Working in U.S with a Canadian degree?

[meeryelia 0]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm kind of new to this site, but I've signed up for the sole purpose of trying to find the answer to this question which has been bothering me for weeks.

My boyfriend and I have been becoming serious, and we're not saying anything is officially happening quite yet, but I'm trying to prepare myself in the future. I will be attending a Canadian college (I am Canadian), and will be receiving a college diploma by the end of it. The program I will be attending is Health Office Administration, and I figured with it being such a Universal study (office/secretary work, and study of the human body/medical field), I thought maybe transferring my degree and working in the U.S could work. I'm trying to avoid having to attend Post-secondary school through the U.S since it is expensive and unnecessary with myself being so close to completing my degree here. I understand the U.S does not have a "diploma" as a post-secondary degree though, so could I still use this towards my career there? Or would I be rejected for the type of degree I have received and need to re-attend school? Please help, people with experience on this very thing would help greatly. 

 

Thank you so much!

[TBoneTX 45,866]

Country-specific topic is moved from the Off Topic forum to the Canada regional forum.

[AstroCanada 206]

On March 21, 2017 at 2:30 PM, meeryelia said:

Hi everyone,

 

I'm kind of new to this site, but I've signed up for the sole purpose of trying to find the answer to this question which has been bothering me for weeks.

My boyfriend and I have been becoming serious, and we're not saying anything is officially happening quite yet, but I'm trying to prepare myself in the future. I will be attending a Canadian college (I am Canadian), and will be receiving a college diploma by the end of it. The program I will be attending is Health Office Administration, and I figured with it being such a Universal study (office/secretary work, and study of the human body/medical field), I thought maybe transferring my degree and working in the U.S could work. I'm trying to avoid having to attend Post-secondary school through the U.S since it is expensive and unnecessary with myself being so close to completing my degree here. I understand the U.S does not have a "diploma" as a post-secondary degree though, so could I still use this towards my career there? Or would I be rejected for the type of degree I have received and need to re-attend school? Please help, people with experience on this very thing would help greatly. 

 

Thank you so much!

I can help you with the general parts of your question, but some of the specifics will depend on where you want to go.  

 

First, a Canadian diploma is generally equivalent to an Associate's degree in the US (such as obtained from a community college).  I know sometimes in Canada that it's a bit more than 2 years, but that's the rough equivalency.

 

Second, the US is far less rigid with regulated professional associations than Canada.  So if you can convince an employer that you have an appropriate education, you won't have to convince anyone else.  Working in a medical office isn't a regulated profession, so there's no one else to satisfy.

 

Finally, if you want credits to count towards a further degree at another school, that's all handled on a case-by-case basis for each school.

[13roots 35]

On 3/21/2017 at 4:30 PM, meeryelia said:

The program I will be attending is Health Office Administration, and I figured with it being such a Universal study (office/secretary work, and study of the human body/medical field), I thought maybe transferring my degree and working in the U.S could work

I think the best way to answer this is to look at job postings for the type of jobs you would want to do after graduation and see what qualifications are listed. The healthcare industry in the US is quite different from Canada, but for an office administrative role, this may not matter. In my industry (IT), employers are not generally concerned with where you go to school, provided the experience is there, while other industries are very biased toward 4-year degrees in specific fields. So, definitely look at sites like Monster.com and others and find the jobs and see what employers are looking for.

 

Good luck!

[Transborderwife 4,666]

I doubt that you could get a work visa on your bachelors alone, probably need a masters unless it's a TN program.

[HollywoodNorth 22]

It's case by case... the masters thing is a odd requirement for a visa.

 

I got an O1/H1B with community college basically. Immigration cared more about my work experience than the diploma.

 

 

 

[NikLR 13,231]

2 year degree isn't a bachelor's anyhow.  

 

A diploma is the equivalent to an associate's degree down here.  (Whereas an associates in Canada is a 3 year degree.)