Work visa for US

[expatmaybe]

DH has an aopportunity to move and work in the US.
I have a great career which I would need to leave behind.
What have your experiences been with getting a work visa for yourself or your accompanying partner?
DH's company offers $5000 in support in career advice, pimping of CV's etc.
I don't need that advice, I need a visa :)

Got friends who went because the husband got a great offer from an IT company. Wife couldn't get a work visa for two years as had generic skills and no job offer before left here. She found not being able to work isolating and did voluntary work to build a social network.

What is his situation? That will define what visa he gets, which will define whether or not you are allowed to work.

Is he looking at an internal transfer within his company?

Is he looking at being a new hire for a US-based company?

Is he looking at moving to the US as an investor and setting up a new business?

He is moving to a new role in his company as an executive. So his work will sponsor his visa.

Will he be on an L1 visa (transfer within same company) or H1B visa (new hire), or something else? Which one has been specified?

Will the company commit to sponsoring him for a green card once you're there?

Exact visa type is crucial to your ability to work as trailing spouse. The final line of your OP is correct: careers advice is relatively worthless without a visa which permits you employment authorization.

If your DH is doing an executive transfer on an L1 visa you will have an L2 visa. It doesn't come with an automatic work permit but you can apply for one for about 500 dollars. The biggest problem is that there is quite a delay in processing these. Obviously the latest shutdown hasn't helped basic permit application times. You can get a ssn number with just your visa but will need to wait for your work permit to start work.
I'm just waiting for my permit to be approved now,. The basic paperwork is quite simple and I completed it myself.

If you work in the media, look at an i-visa. Otherwise as far as I know you can get a spousal visa on the H1B and L1 routes but I’m not sure if they permit you to work

I assume he will get an L1 visa. I looked at the list of companies that issue them and his is there.
So if I get al L2, then I can set myself up as self-employed, right?

Yes, L2 is a good trailing spouse visa, as you can apply for employment authorization (at least under the current regulations). As foggyuplands said, expect there to be a delay in processing. AFAIK you can only apply for employment authorization once you're in the country. If you're setting up as self-employed, be careful about your activities before the authorization comes through, as even doing unpaid work is a no-no.

Do get it confirmed by the company that it's an L1/2 they're going for, though. It does seem the obvious choice, but each case needs to meet the specific criteria and sometimes there's some weird technicality which means they'll go for a different type of visa.

Also, it's less of an issue if you're self-employed, but bear in mind that your employment authorization document will only be valid for the term of your DH's visa; this can be off-putting for prospective employers if you're applying for jobs. Also, if DH loses his job, you lose your own visa an EAD. If you can negotiate with his company that they'll begin a green card application for you after X time or under certain conditions, then that will really be a big plus. Once you've got green cards, you're no longer tied to his employer.