This article is second in a three-part series about securing a job with cap-exempt employer.

Once I heard from the attorney that a notification was received from USCIS informing that my H1B petition was not selected in lottery, I was demoralized & stressed. It was very demoralizing because I lost my second chance and stressful because I had two master’s degrees yet was still unable to work full-time.

As upset as I was, I had no time to waste being depressed. From the three viable options outlined in part one of this series, my choice was to seek employment via a cap-exempt employer. Most healthcare systems and hospitals in USA are non-profit & thus cap-exempt. Also, universities who are non-profit are cap-exempt. However, just like cap-subject employers any cap-exempt employer petitioning for a candidate has to prove to the USCIS that they are hiring talent which is not locally available. Very few cap-exempt employers have the time, resources or inclination to do so. For positions other than physicians, nurses and other ‘shortage’ occupations, employers willing to sponsor candidates are even rarer. So, basically the odds of a business analyst like me being accepted by a cap-exempt employer were meager. But again, time was running out so I decided to not calculate my odds and just take the shots.

For starters I needed to build a list of cap-exempt employers. I tried various websites and databases that would provide a list – a simple list of cap-exempt employers in USA. To my dismay there really is no good website which provides a database like this. Finally, I found myvisajobs.com which (sort of) had a similar list which is in beta-testing. Among the cap-exempt employers, I needed to find a list of employers who had a track record of sponsoring candidates for H1b work VISA. Within that list, I also had to locate those employers who were in healthcare industry – remember, my background is healthcare. After tons of researching on websites like myvisajobs.com visasquare.com & tons others, I found one list which categorized cap-exempt employers by the number of H1b petitions per year on the website visasquare.com. I filtered this list for healthcare-only & decided to apply. There was one hurdle though. I heard from friends that cap-exempt employers have a complicated & lengthy recruiting process.

There! I had a list of target employers to start with! I was getting SOMEWHERE!

If the job application preparation and application included only ‘resume submission’ then I would have ended this article series right here. For a non-US national it is extremely competitive to secure a job with a cap-exempt employer. Competition is tough. So I decided to exploit ALL avenues of a typical job-hunt. I made a list of ALL the possible things that can be done to convince recruiters that I was THE best candidate out there for them. It was my daily goal to leave NO STONE UNTURNED.

My list of activities included preparing a job-application tracking EXCEL sheet, a crisp cover-letter (I don’t care if some recruiters read cover-letters and some don’t. I had no time to calculate my odds), a flawless resume, a compelling blog where I posted articles about my understanding of healthcare industry (this branded me as an industry-aware professional – not just a healthcare worker) and crafted several email templates (cold-emailing to recruiters, thank you emails, follow-up emails and rejection-acceptance emails (which were game-changers). I spent some time organizing my 1099 and w2’s from previous years. I knew that if offered a position with a cap-exempt employer then these documents would be required. I also called a few mentors and close colleagues & asked them to be available should any references be required.

With no references, no leads & nowhere to start, within three months I had three employers fighting over me.  Once I was offered the job, I was sent a list of documents required to petition an H1B VISA. And the approval was received on the seventh working day after the petition was mailed to USCIS.

Click here for Part 3