Before moving to the United States, you made plans for exactly what you would do and how to live. But these global strategies are often shattered by the little things newcomers don't think about or even don't know about. As Dmitry Danilin, a repairman of air conditioning systems in the company, admitted to us Home Alliance, after the move, he had many such little things, although he was preparing for life in America. But the most offensive was the adapter to an American outlet, Dmitry did not take it with him from Russia (he simply did not think in a series of more global thoughts), and on the very first day in the USA he laid out $ 11 for it in a nearby store (a lot of money for a newly arrived immigrant for such a trifle).
An immigrant in a new country is like a child, except that he does not have parents who will feed, put to bed and take care of everything. He must provide for himself. How can this be done in a new environment and in new conditions? What to grab first and where to run?
In partnership with the company Home Alliance and with the help of her active employee Dmitry Danilin, we prepared an educational program on how to improve your life in the United States, talking about the nuances of finding housing and work, as well as improving the English language. We described the history of Dmitry's move and his path to success in our material.
Housing
Where to look for housing
There are two options: online and offline.
Online search. The most popular online accommodation resources are Zillow.com, Apartments.com, Hotpads.com, Craigslist.com. Most relevant information is on Craigslist. There is also the widest selection of private housing.
Offline search. Oddly enough, not always all current housing can be viewed online, so if you are already in the US, go to the fields. Decide on the area, google apartment complexes and go to leasing offices. Often apartment complexes themselves place advertisements on the streets about the availability of affordable housing for rent.
Useful Tips
Explore Landlord Tenant Law. This is the law governing the relationship between the tenant and the landlord. Each city / county (county) has its own (google * city / county name * Landlord Tenant Law). In case of disputable situations, refer to this document and directly refer to it in your letters and conversations with the management / owner.
Read reviews on apartmentratings.com, Yelp and Google. Of course, you can't please everyone, but if several people write the same thing, it's worth considering.
Always look at the apartments you are going to rent before signing a contract. You must see what you are giving money for, so that later there will be no unpleasant surprises.
Look for housing close to work, kindergarten, or school. The road can really take up much of the time and effort.
Look at the ranking of the districts: how safe, clean, what contingent lives.
So you've chosen your home. What's next?
First of all, you need to fulfill the requirements for the tenant.
Proof of income (income proof). Landlords want to be sure of your ability to pay. Therefore, they will require proof that you are employed, indicating your income level. This can be a letter from the manager, a copy of the offer, or a certificate from work.
Credit history. Landlords are checking your credit history. If you have just arrived, then of course you do not have it yet. In large cities with a high level of immigrant inflow, this is treated calmly, and the same deposit acts as a guarantee of your solvency.
You can also resort to help from a friend. A friend who already lives in the United States, has a credit history and can vouch for you, is another way to calm a vigilant landlord.

Photo: Shutterstock
Signing a contract and settling in
Read the contract carefully. Look under what conditions it can be terminated. All contracts are more or less standard, but if you have never seen it before, it is useful to study.
Before checking in, ask about moving out fees (payments upon check-out). Managers do not like this topic very much and will never start it themselves. But here, too, surprises can await you. Standard: you must leave the apartment in the same form as you check out it should be clean (after professional cleaning, as they like to say). Just vacuuming the carpet and wiping the shelves will not be enough. Most likely, you will have to either hire people for professional cleaning, or remove the amount from the deposit, and the management organizes everything.
Work
The main thing here is to correctly prioritize and understand the real situation. Whatever position you leave at home, in the United States, you are a new person and you will have to prove your professional suitability and competence from scratch.
This does not mean that you need to agree to work for a penny - this approach is mistakenly used by many immigrants. In fact, you can get a good income from the start, the main thing is to choose the right area. But be prepared for the fact that you have to work with your hands, and drink coffee and give orders while there are other people.
Making the right choice of a profession in the USA that will allow you to earn good money, develop and have time for yourself or your family will help company guide Home Alliance "Catalog with professions and salaries in the USA"... In it, you will find real salaries in different positions, and also understand that an immigrant can earn up to 10 thousand dollars a month.
“Therefore, before arriving, write to your friends in the United States, google where you can work in the United States, what you need for this and what steps you can take right now, regardless of where you are,” advises Dmitry.
The Home Alliance essentially invites you to build your own business. You will be given the necessary information and skills, and then you run your business yourself - the company transfers the incoming orders to you in the amount that you are ready to accept, everything else is your concern and your income.

Photo: Shutterstock
In addition, you can look for work in the United States on the following resources:
Monster.com Is the largest job search site in the USA and the world. The resource base contains more than one million offers from employers and more than 150 million resumes. Advanced search allows you to search for vacancies not only by name and city, but also by skills and keywords. We advise you to use a trick and look for a job by the word Russian.
Craigslist Is one of the most popular email classified sites among Americans. It offers rental housing, various goods and services, dating, and work in the United States. Select the city you want, go to the "Work" section and enter your keywords.
Indeed is the leading job search site in the world. More than 180 of millions of unique users from 50 from different countries visit it every month. The greatest advantage of the resource is that it allows you to search for vacancies both on the site itself and on thousands of others.
Careerjet Is a job search engine that provides access to millions of jobs posted on tens of thousands of websites around the world.
HelpDetected Is a specialized site for finding work in the United States from Russian-speaking employers. It offers work in the United States for Russians, there are a variety of vacancies - from drivers and nannies to web programmers and office managers.
Glassdoor - here they offer detailed information about the companies that are looking for employees. This includes, among other things, salary, interview requirements, and current employees' views on the team atmosphere and company goals.
LinkedIn is rapidly becoming the main source of vacancies for those who are interested in specific requests in certain areas. After registering for it, you will immediately find vacancies that match your experience.
BAZAR.club - Russian-language bulletin board in the USA. To search, no registration is required - just enter the correct query and specify the location.
In addition, there are still little-known but very effective job search sites. We have compiled list of 15 such resources.
English
If you are not at all comfortable with English, then it is better to start learning it even before moving to the USA. You need to master at least an elementary basis in order to answer questions at passport control and be able to order food in a cafe or buy food in a store.
This is where language learning apps come in handy, of which there are so many. This is especially convenient because your phone is always at hand, and you can devote every free minute to studying. We have compiled a list of 20 handy, effective and free apps to get you started.
Alternatively, you can use YouTube channels. We suggest you familiarize yourself with XNUMX versatile YouTube channels to help you learn English.
If you are fine with English (at least, you think so in your home country or during your tourist trips), then do not rush to relax. Chances are that the intricacies of American pronunciation after moving to the United States will repeatedly baffle you. Therefore, it makes sense to practice listening to the language. For this, there are also a lot of programs and sites. We have compiled a list of 22 online listening resources. There are different themes and levels, choose what interests you.
So, you can easily understand the interlocutor in the United States and can confidently express yourself on everyday topics. But as soon as the conversation gets to something deeper, do you start to hang up and think for a long time? This is a sign that you need to expand your vocabulary. And believe me, no matter what your level of English was at the time of your arrival in the United States, in order to speak like a native speaker, you will always miss some words. Therefore, in the US, you will have to learn a lot of new vocabulary. there is 15 powerful tricks on how to quickly learn English words... In addition, here you can also use modern technologies and download one of these 5 Free Apps to Learn English Words.
There is housing and work! What's next?
And then there is still a lot of work: opening a bank account, forming a credit history, obtaining health insurance, social security numbers, obtaining regional and city ID cards ... We will tell about all this in our next article on organizing life after moving to the United States.
Material prepared in partnership with
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