Lets talk about job oppurtunities in the USA!

[thongd4me 69]

From my personal experience I think opportunities have been and will always be there,

but the quality of those available is daily reaching new lows. That's because there are

more and more part-time jobs available and less and less full time positions. That

may not be a problem for you as you are probably under your husband's health insurance,

but for those who need "benefits" it's pretty much tough luck.

I have posted extensively on my wife's work related experiences, but not recently, so

I'll give you the short version. My wife was a teacher for 26 years and even got the

"best teacher in Thailand" award for her province in 2008. Her status there was very

high, to say the least. One of the hardest things about her current part-time jobs is

that she is acutely aware of being treated like a "servant" by customers who don't

have the minimum social skills normally attributed to ** sapiens.

Some Americans are very harsh with anyone that speaks with even a slight accent.

She is a supermarket deli person in one part time job. That's where often crotchety

senior citizens routinely change their orders and then blame everything on her in an

insulting manner. Luckily that doesn't happen often, but a few times a month doesn't

make it any easier to take. The supermarket job is unionized, but the union is a

bunch of thieves that cuts her $9/hour salary down to around $7 that she can take home.

She asked one co-worker who has been there for 3 years and he said his salary is only

$9.50/hour which seems ludicrous for anyone with his skills who has to earn a living.

They have to learn an array of names of cold-cuts and prepared dish names that is

staggering and they also have to know how to prepare sandwiches and other items

to the company's specifications. All that for what effectively is minimum wage.

There are no full-time jobs at the store except for the managers! 30 or 40 years ago

this was definitely NOT the standard. There was much more professional and salary

mobility then. You could advance a lot quicker if you were a hard worker.

I remember when she got that job, a neighbor who worked in the same store got her

the interview. She was so happy, because she had not been working for more than

6 months and was dying to get out of the house because I was at work all day long.

The other job is in a ladies' retail store. It's VERY trendy, they do TONS of business

but also there, even the MANAGERS are all part-time. The salary is $10/hr but because

they are NOT unionized, she gets to keep $9 of that after taxes, etc. She prefers this

job not only because the salary is higher, but because she gets to dress up like she

did as a teacher and her self esteem is better served by that.

One thing that surprised her at both jobs was the tendency of co-workers to steal things

from each other (don't leave a hat or nice scarf around anywhere). Teachers in Thailand

would never do that. It makes her feel that it's very low class.

Since I believe you are quite young, it might be better to go for some professional training

first instead of jumping into the minimum-wage job market. The level of English of Pinays

is quite good so that shouldn't be a problem.

The other 20-20 hindsight thing is to get your driver's licence first before you find a job.

Most likely you will have to drive to work as public transportation here really sucks. Take

my wife's word on that one. I told her to get the license first but she was hell-bent on

finding a job and she found 2 of them very quickly.

Good luck.

Edited April 6, 2011 by thongd4me

[Kish.2328 9]

Since I believe you are quite young, it might be better to go for some professional training

first instead of jumping into the minimum-wage job market.

Good luck.

I'll be turning 23 this year and I agree with you. I need to build my foundation first and gain more work experiences there. No one starts at the top, its always been 0-1000 not the other way around. I finished BS Management here in the PH and gained 21 units in Masters in Business Administration major in Human Resource Management but just last semester I stopped. I work in an Agricultural company and study masters at the same time but its eating all my time so I quit going to grad school. Even if I had that degree here in the PH, its still gonna be different there in the US. Yes; no.1 is the English speaking skills and 2., its very competitive and 3., whatever hindrances it may be.

[Kish.2328 9]

My wife has been here since May 2009. She got a job in October 2009 at a nursing home. She quit there and then got another job in August 2010 at a high school, working for the county. She works at a Filipino restaurant part time with a friend of ours from church who owns the place. She just now got a part time job (they wanted her full time) at an assisted living place that is beautiful and across the street from where we live. She earns $8.15 an hour. Minimum wage here is $7.25.

She loves to work and always had. I never have had a problem with my wife wanting to work. Why should anyone ever have a problem with it??

Brian in Tennessee

Thats good for your wife. I think she's doing a great job As for us, Its not that my fiancé had a problem with me working, its just that he is already earning enough to support our needs thats why. But still I have to insist cos I want to be productive. You know I don't wanna be a couch potato.

[Kish.2328 9]

Like you say depends on your field, as for my wife she works online as an administrative assistant and can do so from anywhere and able to work from home and she plans on keeping it when she is in the US

Online job is cool. No boss or whatsoever to keep an eye on you. It can actually save you from a lot of things, from gas to make up (lol) and of course, time. Getting paycheck once a week/month just by working in the comfort of your home is really great.

[Kish.2328 9]

Same here. I entered the US last Sept and got my EAD and greedcard late February. I just started working with Bank of America as a Sales and Service Specialist. Excellent communication skills (verbal and written) really matters. Good luck! :-)

Wow! Good for you Its always been my dream to work in a bank

[ONA 133]

Great thread

I'm working on my degree in Russia right now, my field of study is linguistics (ESL teaching, teaching Russian as a foreign language; and I'm also learning Spanish). I would also like to get a university degree in the USA (preferably international economics/global economics). Any ideas? Will it be worth it?

[Christi85 86]

I believe it has to do with factors like field of specialty, level of seniority and also where you live (i.e. big cities and metropolitan areas realistically offer far more opportunities than a town or a small city).

Competition has gone up a lot since the recession, but I have to say, this is everywhere in the developed world, not just in the States. It's also become harder for recent graduates to get a decent first job. Here in the UK it is estimated that those graduating in 2011 will be competing at a ratio of 1/70 (that is available positions/candidates).

All that said, I was a recent MSc graduate with only some volunteering experience under my belt in London (considered a very competitive, very cut-throat job market - many compare it to NYC) back in 2008 when the recession first hit. Companies were terrified they'd go bust and did not hire people, let alone recent graduates. It did take me a few months but eventually I did find my way and have been fine job-wise since. I also changed jobs after 9 months of being in my first job to move to another one (which I still hold - although will be leaving it very soon to move to the US ) which offered much better terms. Note also than English isn't my mother tongue either, as I'm not originally from the UK (but have been living here for the past 4 years). I am fluent in English but have an accent, so people can immediately tell I'm not native - it's never been a problem The exact same thing happened to my husband who had the added complication of being a USC (as well as a recent MSc graduate with limited work experience), which meant he also needed a work permit for the UK - a big turn-off for companies in the middle of a recession, as many preferred to hire people with indefinite leave to remain rather than someone on a visa with a time limit. It also took him a few months to find something suitable, but in the end he did, and he too was able to leave that position a few months later for another job with much better terms.

What I mean to say by all this is that there will always be doom and gloom, no matter where you are, but you need to be patient, keep smiling, and focus on your individual credentials, merits and skills. Make sure you demonstrate these clearly in your applications and any interviews you get. This, together with working on improving certain skills (e.g. fluency in English etc.) should eventually get you a suitable job. I also have recent examples of quite a few friends of ours in the US who were able to get good positions in very competitive industries which have suffered with the recession (e.g. the entertainment industry) and these people are also quite young and not with years of experience behind them.

Just keep your positive outlook and keep working on getting that job!

I will agree that the job market in the US seems to be shifting more and more towards hourly paid as opposed to salaried positions, but, depending on the company, this may actually has some very big pros. My sister-in-law works for a very big film and music production company and is on hourly pay. However, her company lets her work overtime and pays for it, which means that by doing just 1 extra hour 3 days a week, she's pulling around $52k a year (she is a 24-year old PA - not too bad huh? ). Regardless of her hourly payment status, this company also offers amazing benefits (e.g. for her health coverage (big HMO) she only contributes $40/month in premiums, while her company covers all the rest and she pays an absolute $0 for any doctor visits, prescriptions or any other medical needs - how much of a dream plan is that??? - I couldn't believe my ears when she told me ). She was recently offered a position with another company that would hire her as a fully salaried employee at more or less the same annual pay she is earning now. There was no overtime option though and the benefits were worse than she was hoping for, so guess what? She turned it down to stay at her current position with the hourly pay, the overtime opportunities (and the great beneifts!) .

Edited April 6, 2011 by Christi85

[tallcoolone 102]

If you are comparing it to the Philippines, it is far easier here to get a job. Of coarse, your ability to speak good english matter.

Good luck.

My wife arrives next Wednesday here in the USA. Can't wait. She is an Elementary School Teacher in the Philippines. I told her she needs to work on her english if she wants any kind of job.

Not in Texas and other parts of the south. We have been invaded by Ilegal Aliens and they want Spanish not English.

Don't worry you will be invaded in due time......

[Otto 83]

**Post(s) containing possible TOS violations have been removed.

[sofaraway 2]

i am worried with what to be my life when i will be in the US, i love working, i am a nurse by Profession in the Philippines, but a Registered Dental Nurse here in Kuwait where i am working right now and where i met my fiancée (he works in the US army)..i have my Authorization to Test in NCLEX and i hope it would be easy for me to find a job when i get there with my fiancée...all i want is to help him with our daily expenses, as much as possible i dont want to ask money from him although he always insisted to give me and spoil me. I am always hoping that everything will be fine...

[PetiteYellow 2]

Is there someone here in VJ knows the website for looking a job in US. Like in Indonesia, there are so many. Like karir.com, jobstreet.com, etc.

thanks before