To make a very long story a little shorter: I’m certified as a Medical Technologist in Canada, and I’m taking the exam next week that will allow me to call myself a Med Tech in the States as well. I want to work there because that’s where my boyfriend is, and it’s easier for me to move than it is for him.
Now, from what I’m seeing with friends, nurses are practically being kidnapped to work in the States, being offered sign-on bonuses, paid moving expenses, and places to live for the first little while after the move. I’ve been told that there’s as big a deficit in the laboratories – most places need techs pretty badly, and will gladly take on the extra paperwork to get a good Canadian tech into their labs. But now I’m starting to doubt that.
I’ve been scanning the net for hospitals in my target area (DC/Baltimore) and filling out all the online job application forms they have. Most of the time, I’m asked for a SSN, which I don’t have, because I can’t get the work visa till I get the job. So, worried that the forms would cough up my application because of invalid information, I also faxed my resume and references to all of the HR departments a week ago.
Nothing.
And now I don’t really know what to do. Do I wait longer? Call them and ask them why they don’t like me? I’m kidding, of course, but I really don’t know what to try now. I’ve never done the traditional job-hunting thing; I’ve always sort of stumbled into great jobs without having to try very hard.
I just need advice. What next? I’m going to be in the area in two weeks and was hoping to have at least one interview lined up, but that doesn’t seem likely. Should I go to the hospitals anyway and try to get my resume into the hands of the chief technologists in the labs, instead of HR? Or is that sort of thing frowned upon, jumping over HR like that?
There are a few Dopers working in labs, if I recall correctly. Can you guys give me the straight dope (ha!) on the lab situation? Are they in dire enough need to hire qualified and well-trained Canadians?
And last, if anyone has some supportive encouraging thoughts to spare, and wants to aim them my way, it might help.