Hi all, right now I'm a bit confused about what to do next with my life and I was hoping I could get some advise from you guys. So here is the deal: I'm venezuelan and a couple of weeks ago I got my B.S in Computer Science. I have always wanted to work on the US, however, after sending my CV to a lot of companies and getting rejected a lot because said companies weren't able to sponsor work visas I started thinking about taking another route.

I read about Full Sail and their M.S in Game Design and, more importantly, about their Career Development department, which I could use to find a Job in the US more easily.

What do you think about this plan? what have you heard about Full Sails' M.S in Game Design? Any info is appreciated!

EDIT:

I feel I should have elaborated a little bit more:

Aditionally to my B.S, I also have worked remotely for 3 years as a remote gameplay programmer (that is actually how I got the funds to potentially go to Full Sail). I think that if I'm physically there in the US, I could build connections during my career that would allow me to get the work visa faster

Btw, even though US is my first option, I wouldn't have a problem working in Canada either. The reason why I'm not planning on going to an university there is because I haven't found any which offers a M.S in Game Design.

Again, thanks for your advise!

The route you've chosen, Nero Nano, is a very expensive one with low probability of succeeding. A university's career development office can't perform miracles. The problem is that you've set your sights on an American job and you don't have an American work visa and you don't live in America. Getting the work visa is hard, unless you have a lot more than a degree (and a master's degree does not reduce that difficulty). I suggest you continue doing remote work, or get a job anywhere you can, and build your resume/CV. With strong experience and CV, you will find it easier to get an American job. http://www.sloperama.com/advice/m72.htm

As for your plan to build connections in the US while going to Full Sail: Mostly you'll build connections with other students. And you'll be located in Florida, which is not a major game hub.

(Same thing I told you on GameCareerGuide.)

I think if you've already got a degree in a field that's already a foot in the door to the kind of job you want, then going to another (expensive) degree program in a foreign country is an awful steep price to pay for networking opportunities. If you're serious about working in the US or other places, you might want to look into immegration and what's required, and your markettable skills might help you do that (e.g. working on an H1b in the US), even if you can't jump straight into the exact job you'd want, typically, there are far more openings for H1b workers in "regular" programming jobs than there are in game programming jobs. Even large game studios are small by comparison to large employers, and smaller companies usually don't need to cast an international net, nor can they usually afford to navigate the process of bringing people on a worker Visa into the country.

If you are desperate to get a job outside of Venezuela then there are far easier countries to get into than the US.

You already mentioned Canada but then said there isn't a Game Design M.S. but, you don't need one. You already have a Comp Sci degree and several years of work experience which should be able to get you a job in Canada without having to go back to University. Also you could try further afield it would be much easier for you to get a job somewhere in Europe (Say UK or Germany).

If your heart is set on the US though then you will need to look outside of games as most games companies have no problem finding staff locally and have no need to sponsor a Visa.

which should be able to get you a job in Canada

If your heart is set on the US though then you will need to look outside of games as most games companies have no problem finding staff locally and have no need to sponsor a Visa.

I'm afraid the situation in Canada isn't much different from the US. I have been through the process of obtaining a visa in Canada, and the only way to really pull it off as of recently is to specialize in a field which has a lack of local talent and to have a company that's willing to fight really hard to keep you in the country. The Canadian government will force the company in question to post a job opening for your position for a certain amount of time in an attempt to find local talent. Only if nobody can be found or if the company can make a very good case for why an applicant was not a good fit will they consider taking you through the visa process.

At that point there's a bunch of fees which the company has to be willing to pay combined with a mountain of paperwork.

For most engineering roles there's an abundance of people to fill up any open positions, so getting hired as a foreigner is not a trivial task.

which should be able to get you a job in Canada

If your heart is set on the US though then you will need to look outside of games as most games companies have no problem finding staff locally and have no need to sponsor a Visa.

I'm afraid the situation in Canada isn't much different from the US. I have been through the process of obtaining a visa in Canada, and the only way to really pull it off as of recently is to specialize in a field which has a lack of local talent and to have a company that's willing to fight really hard to keep you in the country. The Canadian government will force the company in question to post a job opening for your position for a certain amount of time in an attempt to find local talent. Only if nobody can be found or if the company can make a very good case for why an applicant was not a good fit will they consider taking you through the visa process.

At that point there's a bunch of fees which the company has to be willing to pay combined with a mountain of paperwork.

For most engineering roles there's an abundance of people to fill up any open positions, so getting hired as a foreigner is not a trivial task.

Is this just for working in Canada or for permanent emigration. As software engineers and software designers are both on the express entry lists that will allow you into Canada without having a job to go to provided that you wish to emigrate permanently.

Is this just for working in Canada or for permanent emigration. As software engineers and software designers are both on the express entry lists that will allow you into Canada without having a job to go to provided that you wish to emigrate permanently.

This is a different topic than permanent residency, you will still need a Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) to be able to get a hold of a work permit. You can go through the express entry system without an LMIA to apply for residency, but you still need to comply with one of the immigration streams like CEC or FSW (OP might be eligible for FSW). However, since express entry uses a point based system and since an LMIA will give you a very high amount of points you need to be very highly qualified to get through express entry without one. There are some exceptions like IEC which can grant you a temporary permit (1 to 2 years), but I don't believe OP is eligible for that.

EDIT:

Just to give you an idea on the points system for express entry, without an LMIA you can earn a maximum of 600 points. Getting a score like this basically means you have a PhD, are in your mid twenties and you have years of work experience, including a bunch of other things. If you have an LMIA you immediately get 600 points added to your total score, meaning you can get up to 1200 points total. It doesn't happen too often that an express entry draw gets made which includes people with a score below 600 points. The lowest I've seen it go is very high 400s, which is already difficult to obtain.

EDIT 2: Added quote for clarity

Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) ... CEC or FSW ... IEC which can grant you a temporary permit (1 to 2 years)... 600 points. ... 1200 points

To clarify: you're talking about Canada?

Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) ... CEC or FSW ... IEC which can grant you a temporary permit (1 to 2 years)... 600 points. ... 1200 points

To clarify: you're talking about Canada?

Yes, this is for Canada. My apologies if it wasn't clear.