (and maybe with your help) to complete the docs we need to present to the US sponsor for their approval.
1) Training plan
If the employer is new to the Trainee program, we strongly suggest that YOU complete the Training plan after knowing the details of your work/training at the company. NOTE: We will help you with this task so that it is done as fast and good as possible.
After it was created by YOU, you will ask the US employer to review the doc and its details so that they can make their changes.
For examples and more tips on how to complete the Training plan, please contact your main contact.
2) Host company agreement
This docs asks the main details from the employer like EIN number, address of the company, number of full time staff, etc. and outlines the main rules and regulations of the program.
Please ask your main contact for the document so that you can email it to the correct person at the US employer.
3) Photos of the location you will be trained at
It is required to present min 3 photos from the location you will be trained at to the US sponsor
4) Copy of the workerscomp
Required in almost all states, The US sponsor needs to receive a copy of the workers comp. A workers comp is an insurance that covers the continuing of your salary in case you get hurt at work and can not work for some days in order to get better.
These are the only docs we need from the US employer for the US sponsor.
Not a lot. RIGHT?!
Approving the first docs with the US sponsor
After you received the above docs from the US sponsor and forward them to us, we will ask YOU for a few more docs like for example a copy of your Uni diploma and/or proof of previous work experiences, etc. These docs will be forwarding by us to the US sponsor.
The US sponsor will review the docs and will decide if they can pre-approve the docs or if adjustments need to be made in for example the Training plan before it can be pr-approved.
After the pre-approval we need to collect a more docs form you like a copy of your passport and upload all these docs to the US sponsor online system for their final approval. We also will need to recive the porgram fees. After all docs are received and approved, the US sponsor will issue for you the visa papers which allow the candiadte to apply for the visa at the local US consulate.
Timeframe
The total time investment AFTER you secured your Training position can be around 3 months (12 weeks).
Even if you do not think so it takes most time to get the completed Training plan from the employer and the application docs from the candidate in a way which can be approved by the US sponsor.
After the US sponsor accepted the application, it takes about 2 weeks to receive the DS form.
It takes about 2-3 weeks to complete the DS 160, book an appointment at the local US consulate, pay the SEVIS fee, go to the US consulate and get the passport back.
Now just buy your flight ticket and you are ready to arrive in the US.
Program Fees
Self Placement program fees can be viewed at this link https://www.icce.com.br/trainee-usa-program-prices
This includes the following:
Tips on how to secure a Trainee position by yourself
Support with the application process
DS form to apply for the visa
Travel health insurance for the duration of the program
Support for the entire time of the program
Not includes:
US sponsors and ICCEs application fee
(if new Trainee employer has below 3 Million US$ annually revenue) Visit of the Host employer: around US$ 200
DS form mailing fees
Flight ticket
accommodation
transportation
personal expenses
reissuing of DS form in case dates change or DS form gets lost
The fees need to be paid after the US sponsor pre-approved the entire application.
All listed information & fees can change at any time and without notification.
Please contact your main contact if you need more information. We are here to help!!