Employment and Education from another country?

[Master Semaj 2]

So I'll be driving soon and I have my work permit so it's time to start looking around for work. My question is regarding all my education and qualifications I got in the UK educational system: is any of that going to mean anything here? Even down to the old stuff, are my GCSE's enough of an equivalent for a High School diploma? Do I need to take some kind of test or convert my UK grades into US?

Has anyone else come across this sort of thing? How have you dealt with it?

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

A levels are high school.

A Bachelor is a bachelor.

[Boiler 45,717]

That covers a lot of different systems, I remember thinking the Chemists in Yugoslavia were good.

Might have changed since Tito went.

[Master Semaj 2]

I'm looking for more specific information. My wife mentioned about getting my "transcripts" but I don't have anything like that from the UK, just my certificates from secondary school and from college which show my qualifications/grades, obviously they are under a different education system than what the US has.

My question is, do I need to get my educational achievements converted into a US acceptable version in order to successfully apply for jobs?

[aaron2020 11,651]

It's up to the individual employer to determine your educational qualifications. There is no centralized acceptable conversion that an employer has to accept.

A US college transcript has a student's grades and degree earned. You have this document - you just call it something else.

Do you need to have your transcript converted? Maybe. No employer has ever asked for my grades.

[Master Semaj 2]

My main concern is with pursuing college education in the US (an apprentice school, not quite proper college level but its above highschool and GED's) and whether my GCSE grades and my National Diploma (B-Tec) from a UK college will compute with them on an official level. Obviously my best bet is to ask them directly but I'm also looking to hear from other people and their experiences and knowledge.

[Boiler 45,717]

Varies so ask them.

WES is quite common.

[Master Semaj 2]

Varies so ask them.

WES is quite common.

WES?

[Boiler 45,717]

Yep

WES

[Master Semaj 2]

Yep

WES

What is "common" about it, you're not being very clear.

[christeen 966]

WES = World Education Services

[Messybrownhair 251]

I used WES a lot, my grad school needed it, they asked for it when I applied for a state license and a national license.. The sad part is it cost something like $200 to get the evaluation done, and then everytime I ask them to send a sealed copy to someone, they charge me $40. I can't wait to get it over with and never have to deal with them again. Hopefully this year

[N-o-l-a 7,168]

To answer your question - you will need a GED or your A-levels to really be considered high school diploma equivalent. My husband ran into this issue because although he did a year more school than necessary (10th grade) and did go to trade 'college' in Denmark, it could not account for high school in terms of applying to colleges or trade schools here. He feels comfortable telling employers that he finished high school, because he technically did by Danish standards and took trade school courses, but the colleges are familiar enough to know that he needs gymnasium like you would need A-levels.

GED is easy cakes, though. He is taking it this week, but he passed the pre tests without even studying.

[namour7997 2]

so if you don't have your credentials, you can just take GED