What was your first job experience like in the USA???

[Darkchild80 0]

I was wondering what many immigranting individuals first job experiences have been like? My hubby is searching for a job now and it is very tedious. We have sent his resumes to many companies and he has gone to job fairs. We just started this job hunt last week and it is already too much!!! Finally, today he took a position at a employment agency until he can land a good permanent job. What have your experiences been like??

[tom&tata 2]

I have seen post before re: job hunting experience and a lot of people went through temp agency first before finding something, my experience is one of them.

Went through the temp agency since Aug last year and hired as permanent recently at the company where I have been temp-ing.

If your skills is in demand in your area, you might find permanent job directly.

Good luck !

[Anna C. 4]

If your skills is in demand in your area, you might find permanent job directly.

Super important, that's why we move! Not even temp agencies in our current area offer jobs for my expertise, all I can do here is working at the checkout. You should carefully check your area if you need to move. Places like the Tristate Area, Bay Area and other big metro areas are more likely to have jobs for people with degrees.

Good luck!

[Jasman0717 9]

Claudeth worked at the Hyatt over by John Wayne Airport and certainly did not cherrish the experience. She felt the supervisors were kind of sexist in the way they treated the female employees so quit.

[^snow^^ 0]

I was wondering what many immigranting individuals first job experiences have been like? My hubby is searching for a job now and it is very tedious. We have sent his resumes to many companies and he has gone to job fairs. We just started this job hunt last week and it is already too much!!! Finally, today he took a position at a employment agency until he can land a good permanent job. What have your experiences been like??

It took me 6 months to find a job that I felt was something I wanted to do. To be fair, I did not look for jobs in the East Coast or Chicago and New York & Chicago are more of financial hubs compared to the Bay Area (I am in the banking line but I am not an accountant/auditor). The 6 months also spanned a period of 3 months where the job market apparently slows down (what a recruiter told me).

The barrier I faced was that apparently, potential employers don't really know what to do with my 5.5 years of working experience in Malaysia. They are not sure how applicable my Malaysian experience is but at the same time, figured that since I am so experienced, I would want a senior position on the company. In addition, they were worried about my language skills as jobs that I will take require one to be fluent in English. There were also some slight confusion over my visa status and that they may be required to obtain a work permit for me!

However, my patience paid off and I finally found a good job (or what seems like it) and I'll be starting next month (April 2nd).

Good luck to your husband in finding a good job.

[no one 0]

I just started my first job here three days ago and so far, I'm loving it in terms of personal experiences... BUT, I'm making 1/4 of what I used to make because my teaching credentials from Ontario (Canada) are useless here in California. So yeah, I took a drastic pay cut and a demotion in status

When I was looking around for jobs, my mentality was to get my foot into the doors of the field I'd like to work in (education), and then go from there.

Took me one month from the time of getting my GC/EAD to landing the job... but I'd been picky about my job search (the job had to be in my town and education-related). If after a couple of months and I still couldn't land any jobs, I would've expanded my search to the surrounding towns/cities and looked for other types of work.

Best of luck on your hubby's job search! Some people are lucky and land their dream jobs right away, but for me, I'll have to start at rock bottom and work my way up again. So just remember that your hubby might not land the perfect job on the first try (or he might!), but a job's a job, and all experiences are useful in the long run.

Edited March 24, 2007 by echomyst

[Amby 490]

My husband doesn't really care what he does as long as he isn't stuck in an office anymore. He's a computer programmer and he doesn't want to do it anymore. So, when his EAD is approved he plans to work for my uncle's landscaping company for the summer to see how he likes it. It's a massive pay cut obviously but if he is happy doing it then I don't mind that it's less money. Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. I hope your husband finds something he will be happy with.

[Nancy2015 2]

I came to the US as a student on an F-1 visa and I got an on-campus part-time customer service job. This was the only thing I could do legally I had had this job for one year, and shortly after I got my green card, I was promoted to a full time job with benefits, which is great

I also tried to look for jobs outside my university, but I didn't find anything in 3 months. I applied for about 150 jobs, had 3 interviews, two of the employers didn't want me and one wanted to offer me a job, but I didn't take it, cause the job kinda sucked and was too far from our home

I had very little previous work experience in my country - most of my experience is in the US. Also, I have a stupid bachelors degree in liberal arts, which is completely unemployable in all countries of the world. I have a US professional certificate in HR management (that's what I studied here on my visa), but it doesn't seem to be of much value with the employers - they all want experience in the field, and I don't have that.

I also managed to find a second job in addition to my main job, so as of last week I have officially become the breadwinner in our family, cause I will be making more money than hubby We will finally reach the break-even point where not all of our money goes to bills.

To sum it all up... It is very hard to find a good job in this country if you don't know people who can help you.

Good luck to all of you!

[Nikita2Charles 32]

The Main thing you have to be Patient. My wife came here from India, and in the bay area we have a large IT sector, but due to major outsourcing and other tricks it took almost a year before my wife landed her 1st Job. I also realized in some field there are some form of discrimination against Green Card what I would call ANTI AMERICAN practices. Yet it's being done legally and under the radar, One job opening she was qualified for, Spoke the HR person and seems very Enthusiast about her experience and all. 2 weeks later nothing happen, When I went and spoke to that person she had that sorry face and just said

HAVE TO BE HONEST WITH YOU IF YOUR WIFE WAS IN INDIA SHE WOULD HAVE GOT THE JOB< THIS JOB OPENING IS RESERVED FOR AN H1B client.

It's confidential matter, she just told me BLUNTLY, NO BS, but how many people would tell you the true, but the main thing is to keep faith, my wife took a few IT courses, updated her skills, her resume several time, and then It finally paid off, she landed her 1st Job from a TEMP consultant group, a second agency, then later on a permanent Job offer. Moral of the Story Don't give up, Pray and keep trying, Update your skill if you have as when you go to school you'll meet new people, the professors can be your reference and guide with the job market

[Nancy2015 2]

HAVE TO BE HONEST WITH YOU IF YOUR WIFE WAS IN INDIA SHE WOULD HAVE GOT THE JOB< THIS JOB OPENING IS RESERVED FOR AN H1B client.

This is a very common practice, especially in the Bay Area Not quite legal, but companies do it.

Update your skill if you have as when you go to school you'll meet new people, the professors can be your reference and guide with the job market

Good advice!

[Darkchild80 0]

Thank you everyone for your advice. My hubby is working at a temp agency right now. He went to a job fair this morning and talked with a few companies in our city. He is going back to school in the fall. I believe an advance degree will help him obtain a good job. We are praying and I believe he will get a good job. I live in Atlanta and the job markets seems to be booming. We will wait and see!!!!