Civil engineering industry

the civil engineering industry is understandably very small in Iceland, and since the crash has not been a plentiful source of domestic jobs. Most of the non-Icelandic engineers who have the option have moved elsewhere. Those who are staying have had to take jobs in other parts of the country or even abroad (Norway has taken a lot of the Iceland-based civil engineers). One friend who's been working on a large tunnel construction project has said the conditions are quite poor and he's only taking it because it's the only way he can stay somewhat close to his family (he's working on-site a four hour drive away from where he lives). He's basically the only civil engineer I met in Iceland who hasn't moved elsewhere for work.

As an American you will also have to demonstrate that your skillset is unique and not able to be found among any Icelandic or even EEA candidates, as whoever hires you will have to provide you with a work visa as well.

here's information on work permits: http://utl.is/index.php/en/work

Thanks for the information, ECS.  I'm still willing to try via networking.  Do you know how I can get started?  I belong to another website for expats, but I haven't found anyone else in my industry. 

I was thinking of looking up professional societies for engineers next...

there aren't really any professional organizations in Iceland that I know of but maybe reaching out to some of the local companies would help. It's how I started the job search process before I moved to Iceland. I wrote some letters with resumes, said I was going to be in Iceland on xx dates and asked if I could meet with them. It got some feet in the door and from there I just kept working on meeting people. It's really important to actually be able to meet these people in person though. Iceland's a country that operates very much on who-you-know so it's much more likely a company will hire people they know in person. A few emails or forum posts isn't the same.

For example, my company has hired 7 new people in the past two years. 5 of them were people someone knew socially, had worked with before, or had gone to school with.

Here's a list of companies operating in Iceland- it can give you a place to start

http://chamber.is/about-us/members

So when you met with the companies in person, was it the HR folks?  Or did you specifically ask to meet with such and such manager?

Yes, the reason why I am looking for networking connections is because I'm going to be in Iceland.  I don't intend to do networking over the internet.  I'm not silly.

I asked in the emailed CV/letter if I could meet with whoever was in charge of hiring. Many companies in Iceland are so small they don't have a dedicated HR "department" (my company doesn't).

how have you networked in the US in the past? It's not that different in Iceland.

In the past I've gone to Chamber of Commerce events, professional society events, asked former managers and colleagues to set up an introduction - but I've never written directly to an employer/company unless it was for a specific job position.  As long as it's not seen as gauche in Iceland (sounds like it isn't), I'll give it a try.