Teaching positions for non-US physicists

[dsanz]

Hello everyone,
My name is David, a physics undergraduate student from Mexico. This is my last undergraduate year, so I've been seriously thinking about what to do next lately. I was searching around the web and found that there are plenty of jobs for physicists in the US. I was wondering, how likely do you guys think it is for a person like me, coming from outside the US, to study a PhD there AND then, after going through the standard postdoctoral position career and stuff, landing a teaching position at a University. I'm supposing speaking fluent english is a must, and while I have an accent and do not speak it like an American would, I think I speak it well enough. Actually, I spent a semester studying in Toronto, Canada (University of Toronto), as an exchange student. I've been fluent with english since I was like 14, so living in the US would not be a problem. My doubt is if I would be considerably discriminated when finding a job at a University. Any kind of help, be it experiences, facts or whatever, will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Pengwuino]

I think the general consensus when it comes to this is don't count on getting a professorship. It's simply that there are so so few positions available and so so (relatively) many people who want them. It has nothing to do with where you're from. I remember one thread batted around a few numbers... a professor will mentor probably 20 phd students in his career at least. Making assumptions such as saying a certain % will want to go into industry, a % of professorships arent at phd granting universities, etc etc, still make the chances highly unlikely. I think that's the typical response for questions like these.

 

[dsanz]

Thanks Pengwuino.
What do you think would increase my chances of getting a professorship? What I mean is, if a person REALLY wanted that position, and he knew it just as he started his undergraduate studies, what could he be doing for preparing to get it and maximizing his chances? Contacts? A certain area of study? Starting getting experience... maybe high school teaching? Research? ...

 

[fasterthanjoao]

Thanks Pengwuino.
What do you think would increase my chances of getting a professorship? What I mean is, if a person REALLY wanted that position, and he knew it just as he started his undergraduate studies, what could he be doing for preparing to get it and maximizing his chances? Contacts? A certain area of study? Starting getting experience... maybe high school teaching? Research? ...

There are a lot of threads like this;
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=388821
is currently active.

 

[dsanz]

That thread is very helpful, thank you.
However I do have another question that I don't think is covered over there: Does the fact that I'm not from the US make me less likely to take the job?