Was it worth after all?

[Niceb 2]

Yes it is worth it. My husband and I moved in March to Philly and love it. However, I am not going to lie, the work situation is tricky. I have 15 years good work experience with international companies and am still looking for work, at this point any kind of job. My husband is an engineer. He had a temp contract for two months which just ran out. We also have a three month old baby. Our money is going to run out after Christmas. We are super stressed at the moment as it's very expensive to live here, and I mean modestly. The Health Insurance is a killer. It's almost as expensive as rent. We really want to make it work but the employment situation for us is pretty dire.

[Boiler 45,535]

So why was it worth it?

[Alex Ve 5]

Yes it is worth it. My husband and I moved in March to Philly and love it. However, I am not going to lie, the work situation is tricky. I have 15 years good work experience with international companies and am still looking for work, at this point any kind of job. My husband is an engineer. He had a temp contract for two months which just ran out. We also have a three month old baby. Our money is going to run out after Christmas. We are super stressed at the moment as it's very expensive to live here, and I mean modestly. The Health Insurance is a killer. It's almost as expensive as rent. We really want to make it work but the employment situation for us is pretty dire.

This sounds very depressing...

Honestly, with the amount of thought that I have done on the subject, I wish I had lied to my family about getting a visa.

I am very terrified and depressed thinking that I will move to a foreign land, leaving behind a steady job (although low paying) and the woman I love, just to be another wage slave, being constantly stressed if I will make it another month and pay the bills...I get a tremendous pressure from my family to move as soon as possible and work my a** of to make money.

But why does rent, health care and insurance cost so much where you re barely surviving every month? That's ridiculous.

America is an overhyped place to immigrate really...Canada, Australia and some European countries are far better options. Less violent crime, better salaries and better quality of life overall. I don't understand why so many immigrants choose the US.

So why was it worth it?

My thoughts exactly...

Edited September 16, 2015 by Alex Ve

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Alex, I didn't answer because I'm not in the same situation as you. For us it was the best move, absolutely no doubt. But we are not you.

You said before your current relationship is not long term, so there must be other reasons for you to decide on.

The U.S. is not right for everyone, and people coming from western Europe (where they are used to welfare systems that basically give you all sorts of things for free) often find it hard to understand why things like healthcare should be paid for. I can give you a lot of reasons why we thought fhe US was far better than Canada or Australia (both of which we could easily have got into by the way, much easier than the U.S. ) but those are reasons for us, not you.

The fact that in one breath you talk about not wanting to leave your girlfriend behind and in the next are talking about "better" places to emigrate to shows how confused you are about all this Have you tried to make lists of pros and cons - 1 for emigrating in general, and 2 for the U.S. in particular? It sounds simplistic but it might help you figure out.

At the end of both lists, try answer this question: "in five years, what do I think I might regret the most not doing?" If it's all family pressure, politely tell them to **** off.

Good luck, I hope you figure it out. If you're still undecided, my suggestion would be this: make a trip to the U.S. just before your visa expires, to activate your residency. You've then basically got another year after that to make a final decision but you've kept your options open. This is what we did, as my husband was initially pretty reluctant to move at all. And boy are we ever glad we kept our options open!

Edited September 16, 2015 by SusieQQQ

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

PS you should also try be objective. Don't criticize US housing costs and then hold up Australia as an alternative

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Yes it is worth it. My husband and I moved in March to Philly and love it. However, I am not going to lie, the work situation is tricky. I have 15 years good work experience with international companies and am still looking for work, at this point any kind of job. My husband is an engineer. He had a temp contract for two months which just ran out. We also have a three month old baby. Our money is going to run out after Christmas. We are super stressed at the moment as it's very expensive to live here, and I mean modestly. The Health Insurance is a killer. It's almost as expensive as rent. We really want to make it work but the employment situation for us is pretty dire.

Any particular reason you're in Philly? I'm in the Bay Area and people I chat to seem constantly desperate to hire more engineers.

[Alex Ve 5]

Alex, I didn't answer because I'm not in the same situation as you. For us it was the best move, absolutely no doubt. But we are not you.

You said before your current relationship is not long term, so there must be other reasons for you to decide on.

The U.S. is not right for everyone, and people coming from western Europe (where they are used to welfare systems that basically give you all sorts of things for free) often find it hard to understand why things like healthcare should be paid for. I can give you a lot of reasons why we thought fhe US was far better than Canada or Australia (both of which we could easily have got into by the way, much easier than the U.S. ) but those are reasons for us, not you.

The fact that in one breath you talk about not wanting to leave your girlfriend behind and in the next are talking about "better" places to emigrate to shows how confused you are about all this Have you tried to make lists of pros and cons - 1 for emigrating in general, and 2 for the U.S. in particular? It sounds simplistic but it might help you figure out.

At the end of both lists, try answer this question: "in five years, what do I think I might regret the most not doing?" If it's all family pressure, politely tell them to **** off.

Good luck, I hope you figure it out. If you're still undecided, my suggestion would be this: make a trip to the U.S. just before your visa expires, to activate your residency. You've then basically got another year after that to make a final decision but you've kept your options open. This is what we did, as my husband was initially pretty reluctant to move at all. And boy are we ever glad we kept our options open!

Dear Susie, thanks for your input.

The truth is that yeah, I am not absolutely objective. In fact as you mentioned I am confused, depressed and afraid of my future in the US, although I have tons of family relatives to guide and support me in the beginning.

You re absolutely right about making lists of pros and cons.

Thanks for your kind words, yeah I will surely make a trip first and see what job opportunities are there firsthand.

So did everything work well for you and your husband there? Did you find jobs quickly?

I'm surprised really to hear that you could have easily move to Canada or Australia and chose the US instead...

Edited September 16, 2015 by Alex Ve

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Dear Susie, thanks for your input.

The truth is that yeah, I am not absolutely objective. In fact as you mentioned I am confused, depressed and afraid of my future in the US, although I have tons of family relatives to guide and support me in the beginning.

You re absolutely right about making lists of pros and cons.

Thanks for your kind words, yeah I will surely make a trip first and see what job opportunities are there firsthand.

So did everything work well for you and your husband there? Did you find jobs quickly?

I'm surprised really to hear that you could have easily move to Canada or Australia and chose the US instead...

I'm not working yet (by choice, I decided to spend my first year here setting in properly) but my husband found easily once he started looking. I'm fairly sure I will find something quite easily when I start looking as I have already had some unsolicited 'expressions of interest' from a couple of companies via a couple of contacts. Of course, part of our decision about where to live was based on a solid jobs market in our fields.

[Alex Ve 5]

Do the US employers take into consideration foreign diplomas and work experience outside of the US? I mean can I get a good salary with a five year experience that I have worked in my home country and my high school degree and graphic design diploma?

Edited September 16, 2015 by Alex Ve

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Do the US employers take into consideration foreign diplomas and work experience outside of the US? I mean can I get a good salary with a five year experience that I have worked in my home country and my high school degree and graphic design diploma?

I don't know specifics about your field but certainly they take qualifications and work experience into account. There are many, many immigrants in senior positions here! (Based on foreign diplomas and experience) You may get asked to get an equivalency done on your diploma or the company may do it as part of a background check (as happened with my husband). You'd need to do more research in your field about salaries and where the good cities for jobs are.

Edited September 16, 2015 by SusieQQQ

[Boiler 45,535]

I thought that would usually be a Degree entry field?

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

I thought that would usually be a Degree entry field?

A degree, really? In most other countries this would not be a "university" course so a diploma rather than degree. But I guess there are so many colleges in the US ...!!!

Anyway here are some jobs in graphic design... Alex if you're not familiar with indeed, look at the left hand side in small type it gives you the estimated salary ranges of all jobs and you can narrow down by what salary range suits you, or location, or both.

http://www.indeed.com/q-Graphic-Design-jobs.html

[Boiler 45,535]

Graphic Designer
Occupation
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. Wikipedia
Median pay (annual): 44,150 USD (2012)
Median pay (hourly): 21.22 USD (2012)
Entry level education: Bachelor's degree
Projected 10-year growth: 7% (2012)
Number of jobs: 259,500 (2012)
Occupation type: Profession

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Graphic Designer

Occupation

A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. Wikipedia

Median pay (annual): 44,150 USD (2012)

Median pay (hourly): 21.22 USD (2012)

Entry level education: Bachelor's degree

Projected 10-year growth: 7% (2012)

Number of jobs: 259,500 (2012)

Occupation type: Profession

Yeah, one of those fields that I'd be interested to see what colleges actually offer this degree... In many other countries this would be a more vocational type field of study at a different type of college resulting in a diploma, but I've seen friends with foreign diplomas similar to this (ie also in the art/design field) be evaluated as "degrees' in the U.S. so I'm sure it's all good for Alex, especially as he has experience. Just semantics/certification inflation really. (Edit: Come to think of it those diplomas back home where I come from are also called "degrees" these days but the same course at the same institution used to be a diploma! So I guess it's happened other places too) Edited September 16, 2015 by SusieQQQ

[flying_postman 6]

Yes it is worth it. My husband and I moved in March to Philly and love it. However, I am not going to lie, the work situation is tricky. I have 15 years good work experience with international companies and am still looking for work, at this point any kind of job. My husband is an engineer. He had a temp contract for two months which just ran out. We also have a three month old baby. Our money is going to run out after Christmas. We are super stressed at the moment as it's very expensive to live here, and I mean modestly. The Health Insurance is a killer. It's almost as expensive as rent. We really want to make it work but the employment situation for us is pretty dire.

Good to see you're still sticking it out Niceb I remembered your other thread on the tough employment situation and I'm optimistic for you and the family, Have you and your husband considered another state or are you committed to settling Philly?