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

[polarbear 0]

Hubby is studying for the USMLE (United States Medical License Equivalent) which after he passes the second part he can start practicing medicine here for a reduced rate then if he passed all three parts. His sister who is a cardiologist came to the US last year with her Hubby who is an orthopedic surgeon and she passed the first part of the USMLE and has some prospects at various institutions in the US already. So she is working on her paper work to come back here later this year or early next year for one of those prospects.

Since her Husband already did a fellowship at John Hopkins this is a good example for her and Waleed. Waleed is also looking for a fellowship or a clerkship to parley him into a group of professionals to give him some experience and some contacts and possibly start a medical business with them when the time comes. I'm sure we'll be fine but only time will tell.

After he passes the exams and is secured in a good job practicing medicine he says we can start a family.

That would be nice. My husband says something similar, but I think he has about a 5 year time frame for that in his head (bc we have to buy a house first and that's how long it will take to learn english) and I'd be about 30 at that time He talks about buying that house all the time though and I think that's his real marker before having kids, so I'm crossing my fingers and saving my money

Don't want to have them too quick though....I want some more time to enjoy married life without them

[Bassi and Zainab 1]

Abbas is a chemical engineer with a sub specialty in petroleum and gas.

I want him to follow his engineering career here in the USA. However, not if we have to move to some ####### area to pursue this. Like out in the middle of Texas.

Abbas, knows that chemical engineering is the best way to make some money. But his dream is to pursue skulpture and painting. He wants to open some sort of business doing base relief skulpture on people's houses. What he does not realize, this may be popular in Iran.but it would not work for houses made of wood (like the ones here in Portland, OR). It may work in New Mexico because they have a lot of adobe style buildings.

I try to encourage him to follow his dreams, but I also want him to realize that it will take baby steps.

Many foreigners think that life in USA is easy and that jobs and money fall from the trees. But that is not the case.

He might also consider work in a museum. Which many people don't think about.....the NYS State Museum has a petroleum and gas specialist on its payroll. They do scientific type stuff (ok, I was a liberal arts major).

[Nutty 2]

Abbas is a chemical engineer with a sub specialty in petroleum and gas.

I want him to follow his engineering career here in the USA. However, not if we have to move to some ####### area to pursue this. Like out in the middle of Texas.

Abbas, knows that chemical engineering is the best way to make some money. But his dream is to pursue skulpture and painting. He wants to open some sort of business doing base relief skulpture on people's houses. What he does not realize, this may be popular in Iran.but it would not work for houses made of wood (like the ones here in Portland, OR). It may work in New Mexico because they have a lot of adobe style buildings.

I try to encourage him to follow his dreams, but I also want him to realize that it will take baby steps.

Many foreigners think that life in USA is easy and that jobs and money fall from the trees. But that is not the case.

He might also consider work in a museum. Which many people don't think about.....the NYS State Museum has a petroleum and gas specialist on its payroll. They do scientific type stuff (ok, I was a liberal arts major).

Anything is possible...But I think the first thing is to see if he can get a job here in the pacific Northwest or California. Since I am already established. I would really only prefer to move if the money/salary is exceptionally good.

[Rocketta 0]

Hubby is a barber. Hopefully I can convince him to go back to school after he works on getting a GED. However, it is his life and one of the things he wants badly is to live his life as he sees fit so I'll support whatever he wants to do..... well for a while.

[Bassi and Zainab 1]

Abbas is a chemical engineer with a sub specialty in petroleum and gas.

I want him to follow his engineering career here in the USA. However, not if we have to move to some ####### area to pursue this. Like out in the middle of Texas.

Abbas, knows that chemical engineering is the best way to make some money. But his dream is to pursue skulpture and painting. He wants to open some sort of business doing base relief skulpture on people's houses. What he does not realize, this may be popular in Iran.but it would not work for houses made of wood (like the ones here in Portland, OR). It may work in New Mexico because they have a lot of adobe style buildings.

I try to encourage him to follow his dreams, but I also want him to realize that it will take baby steps.

Many foreigners think that life in USA is easy and that jobs and money fall from the trees. But that is not the case.

He might also consider work in a museum. Which many people don't think about.....the NYS State Museum has a petroleum and gas specialist on its payroll. They do scientific type stuff (ok, I was a liberal arts major).

Anything is possible...But I think the first thing is to see if he can get a job here in the pacific Northwest or California. Since I am already established. I would really only prefer to move if the money/salary is exceptionally good.

Oh, no, that's not what I meant. I meant that maybe there are positions in museums there that are similar to what we have here.

[♥JP♥ 5]

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.

Indians are not always treated well. In the company where I work, we had one guy who was transfering from our India office to our US office and he was AP for two years.

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 agree some might have to start all over. But not all. My husband got a job in his field right away(computer programmer/systems analyst). It really matters what field. He happens to be in a very in demand/good paying field. So I guess it matters where you move to and what you do.

I think where the advantage comes in for some Indians is all the US companies that are operating in India nowadays. It makes it alot easier for them to adjust when they are here because the hiring managers in the companies they apply in can recognize company names and industries.

[Krissy! 0]

He's a nurse, and we have talked about him going back to school to get an American nursing certificate in California. I already have connections at the college I teach at (same division), so may have a good chance to get him into that program. He teases me that perhaps I could go into the nursing field too --

I do not expect him to get a job immediately... although nurses are in high demand currently. Just a matter of certification needs, etc. He also needs to work on his "bed-side" manners

[Imua 0]

Check online degree programs as well to finish his degree.

Are there any good ones that someone could recommend? I know there are a lot of scams out there and would prefer one that someone can give me first-hand knowledge of the quality.

I think University of Phoenix is pretty well respected nowadays - they have been around a lot longer than most of the programs you see. They are a bit expensive though. My mom got her BSN through Phoenix - the hospital where she was working actually placed her in the program so obviously it had credibility with them, and that was 10 years ago. I think there was an on-site component to the program, but they also offer fully online programs in some fields.

[Imua 0]

He's a nurse, and we have talked about him going back to school to get an American nursing certificate in California. I already have connections at the college I teach at (same division), so may have a good chance to get him into that program. He teases me that perhaps I could go into the nursing field too --

I do not expect him to get a job immediately... although nurses are in high demand currently. Just a matter of certification needs, etc. He also needs to work on his "bed-side" manners

You might check University of Phoenix - see my previous post.

[*JG* 2]

Abbas is a chemical engineer with a sub specialty in petroleum and gas.

I want him to follow his engineering career here in the USA. However, not if we have to move to some ####### area to pursue this. Like out in the middle of Texas.

Abbas, knows that chemical engineering is the best way to make some money. But his dream is to pursue skulpture and painting. He wants to open some sort of business doing base relief skulpture on people's houses. What he does not realize, this may be popular in Iran.but it would not work for houses made of wood (like the ones here in Portland, OR). It may work in New Mexico because they have a lot of adobe style buildings.

I try to encourage him to follow his dreams, but I also want him to realize that it will take baby steps.

Many foreigners think that life in USA is easy and that jobs and money fall from the trees. But that is not the case.

Amen.

[Donna A 4]

Hubby is studying for the USMLE (United States Medical License Equivalent) which after he passes the second part he can start practicing medicine here for a reduced rate then if he passed all three parts. His sister who is a cardiologist came to the US last year with her Hubby who is an orthopedic surgeon and she passed the first part of the USMLE and has some prospects at various institutions in the US already. So she is working on her paper work to come back here later this year or early next year for one of those prospects.

Since her Husband already did a fellowship at John Hopkins this is a good example for her and Waleed. Waleed is also looking for a fellowship or a clerkship to parley him into a group of professionals to give him some experience and some contacts and possibly start a medical business with them when the time comes. I'm sure we'll be fine but only time will tell.

After he passes the exams and is secured in a good job practicing medicine he says we can start a family.

just a little advice from someone whos been there....tell him study hard and score well on those tests. hassan got 75 on his step 1 and 78 on step 2 and could hardly get a job with those scores. he had to do alot of begging to get into the local hospital residency program. he applied for a ton of programs and did not get one interview. when the post match scramble came we called and called and they wouldnt even talk to him because he didnt score 80. so those scores mean alot in getting a job.

ur husband is also going to have to do a 3 year residency first before a fellowship so dont plan on a family soon and plan on lots of hours alone cuz they will work him to death for a piss poor $40,000/year. its a little more but not much more. i cant remember what the exact amount is.

my husband is behind on his tests. he has 2 more to take before he finishes his second year in the residency program. he hardly has time to study so is best for ur husband to get them all behind him before he starts working.

[Bassi and Zainab 1]

He's a nurse, and we have talked about him going back to school to get an American nursing certificate in California. I already have connections at the college I teach at (same division), so may have a good chance to get him into that program. He teases me that perhaps I could go into the nursing field too --

I do not expect him to get a job immediately... although nurses are in high demand currently. Just a matter of certification needs, etc. He also needs to work on his "bed-side" manners

Some nursing education programs are transferrable. He should have his transcripts reviewed for comparability with one of the educational review firms like WES. He may only need to take and pass the nursing certification examination to become certified. He may not need the whole degree program.

[palilover 1]

Even though habibi is not here yet, I do worry about this since the economy is not so great. I have prepared him for this tough by explaining this to him and even he can see it kind of because he watches things like the exchange rate and we all know the dollar is down, down, down. But he has a good attitude and he said he will do anything just to get work here when he comes.

[tammy2688 1]

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.

Yes, after citizenship, a lot more doors will open. A good friend of mine was a security gaurd for several years until he got his citizenship and he got a very positon in surveillence, the money is very good and the work is much easier and he has an office as well.

I pray for your husband that he is satisfied with his current position and to continue to aspire for the good.

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

I agree it is a decent living, many of the men I know coming from MENA/Muslim nations are cab drivers. The money is indeed not bad, but we want these men who have so much potential to get into higher positions. He could look into his own business that way in a few years, it is promising in several aspects.

[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.

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.

If after hearing thousands of complaints of bad associations with Muslim names, seeing thousands of innocent men being scrutinized by the government for having names like Muhammads/Ahmed/Khan...after seeing first hand how anyone with a beard is treated..how any Muslim man is treated, how YES, the name directly is associated with religion in many cases and after seeing that yes, indeed after a name is abbreviated that the jobs get easier to have - (my own good friend, went from Sheikh Muhammad to "S.M"...life got better, got job as accountant...after seeing that religion IS asked that equal opportunity, if it were as real as you naiively claim for some odd reason in this post (while I know you know better) then most of the incredibly intelligent men coming in from MENA countries, engineers, doctors, teachers, would not have to look for min wage jobs and hope to climb from the bottom...thats what bad association means for anyone, as Seria said, with a half a brain, who can understand.