MENA WOMEN: What kind of jobs are your husbands doing/looking into?

[tammy2688 1]

It is difficult to get into decent work right away and takes time to adjust to everything. What kind of work have your husbands pursued and for those who just arrived recently, how is the job search going?

Tammy

[Aymsgirl 0]

I would like to know this also. My fiance' is an attorney in the high courts which basically is a federal court attorney in Egypt. He is looking at trying to go back to school here or find some kind of work in a law office. If anybody has any suggestions for us we would appreciate it.

[RAKASA 0]

My husband was Capt of Police in Morocco and served as Diplomatic Security Officer (kind of like Secret Service here). He is currently working as a security officer. The job is ok, but not what he'd really like to do. He is not eligible for some of the higher end security jobs as he is not yet a citizen. He also has some friends he'd met here in training on the police force that would love to bring him on board there, but until he's a citizen, he can't.

He had been accepted into training for some FEMA/Govn't related security, but then they had to cut him b/c of citizenship. Maybe in a couple more years he can pursue this type of thing.

[polarbear 0]

My husband seems to have been in a slightly different situation than alot when coming here - he looked for manual labor right away. He has potential for alot more, but knows from experience that this is the type of job easiest to find for imigrants (and the best pay too) when they are not highly educated or don't have good language skills in a forgien country. In Egypt he was a farmer/international imports kinda guy. His family has the land and he paid others to work it (although he helped) and he bought farming equipment from Europe and sold it locally. In France, he he was a foreman in industrial/residential building repair and restoration.

Here, he repairs door and windows (industrial and local) with a guy from the local masjid. The guy speaks arabic, english, and spanish and is helping him get established. He also makes the same pay I do (which in all honesty, it's not that much ) and I'm very proud of him. It's the best situation while he learns English and Spanish and then he's hoping to get a foreman type job with a company in a few years. He's starting to pick up the farming equipment as well for Egyptians back home who are looking over here, so we will see where that leads.

He's been here 5 months, and was working within three weeks. Alhumdulla we have been very fortunate. He's good at networking and meeting new people

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

hubby has no education from jordan, he is a self employed cab driver here....not what i want him doing forever, but its a decent living

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

hubby has no education from jordan, he is a self employed cab driver here....not what i want him doing forever, but its a decent living

[morocco4ever 63]

Our lawyer in Morocco came once to New York and tried to get into it here. He said it was not easy at all. He eventually gave up and went back to Morocco. I think the problem he had was the language.

I feel really bad for immigrants that come from a highly educated back ground. They get here and pretty much have to start at ground zero. It's not easy.

[Donna A 4]

my husband finally after a 2 year wait is in his 2nd year residency and hating every minute of it. he says they are taking advantage of the arabs while the indians are being treated very well and he is sick of it. i keep trying to tell him its only for another year and half to just hang in there but im not so sure he will. they are tearing him down to where he is depressed all the time.

[tammy2688 1]

my husband finally after a 2 year wait is in his 2nd year residency and hating every minute of it. he says they are taking advantage of the arabs while the indians are being treated very well and he is sick of it. i keep trying to tell him its only for another year and half to just hang in there but im not so sure he will. they are tearing him down to where he is depressed all the time.

Donna I have seen this as well. A man who came at a similar time, one was Indian, one was from banngladesh, with Muslim name. The bangladeshi one had a masters, very smart young man. The indian man, who is also a friend of ours had little to no education, but a a simpler name with no bad associations. These cases are sometimes isolated but theres just something so hard about getting an Arab/Muslim into the work force. There are people who succeed though, its just a hard process to do. That's why I asked this question, after the first few months of bliss, we are bombarded with these problems. It's best to try to stick it out and I know all these men are intelligent - something good will come with time.

[Aymsgirl 0]

Our lawyer in Morocco came once to New York and tried to get into it here. He said it was not easy at all. He eventually gave up and went back to Morocco. I think the problem he had was the language.

I feel really bad for immigrants that come from a highly educated back ground. They get here and pretty much have to start at ground zero. It's not easy.

I really worry about the language being an issue. I told him you are so smart but you have to be so on top of all of the slang that is used or they will eat you up. He is extremely intelligent and I back him up from whatever his choice may be. I just don't want to see him get hurt in the end. I've suggested maybe doing legal researching for a lawyer's firm or maybe even taking another career like something in computers because he is so smart with this. I don't know what he is going to do it makes me nervous to think of him going out there in our work world. For a while because he is going to be daddy daycare for our son while I go back to work Poor baby!

[sereia 0]

my husband is a mechanical engineer and can't get an interview here in america for the life of him! every job he's sent his resume to doesn't call back. i think just taking any job, going to more school, then looking again after might give him a better chance.

a friend of mine from morocco who moved to the US 32 years ago (things are different now, i know) went to school starting at high school even was a college graduate from morocco....and now he's the vice president of a bank (making bank!lol) so it can happen. i suggest putting all your husbands back in school here and see what happens!

[~~~water~~~ 0]

finding work in america sucks especially if your educated,,,,,,,,,

[simple_male 1]

my husband finally after a 2 year wait is in his 2nd year residency and hating every minute of it. he says they are taking advantage of the arabs while the indians are being treated very well and he is sick of it. i keep trying to tell him its only for another year and half to just hang in there but im not so sure he will. they are tearing him down to where he is depressed all the time.

Donna I have seen this as well. A man who came at a similar time, one was Indian, one was from banngladesh, with Muslim name. The bangladeshi one had a masters, very smart young man. The indian man, who is also a friend of ours had little to no education, but a a simpler name with no bad associations. These cases are sometimes isolated but theres just something so hard about getting an Arab/Muslim into the work force. There are people who succeed though, its just a hard process to do. That's why I asked this question, after the first few months of bliss, we are bombarded with these problems. It's best to try to stick it out and I know all these men are intelligent - something good will come with time.

What do you mean by "no bad associations?" It is obvious from some names that these are Muslim names, but it is not the case all the time. By looking at some names, finding the religions are not so obvious. During the interview, they are not supposed to ask the job seeker about his religion.

[sara535 15]

my husband went to the local adult school and got certified in welding. its not at all the job he dreamed of but its pretty good money and pays the bills while he decides what he really wants to do when he grows up. I keep encouraging him to go back to school for some kind of degree but so far there is always one reason or another why that doesnt work out....

[sereia 0]

but they can tell a lot of times by the person's name if they have half a brain!

i had my husband abbreviate his name because his full name is practically impossible to pronounce. he refuses to use another name all together though.