Immigrants with limited English getting jobs

[bora bora 1]

USC Ladies,

Have your husbands had difficulties getting good jobs?

[Jenn! 918]

Absolutely. It got easier as his English improved. Hang in there.

[maya62 7]

It can be a problem, whether looking for a job, or trying to "move up". My husband is currently taking ESL classes to help with that. He's found them very helpful... not only with his English, but the subject matter they use to teach English is very practical, too. He's learned new things about finances, job interviews, American customs, and lots of other details that I never thought to tell him.

He found his ESL class through the public school system. They have them all different times and locations, even in our fairly rural area of Virginia, and they are free!

Best of luck... and Jenn's right... it does get easier.

Maya

[athena_ny 1]

USC Ladies,

Have your husbands had difficulties getting good jobs?

Yes.

The thing is, his English isn't that limited. People pretty much hear an accent and in some cases, see a brown face (not all are racist, but some are, fact of life) and want to pay you minimum wage. He stayed at the job that had hired him when he was w/out work authorization because they're willing to pay him almost 11 dollars an hour, while every other job that wanted to hire him was only willing to give him minimum wage.

He wanted one of those kits for accent reduction, so I got him one for Christmas, so I'm hoping the less of an accent he has, however much I love/d his accent, the more opportunities it will give him. He is also planning on going back to school, and taking some English classes before he figures out what degree to pursue...only issue is, most ESL classes he is too advanced for.

Yeah, this is a recent area of frustration for me.

[Jigi 0]

hi,

It takes time around 3 months to ger used to all the way of talking, speaking .. greeting people and talking around your work place,..... It takes a bit of an ear to understand the American English and the accent,..... Just give it time... and you will be fine.... During this stage... back office or non executive jobs can be done.. where interaction with customers and people is limited until we have the confidence...

Jigi

[bora bora 1]

Thanks so much for your responses girls!

My husband has found some employers who will hire him right after an interview and because he's working with Portuguese/Spanish speakers he has no problem with his limited English. However, that's not what he wants. It's like a catch 22 because he wants to work a lot but then works unpleasant jobs since those are where employees are needed. He feels that he is treated poorly as well because he tends to work with a lot of illegal immigrants who are often mistreated by employers who know they can't complain much.

He studied ESL classes while waiting for his EAD and since then has only studied at home (with me) and with his American co-workers (the few that there have been).

I know that with limited work experience in the U.S. it is more difficult as well. This seems to be a big deal - and with my husband's lack of a good education (he is from a poor background). I'm helping him with job applications and interviews - but the interviews are the most difficult since my husband cannot go alone unless he's being interviewed by a Brazilian or Hispanic - and those tend to be the unpleasant jobs . Do you know what I mean?

I know that time and experience will make it better. We know that for now we need to find a good (inexpensive) and flexible ESL class that will allow him to work at the same time.

Edited December 28, 2007 by Bora Bora

[athena_ny 1]

Thanks so much for your responses girls!

My husband has found some employers who will hire him right after an interview and because he's working with Portuguese/Spanish speakers he has no problem with his limited English. However, that's not what he wants. It's like a catch 22 because he wants to work a lot but then works unpleasant jobs since those are where employees are needed. He feels that he is treated poorly as well because he tends to work with a lot of illegal immigrants who are often mistreated by employers who know they can't complain much.

He studied ESL classes while waiting for his EAD and since then has only studied at home (with me) and with his American co-workers (the few that there have been).

I know that with limited work experience in the U.S. it is more difficult as well. This seems to be a big deal - and with my husband's lack of a good education (he is from a poor background). I'm helping him with job applications and interviews - but the interviews are the most difficult since my husband cannot go alone unless he's being interviewed by a Brazilian or Hispanic - and those tend to be the unpleasant jobs . Do you know what I mean?

I know that time and experience will make it better. We know that for now we need to find a good (inexpensive) and flexible ESL class that will allow him to work at the same time.

This is only my personal opinion but - a lot of places feel they can take advantage of immigrants, Hispanic, Brazilian, or otherwise. I'm not sure if they think that because you are an immigrant you will take the first thing that comes to you and should act like they are doing you a favor - but that's certainly how some employers acted on my husband's job interviews. Even at jobs that are heavily populated by a lot of South American legal immigrants, I think that the treatment is still sub par because a lot ARE grateful to have a job that is paying what it is, even if from my perspective it is not a fabulous job.

Mirko has limited work experience too - his present job is the only job he could put on a resume, and he's 23. People think poorly of that, but his father supported everyone until he died, and he doesn't have anything beyond high school as far as education (he was supposed to go back to Peru and study, but his dad died).

It IS an awful catch 22 - our only solution has been for him to stay where he is (we are lucky he has a job that pays okay, though still not much for Florida, and gives him insurance) and pursue a degree so he can find a better job. We spent 6 months trying to find something for him, and they were all either awful jobs that wanted to pay nothing, or just awful jobs with okay pay. At least what he does now he can tolerate

[bora bora 1]

Thanks so much for your responses girls!

My husband has found some employers who will hire him right after an interview and because he's working with Portuguese/Spanish speakers he has no problem with his limited English. However, that's not what he wants. It's like a catch 22 because he wants to work a lot but then works unpleasant jobs since those are where employees are needed. He feels that he is treated poorly as well because he tends to work with a lot of illegal immigrants who are often mistreated by employers who know they can't complain much.

He studied ESL classes while waiting for his EAD and since then has only studied at home (with me) and with his American co-workers (the few that there have been).

I know that with limited work experience in the U.S. it is more difficult as well. This seems to be a big deal - and with my husband's lack of a good education (he is from a poor background). I'm helping him with job applications and interviews - but the interviews are the most difficult since my husband cannot go alone unless he's being interviewed by a Brazilian or Hispanic - and those tend to be the unpleasant jobs . Do you know what I mean?

I know that time and experience will make it better. We know that for now we need to find a good (inexpensive) and flexible ESL class that will allow him to work at the same time.

This is only my personal opinion but - a lot of places feel they can take advantage of immigrants, Hispanic, Brazilian, or otherwise. I'm not sure if they think that because you are an immigrant you will take the first thing that comes to you and should act like they are doing you a favor - but that's certainly how some employers acted on my husband's job interviews. Even at jobs that are heavily populated by a lot of South American legal immigrants, I think that the treatment is still sub par because a lot ARE grateful to have a job that is paying what it is, even if from my perspective it is not a fabulous job.

Mirko has limited work experience too - his present job is the only job he could put on a resume, and he's 23. People think poorly of that, but his father supported everyone until he died, and he doesn't have anything beyond high school as far as education (he was supposed to go back to Peru and study, but his dad died).

It IS an awful catch 22 - our only solution has been for him to stay where he is (we are lucky he has a job that pays okay, though still not much for Florida, and gives him insurance) and pursue a degree so he can find a better job. We spent 6 months trying to find something for him, and they were all either awful jobs that wanted to pay nothing, or just awful jobs with okay pay. At least what he does now he can tolerate

I know exactly what you're saying....

Hubby had a job that was not bad, but his bosses (Brazilian) were a$$holes and he could only put up with so much. Now he's working somewhere else which may not be much better - though at least he doesn't work as close with the boss(es).

He's still looking and has had a few other interviews.

Keeping our fingers crossed...

[GabachaYucateca 0]

We're going through the same thing, Bora Bora. Hubby is from a poor background, speaks limited English, etc. Plus, he's got seven years experience as a waiter, but is pretty much done waiting on crazy Americans.

The weirdest part is that all the paisas (and he now considers Guatemalans paisas) that he comes across are illegal, so it's very strange to ask them for assistance getting hooked up with work.

He just had his first temp agency experience, and he couldn't be more pleased.

Plus, it helps that he's a nice person , and usually hits it off with everyone he works and studies with, so he always mentions that he's looking. Something's bound to come up that way.

Ironically, I'm working under a grant from the Dept of Labor and Training, and can't help him get work!

[Mononoke28 135]

We're going through the same thing. Plan A was to get a day time job and have him study English at night twice a week. Well, we've had about 5 or 6 interviews at different stores where we'll say he'll do anything and they either don't hire him because his English is very limited or because he has a college degree and has never worked in manual labor. So now plan B is for him to go to English school during the day, at least 6 hours per day, and work at a fast food restaurant at night until his English gets better. We plan to start applying tomorrow so we'll see if they even offer him a job. It's very sad and frustrating.

Diana

[HAL 9000 96]

My wife sees English still as a bit of a challenge, even though her understanding is awesome. Contrary to the norm with regards to immigrants to this country, she's had it pretty easy thus far, but the place she worked at as a "Spanish-teacher" (for a small boy) is only a start... even though the hourly wage fits around $14/hr. I see this thing as quite contrary to her experience, but since it will take a while for her professional psychology credentials to move over to the USA, then it will have to be related jobs in the meantime.

I'm trying to get her a campus job with me so we can commute together and be done with extra travel stress.

[athena_ny 1]

My wife sees English still as a bit of a challenge, even though her understanding is awesome. Contrary to the norm with regards to immigrants to this country, she's had it pretty easy thus far, but the place she worked at as a "Spanish-teacher" (for a small boy) is only a start... even though the hourly wage fits around $14/hr. I see this thing as quite contrary to her experience, but since it will take a while for her professional psychology credentials to move over to the USA, then it will have to be related jobs in the meantime.

I'm trying to get her a campus job with me so we can commute together and be done with extra travel stress.

######, even *I* don't even make 14/hour. (Okay, not that I'm well educated.)

She has had it pretty easy. Lucky!

I'm almost happy M is getting his degree here, though - a lot of people I know had problems with their foreign degrees not being accepted.

[bora bora 1]

I hope that my husband can get a higher education here in the States too - when he learns English better. For now, he has to find jobs (which is the hard part) that will allow him to practice.

Luckily, he got an opportunity to begin a job working with ONLY English speakers. (I got the phone call after 5 p.m. last night!!) The guy who interviewed him, well us, told me that he wanted to give my husband a chance, and that limited English is not a problem. We're very grateful. He begins on Monday.

I'm a teacher so I earn a decent (cough cough) living - but help is always needed.

[Wrath of Sithis 0]

I too had a time starting out in life, living as an expat in other countries with my parents nobody wanted to hire the gringo. When it came to these issues I would look them in the eye and say something like "I know that maybe I'm not your ideal choice, but I'm a good person, I learn fast and I REALLY need this job. I'll be a good worker for you I promise, just give me a chance."

Well it worked, don't take no for an answer.

Now you will encounter bigots, there's nothing you can do about them except to move on and look elsewhere.

Be sincere, if you need the work tell them you need the job don't accept the over-qualified rejection without retort.

[reeses16 8]

Bora Bora,

I'm so glad you started this thread. We're in a similar situation. My hubby is from Ethiopia. His spoken English is very good, but his writting and reading need work. He's currently taking 2 ESL classes/ quarter and doing well. Problem is he's only been able to find part time work (~14 hrs a week variable) at a coffee shop. Sometimes he's very discouraged when he thinks about the money he could be making if he was working full-time. Also, he has limited computer skills (check e-mails). Also, my hubby is struggling with the driver's license test in WA. he knows how to drive, but can't pass the written portion. If he had a license it would open up new jobs to apply to. He worked as a tour guide and really wants to work as a bellman, we've applied to all the hotels. trying very hard to remain optimistic.

Gabacha Yuteca,

you said that your husband used a temp agency. Do you think a temp agency could help in our situation? I've been wary of them because the ones I've contacted require a computer skills test.