How to find a job in Silicon Valley without a visa
After four years of living in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, I’m going back to Europe. Before I leave, I want to share some lessons that I have learned during my time here.
I arrived as a young student from Italy, yet I was able to make my way into the tech capital of the world. It was not easy. Many people contacted me during these years asking how I did it. “What’s the secret? I want to find a job there, too!” I’m about to share some tips for those of you who dream to experience the startup life in Silicon Valley. I hope to give you some useful insights that I learned from my personal experience and from stories of other international workers that I met during my time here.
First of all, let’s be honest and face the fact that if you don’t have a US passport or a working visa, it is going to be 10 times harder for you to find a job. Even if Silicon Valley was built on International talent (more here), the last ten years of immigration policy have made it difficult for International workers to move here. Companies can’t hire employees just based on the profile they need.
It doesn’t matter how talented you are; there…