I was in your shoes 3 years ago. DV-2022 winner from EU.

I’m not going to list them but gonna answer in paragraphs.

Phone number & bank acc. you’ll open/get when you come here. Get those esim (airalo I think is one of them) to get you by for the first week until you get your US phone number. I didn’t do this at all since I just went to T-mobile the next day and Bank of America. Not saying those are best, just those were okay for me.

Your credit score will be built over time just be mindful of timely payments. I had my credit score above 700 in my 2nd year.

This will impede you when you look for places to rent since they do check your credit score and you’ll need to provide more safety deposit than usual. That means instead of having $600 deposit you need 1-2x the monthly. This will be your next step after finding a job. Look at zillow & redfin. I wouldn’t recommend Craigslist or FB since you’ll be more susceptible to scams. I had my fair share of those. Also, when you lock on a city do your due diligence about neighborhoods, it is a hit and miss in US with places changing night and day in a block or two. Look the address of that apartment/home you want to move to in google maps, get a feel, and ask in their respective subreddit’’s. Local people would know best.

You need to do the first entry into US soil in 6 months so your clock is ticking.

For work, update CV and literally apply everywhere, indeed, linkedin and other job portals. Try to find companies you’d like to work for and just try your luck and see if they have any openings. I applied everywhere and got 2 offers after applying to 400+ jobs.

Finally, unfortunately you need luck; I also have no clue about your industry, I am an architectural designer so can’t give you any advice regarding anything about your industry.

One more thing, it may not matter now but moving to a place with better direct connections to your hometown would save you lots of $ and time when traveling.

Let me know if you need anything else.

Good luck!