Conflicts with co-founder, nearly bankrupt, unknown future
First: I am a kinda old HN member, with my Karma above 1000 and I figure into the "superstars" ranking (ie: the top 100 of highest average karma per day). I created this account to avoid more conflict.
I actually wrote a very lengthy post describing my situation, but I guessed that the co-founder mentioned in the title might read the post and things might get worse. So I erased the description of the problem, and will just ask a question:
Where I find a job outside my country?
I am currently trying freelance (without much success so far), and many people told me here on HN that my skills fit what Microsoft for example seek on H1B people (and the entry pay is a magnitude bigger than whatever I can find on my country), can someone help me get a job like this?
I don't grok web stuff (node.js, ruby, SQL and so on...)
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Looking for a job by posting ? Just go on the website of the companies you're interested in and apply that's pretty much it.
People can recommend you but really no one would/should do it unless they know you and even with that that doesn't make you any special, you have the same recruitment process (at least that's how it is in my company: a big AV company).
May be I'm not understanding, can you be more specific how can we help you ?
I tried microsoft careers site, but it is not clear there how it works, it kept giving me jobs in my own country (and all the jobs in my own country are marketing...)
I also searched a list of H1B companies, but I only found a bunch of India outsourcing companies (like Tata), and this is not the sort of thing I want. I want real work.
For the companies that sponsor H1b you can have the list here: http://www.myvisajobs.com/Reports/2012-H1B-Visa-Sponsor.aspx... with some numbers, based on my experience it's not necessarily true or my field of work pays more than that (research).
On the companies like MS, there's not specific keywords for sponsored jobs, just look in the USA and then it's up to the hiring manager to decide if he wants to bother with processing an H1B or not (depends also on budget because it has a cost and a time issue).
The good news is the quota for H1B starts in april, companies can apply for you to get a starting date for the job in October. You have the perfect timing !
You could also try other companies like Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Amazon, etc.
If you are interested in MS in particular, drop me a note -- my username @ gmail. I'm more on the Skype side of the house though.
Angel list also has a pretty great job search tool, with both salaries and equity[2]
Note that H1B workers on the US will only be able to start in October this year, so being willing to work remotely for a while can be necessary. Also, H1B process takes a while, not to mention the interviewing (I know this from my own experience).
If you need cash in the meantine, there is also the freelance version of Who is hiring[3]
I'm sorry to hear about you and your co-founder. Breakups happens to many startups. Elad Gil, who advises/invest in startups, recently disclosed[4]:
One Y Combinator founder I spoke with felt that about ~20% of startups in his batch blew up in the first 9-12 months after entering YC due to founder issues.
Yes, it sucks (also, from my experience). But I hope you will get back on your feet soon.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5304169
[2] https://angel.co/salaries
[3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5304173
[4] http://blog.eladgil.com/2013/01/how-to-fire-co-founder.html
For start you should see to give it a few days for things to cool off, you are obviously still very upset over whatever happened.
Secondly, use linkedin, if you think MS has jobs you would like to do, hit people from MS. Don't limit yourself too much, don't complain, just tell them you would like to work and listen to what they might say.
If you really focus on that, I believe things can happen.
Best of luck.
Being on an H-1B will make your search more difficult, and the book doesn't address visa specifics.
But when you do get interviews, it gives you the tools to make yourself very attractive to any hiring manager, by showing you how to understand their (business) problem, and how to present yourself as the solver of that problem.
Check out the book, and good luck.
Also, StackOverflow's Careers 2.0, though that is invite-only after you've accumulated enough upvotes.
Yeah, might not be a bad question for HN.
> "can someone help me get a job like this?"
Might be a bad question for HN.
If this is true, also look at Canada - especially Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and Calgary.
Good luck.
Also, mobile is really hot when it comes to freelancing. Are you sure you can't at least find work on Elance/oDesk? It's always better to work through referrals, but those sites are okay for filling in gaps/transitions.