online jobs

[tenderheartusa79 14]

hi there visa friends its been so long i dont remember my id on visa journey so i am using his id.my husband just arrived here in usa.and is bored to death.does anyone know any legal and safe online jobs he can do to stay busy and bring in some extra cash.thanks

trina

[illnevergetthis 5]

Trina,

First, I want to say congratulations on your reunion.

I don't think that he is going to be able to work, even online, until he gets his EAD. Have him try some volunteer work, that might help him to stay busy and not bored.

[Old Dominion 26]

So much online "work" is a scam. Until he gets his work permit, probably shouldn't try to work for pay.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Hi Trina! Yes actually we know of some online jobs. Coincidentally we have friends back in Egypt that do this for a living making around $3,000 USD a month. You have to work your way up to that though and it took about 3 years for some of them. One of them is a Doctor who quit his practice because he was making so much money as a medical writer online. He's the one that told us about it. Unfortunately most of the jobs don't pay as much money as we would get in the states. That's why these sites go online to find workers with skill sets to outsource to and pay less for the completion of projects. Some jobs you may start with are simple online data entry.

The way it works is you create an account on www.freelancer.com first.

You have to start a paypal account if you don't already have one because that's how they pay you.

Then you start applying for the data entry jobs that pay $3, $4 an hour or apply for converting articles to online format for websites. Some want to pay you as little as $1-2 but in some countries that's a lot of money.

Anyways you have to be persistent a potential employer to get the job and once you complete it you get experience on freelancer and some kind of pay.

After you build a sort of portfolio of work then you can go to this site called Odesk.com

Some members on VJ talk about it here in this thread.

On odesk.com the pay is better and you can even apply to work on some online marketing campaigns.

All this work can be done from home and online.

I hope this helps if he's interested. Otherwise I might suggest putting an add on Craiglist for jobs like house sitting or any kind of work he's willing to do. We've done some house sitting jobs for people here while they were away on vacation. We took care of their animals and watering their yard and plants while they were away for around $18 a day. It depends on what you want to charge for the level of chores they want you to. At the end of this month we have another potential house sitting job for a week that is just taking the trash out, watering the yard and watching their dog so we might not charge as much for that. Ask around what other house sitters are getting in the area. Between $15-$20 a day should be the average.

[Mithra 1,185]

Agreed. My husband tried something online when he was waiting to find work when he first came to the US but it ended up being a scam. I warned him but he knew best. I love being right.

So much online "work" is a scam. Until he gets his work permit, probably shouldn't try to work for pay.

[And_Sam 44]

Agreed. My husband tried something online when he was waiting to find work when he first came to the US but it ended up being a scam. I warned him but he knew best. I love being right.

I agree with Je veux...My poor hubby tried too and it was a scam. He ended up doing some landscaping work for a friend under the table until he got his papers. Now he hates landscaping or being out in the sun! That's what happens when a computer geeks gets out to do hard labor!!

So now he is putting his resume and filling out applications everywhere!!

[ErikaAndHamit 73]

It's really difficult right now. My hubby has been here for a year and a half and....nothing. He got here as the economy was going downhill. The job market is just barely starting to come back up (like a snail crawling along the floor) lol. He is just going to take classes at the community college and be a house husband until he gets lucky. He also went through a depression because of this and only now has accepted the whole situation. Being realistic definitely helps matters right now. I just got a 2nd job after looking for about a year in the nursing field and I got that through networking, so I was lucky too. It's a rough market even for us nurses and that is definitely saying something about how sparse the economy/job market is.

I don't have any advice except to make job hunting, after he gets his EAD, his actual "job" and not to be overly optimistic as this will lead to letdown and depression. Let him know it may take quite some time to be employed and try and take classes or volunteer in the meantime and not give up looking and trying. Does he know anyone who can get him a job? My hubby's family "knows" people in Houston (only 20 hours away lol)who could give him a job in their restaurant, but that isn't something we can pursue of course. Good luck!

[Liz Rodriguez 1]

This is what I am afraid of. Getting him here and then him not being able to find a job because of the economy and being mena man. Taha is forever saying I am the man and I will be the one working when I come there to provide for our family. Blah blah blah male ego. I know he has family in ohio but currently I live in Iowa so it is a hard market anyway. May end up moving anyway for him to be able to find a job with his cousin. Oh well something else to worry about.

[ErikaAndHamit 73]

It definitely becomes an issue...something to talk about and plan for ahead of time and how he will deal with the possibility of not working for some time. Sigh....not too long ago when jobs were plentiful. I hope our men can work soon. I think mine has given in finally to being jobless...and is taking it in stride...not so at first. It's hard to be realistic when coming green from a country with high unemployment to another (and one that is supposed to be a "Land of opportunity"...the disappointment and such. Never was this bad...except maybe in the great depression lol! Just have hubby be prepared for the possibility of this.

[Mithra 1,185]

I feel you. My husband got here right before the economy took a dump, got his first job at the tail end then lost it right as things fell apart. It's been really rough in that respect. Finding a job is not easy in a lot of places these days. My husband's been working fairly steadily but nothing stable, nothing that pays well. It's frustrating to say the least. Frustrating to him for working his butt off and not getting paid the amount he should. Frustrating for me that there doesn't seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel. It does a lot to the ego for MENA men, specifically. They're expected to support their wives and help their family back "home". Can't exactly do both or even one very well with a ####### job. I always hoped things would improve the longer he's been here and the more experience he gains but 3.5 years in and nothing has improved. I didn't fully think that part through when we went through our "visa journey". I was so caught up on getting him here that I didn't think about his job prospects and how that would affect him and even us, as a couple, financially and emotionally. Rough doesn't even start to cover it.

[msheesha 548]

For the husbands who aren't working at all, volunteering might help. It might ease the boredom, look good on a resume, and get US references. Also, the obvious - you're helping others.

[Mithra 1,185]

Volunteering is a wonderful concept and for a lot of people it's a rewarding thing to do; however, when you have the mentality that work should have monetary compensation it's a hard sell. When they come from a place where they get paid next to nothing work hard and get taken advantage of, it's hard for them to want to help anyone for free. Plus, the lack of transportation (in many areas) makes it hard to get out right away. I'm not trying to discourage anyone from volunteering, I think volunteering is great. I'm just saying, to a lot of the MENA guys it's a hard sell.

For the husbands who aren't working at all, volunteering might help. It might ease the boredom, look good on a resume, and get US references. Also, the obvious - you're helping others.

Edited July 12, 2010 by je veux ton amour

[LaL 418]

For the husbands who aren't working at all, volunteering might help. It might ease the boredom, look good on a resume, and get US references. Also, the obvious - you're helping others.

Not only that, but then they wouldn't be working without authorization . I'm kinda surprised at the responses here TBH.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Didn't HG come on a K1 & has his social security card now & can work legally?

Anyways, some other ideas I had for you HG are maybe you could start an ETSY account. I don't know your skill set from Egypt but some Husbands here were tailors & if you can make things you may be able to sell them online. Some people don't make things and they go around to garage sales and discount stores and buy up things to resale on Ebay.

In Moscow one couple like us (american & egyptian) had a booth at farmer's market called, "Tastes of the Nile". They would make Middle Eastern sweets and sell them to the public. I always tried to buy something from them because they were yummy.

Another couple like us in AZ would buy cars that needed mechanical work. The hubby would go to the junk yard and scour for parts & fix up cars. He was having some mechanical skills. Then they'd resale them on Craigslist.

My cousin has a successful blog site business online where she makes crafty clothes and sales them through her blog. She was even featured on Oprah.

Those are just some other ideas if you're having the entrepreneurial spirit.

[LaL 418]

No. Unless he has a valid EAD it would be working without authorization. K1s are not incidentally authorized and a social security number has nothing to do with it.