Unlocking The Work Visa Puzzle

Using AI and Data to Secure Employment Opportunities

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Introduction

The concept of work visas may be familiar to you if you’ve been an international graduate or have traveled to a foreign country with the intention of legally continuing your residence for work purposes. If you’re unfamiliar with this concept but plan to work abroad in the future, allow me to briefly explain.

Access to a foreign country doesn’t automatically grant you the right to work legally. Before you can work, you need permission in the form of a work visa from the government of that country. This visa allows you to engage in legal employment and receive payment. To apply for and obtain such visas, the typical route is for an employer in the foreign country to offer you an employment contract and cover the costs of the work visa application process, effectively serving as your guarantor.

However, securing a work visa is not a simple process. Employers must undertake additional steps and paperwork, which can is costly, compared to hiring a local resident with existing rights to work legally. Beyond paperwork, employers must demonstrate that they couldn’t find suitable talent locally and agree to pay you at a higher standard rate set by the government. Consequently, many employers are hesitant to employ individuals who require work visas due to these challenges, limiting opportunities for foreigners.

The Current Job Market Dynamics

In today’s job market, having a university degree no longer guarantees a well-paying job. With numerous universities producing thousands of graduates flooding the job market, competition is fierce. Consider your own cohort — how many graduated with excellent GPAs? As a foreigner, you’re competing against a multitude of local candidates with similar qualifications, and crucially, they don’t require work visa sponsorship.

Additionally, due to the ever changing laws protecting employees and the rise of remote work, employers are increasingly outsourcing IT related tasks and taking them offshore to countries like India, the Philippines, and now Eastern Europe. Indirectly, reducing the need to permanently employ local resident talents.
As a foreigner, you might be convinced local residents don’t face similar challenges of lack of opportunities. But I want to assure, today’s job market is a fierce competition for everyone. Even though I agree the challenges obviously weigh on foreigners who need a work visa.

Some Positive Developments and Opportunities

Despite these challenges, some developed countries have introduced special visas for workers with scarce skills locally. Programs such as search year periods for international graduates in Western Europe countries, talent immigration visas in Canada, the UK, and Germany and H1B visas in the United states aimed to address talent shortages. However, securing an employment contract from an employer remains crucial to expedite the work visa application process.

The Viewpoint of an Employer

Now, let’s consider this situation from the perspective of an employer. Imagine yourself as an employer. Why would you go the extra mile to hire a foreign talent when you can find local talents without the hassle of the visa process? Presumably, there must be something exceptional about that talent that you can’t find in local talents. Perhaps that foreign talent possess skills crucial to solving a specific business problem that is negatively weighing on your business, or you view the talent as an investment with a promising return on investment (ROI).

So you see, before an employer considers going that extra mile of securing you a work visa, you MUST proof you have something exceptional to bring on board. Just so you know, every year, many foreigners are granted work visas (check the immigration statistics in the country where you are located).

Before I tell you what you need to do, I will like to let you know I was able to secure a work visa even before completing my master studies in Belgium. I also know of many who have secured theirs and also a couple who were even fetched by employers from their home countries and relocated abroad. When I take a closer look, these talents had proofed something extra. something more than their degrees.
With this insight in mind, what can you do to become that exceptional talent employers are willing to pursue and sponsor work visas?

What You need to do

In my experience, if you are facing the challenge of obtaining a work visa, I believe you already possess valuable skills you can leverage to improve your situation. However, you might be struggling to effectively communicate your ideas, skills and potentials authoritatively and convincingly in front of potential employers. While having a university degree is certainly a positive factor, it’s not enough in today’s fiercely competitive job market to differentiate yourself in the eyes of employers. There are additional steps you must take to build a powerful and authoritative portfolio. These additional steps are well outlined in the framework I will introduce soon.

Let’s consider the scenario of two job candidates attending a job interview. In this example, we have two job candidates who on paper are well qualified in terms of skills, both having degrees and can do the job if given the opportunity. They are both asked why they are a good candidate for the position.

By comparing the presentations of both candidates, you may already discern the shortcomings in the approach of candidate A. While academia emphasises degrees and GPA, in the real world, employers prioritise your ability to leverage your skills to solve their problems or help achieve their specific goals. Employers don’t care about the list of skills you have, but care how you can demonstrate using those skills to help their business. Unfortunately, there’s a higher chance you’ve been showing up as candidate A.

In the eyes of employers, candidate B could be a favoured candidate. Candidate B, demonstrates how she has leveraged her tech skills to solve a real world problem in her previous role. Also, she emphasised on the quantitative results (15%) achieved. For instance, if an employer is losing €10,000 monthly due to customer churn, they’d be inclined to hire a specialist with experience in churn predictions, even if it means investing in a foreign expert. Let’s assume the cost of hiring candidate B is €4,000 monthly, the employer will be willing to invest so as to potentially save at least €6,000 per month.

Presenting yourself as candidate B does not require another degree but a change of approach. Employers today’s want to hire

Problem solvers not employees,
Experienced talents not amateurs
Talent good at solving a specific problem not someone who claims to be good in everything
Talents that can guarantee a ROI for their business and not an record in the expense report.

Which type of talent are you?

Being that talent that is highly sort after by employers requires you to change your approach in the job market. It may be challenging but entirely achievable with the framework I’ll soon share with you for FREE.

How AI and Data Can Help You.

In the example provided earlier, I highlighted the utilisation of key AI and Data skills for a reason. These skills are currently among the most highly sought-after in the job market. As we speak, there is a race by companies to internally leverage artificial intelligence (AI) because of the tremendous potential it possess. To do so, they need to leverage company data. Seeing the valuable of company data, companies are reluctant to outsource tasks that involve their proprietary data, creating a demand for specialists who can harness the wealth of information within their data.

Now, you might be pondering how you can become a favoured candidate armed with this shared information. In my experience, one of the most common mistakes non-tech professionals make when trying to transition into AI and data is embarking on without a structured plan. They often resort to scouring YouTube for training videos, following various sources without a cohesive strategy, leading to confusion and frustration, and delaying their desired results—landing a job. This approach is flawed. This strategy is to be avoided at all cost.

This is what I want to propose to you, a Framework—a six-phase strategy based on my personal experience and the best practices of seasoned AI and data professionals. This framework has been instrumental in securing significant opportunities for me, including roles at Brussels Airport and Pfizer. This Framework will help you make that smooth transition and guarantee you a high paying opportunities in the field of AI and data within 3-6 months.

How the E2PE Framework can assist you

The E2PE Framework, or Education to Professional Employment, is designed to facilitate your transition from a non-tech professional to an AI and Data specialist within 3-6 months, with the promise of at least a 10% increase in salary. The best part? This framework is available for FREE download on my website. [Link]

Knowing the opportunities AI and data brings, leveraging the E2PE framework will guarantee you the following

Using your non tech knowledge and experience to pave a high paying career path in the field of AI and Data
Be in control of your career by setting the terms for who you work for and how you will execute the job.
Take control of your personal life by benefiting from the flexibility of working from home and from anywhere.

Final Remarks

There is truly a challenge of securing a work visa in today’s competitive market. But even in this difficult market, employers are increasingly in need for good talent. They will go extra mile if you are able to convince them you are the qualified talent they need. With the insights you have gained from this write-up, I’m confident that investing in AI and Data skills hold immense potential to help you persuade an employer to sponsor your work visa if approached with the right strategy.

Author: Ivo Kubam
Date: 12-04-2024
Graffiland

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