Ticket to American Dream: Documents that a medtech should have

Are you a medical technologist ready to achieve your goals in working to USA? This blog might guide you.

These are the documents that I secured to apply as a medical technologist in the United States. All fees may be subjected to changes so better check their official websites for updates. So brace yourselves for a number of documents, these are:

1.       ASCPi Certificate

·         PRICE: $200/10000 PHP

·         VALIDITY: 3 years

2.       IELTS

·         PRICE: 10250 PHP

·         VALIDITY: 2 years

3.       CGFNS/ Visascreen

·         PRICE: $540/27500 PHP

·         VALIDITY: 5 years

4.       JSILNY and Associates- for course evaluation and American grade conversion. You need to mail your original TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS and a filled out application form from their website.

·         PRICE: $140 (8100 PHP) to be paid thru credit card  

                                                               i.      1460 PHP as courier fee (thru LBC) to be delivered to JSILNY Miami, Florida

·         DURATION: may take at least 3 months

·         Advantage: No expiry

5.       Passport- not expired of course.. J

6.       Birth certificate- Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) authenticated

7.       Current employer (Philippines)

·         Certificate of employment

·         Job description

·         Payslips

8.       Future Employer

·         Resume/CV

·         Soft copies of all files

Once you’re hired by an American Employer, this is what you’ll need.

9.       H-1B VISA (to be processed by the employer)

·         Labor Condition Application

·         Offer letter from the Future Employer

·         H-1B petition draft materials

·         Approved Notice of Action Form I-129 by the USCIS

·         H-1B working Visa (approved by the US Embassy)

10.   POEA COMPLIANCE SHEET (I’ve made a detailed blog for this so please check it out)

·         POLO verified contract

·         Overseas Employment certificate

11.   PLANE TICKET TO USA J

·         To be shouldered by you or the company

Reminder: Please make sure to give your complete address most especially to your Visascreen certificate, JSILNY and Notice of Action to ensure that the documents will be delivered to you.

This might seem a very long and costly process but once you complete requirements number 1 to 7, you can now seek employers via internet or an agent. At first, I thought that the whole process was hilarious since I’m not from a well-off family. So I worked hard by taking part time jobs to earn the fees.

No matter what happens, hold on to your dream! You’re now up for visa sponsorship! Be patient and ask God’s guidance that someday you will get to the Land of the Free. Kaya mo yan!

Resume of a medical technologist

To get noticed by employers most especially when you apply abroad, you need to have a presentable resume. Not too flashy and long, but just enough for employers to get to know about your work experience as a medical technologist.

Note that recruiters won't take much of their time reading your resume so it must be SHORT BUT CONCISE, 2-3 pages would suffice.

Here are some tips on what to put in to your resume:

1. HEADER
The header should contain your complete name with your professional titles (RMT, MLS(ASCPi), MSMT, MPH), followed by your current address below and the most important, your EMAIL ADDRESS and CONTACT NUMBER.

Remember: Your contact details should be active. This is a MUST since this is where your potential employer might contact you for an interview. Make sure to have your phone with you at all times.
Also, have a formal email address. An email ad of your name would be better for the employer to recognize easily.

Example:
RICARDO MARTIN DALISAY, RMT, MLS(ASCPi)
34 Pulang Araw St., Sampaloc, Manila
Phone number: (+63) 912-345-6789
Email Address: ricardomdalisay@gmail.com

2. CAREER PROFILE
What is this?
A career profile is a summary of your resume. Your strengths and advantages

Example:
• A medical technologist with 3 years experience as a generalist in a tertiary hospital.
• Skilled in Phlebotomy both in pediatric and geriatric patients....

3. PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
This is the part where you put all your relevant work experiences (just related to Med Tech) with your job position, duration, and your responsibilities)

For fresh graduates, simply put the affiliated centers where you practiced as an intern.

4. EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
No need to include your primary and secondary education. Instead, indicate the school and degree that you graduated from college. In my case, I have a Bachelor's degree in Medical Technology at Southwestern University. I also put the date of graduation, that was May 2015. If your pursue a Master's degree, include it in here as well.

5. SEMINARS and TRAININGS
- Indicate the title of the certificates you have received. It could be a Basic Training of the machines that you have in your lab or the CPD seminars that you attended. This will tell the employer that you are fulfilling the continuing education for medical technologists.

6. MACHINES HANDLED
- Good thing to add in your resume for the employers to have an idea if you already have knowledge on the machines that they have. It is an advantage if you have the same brand as theirs. Make sure that you can operate the machines not just for the sake of putting it to make your resume look promising.

7. CHARACTER REFERENCES
- It could be the pathologist, chief medical technologist or the section head in the laboratory where you're working. If the employer wants to know your job performance, they are the right people to consult with. Also, it could be a former colleague that is already working in the United States. At least they will have an idea that you know of someone working in the US. Limit your references up to three people and inform them firsthand before you put their phone number and email address.

How about Bio Data (birthday, Age, Gender, Height)? Will these matter?
Answer: Nope. Not needed.
Many of you might wonder where to put this portion in your resume but the truth is, it doesn't matter. What matters most is your experience. This will just eat up space in your resume. Anyway if they want to know about your personal information, they can ask you from the interview.

All in all, be honest. Polish your resume every now and then. If you lie in your resume and when the employer knows about it, this will jeopardize the opportunity. You might lose your job. Be yourself