Workplace Bias???

[sxdx79 0]

I'm stumped here. My wife last year after getting her green card started a job however the environment turned out to be not so great and began to look for another job.

A friend of ours rewrote her resume, cover letters and follow up letters and they look great. My wife is highly intelligent, articulate and her spoken English is excellent. She has a great personality and work ethic. She also has a Bachelors degree and several years of prior work experience in multinational companies as an executive assistant back in Brazil. Over the past 18 months she has also read several books on interviewing and we have gone through dozens and dozens of mock interviews and she nails the questions every time.

For the past five months she has sent out about 800 resumes and letters by email and regular mail directly to employers and recruiters as well. She has had maybe 10 interviews out of all those resumes. No one has hired her despite all of her qualifications. By the way we live in New York and there's no shortage at all of administrative positions here.

What gives? I see people fresh out of college every day going to work with little to no experience. I'm in management and I have seen many departments over the years hire the wrong people or complete incompetents and these people are still working.

I hate the thought of this, but I have to ask myself is this race bias? OR bias because she's an immigrant? In light of what's going on with immigration these days has this created a bias toward hiring Americans only?

In my 20 years of working, interviewing and hiring people I have NEVER EVER seen a more frustrating job search for such a COMMON position in this city!!! This is unreal!!!!! I'm stumped. Our friends can't find an answer either becaucse other admins I know send out a few resumes to recruiters and in two or three weeks they are hired. My wife is going on five months of searching for another job.

Anyone from non-english speaking countries find this to be a problem as well? If this is what I think it is, I'm absolutely disgusted!!!!

[JODO 2]

Sorry she is not having any luck with her job search. Do you think perhaps her search is focused enough? Meaning is she applying for jobs that her skills and qualifications match? Is she over-qualified or under-qualified?

Good Luck

[mawilson 2,133]

I hate the thought of this, but I have to ask myself is this race bias? OR bias because she's an immigrant?

Not in New York City, man. Not a chance.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Over the past 18 months she has also read several books on interviewing and we have gone through dozens and dozens of mock interviews and she nails the questions every time.

Some folks apparently feel differently about that. Are you a recruiter or in some sort of a recruiting capacity in related fields? If not, based on what do you make the statement about nailing the questions every time?

That aside, I don't think that you're looking at a case of bias. If you were somewhere in Buttcrack, AL or some off place like that, I might feel differently about it but in New York? Seems to me that somehow the positions she applies for are not fitting with her background (over-, under- or misqualified)?

Hope she'll find a good place soon. Good Luck!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

There is something of an “anti-immigrant” bias towards recruitment – though I wouldn’t classify it as racism. Likely has more to do with the lack of a verifiable employment record and the unwillingness of some companies to deal with the hassle of trying to get references from a foreign country.

I think a lot of companies just see the whole immigration thing as a hassle – especially with conditional statuses and low-grade positions. Not that they’re allowed to discriminate – but of course everyone does. They just call it something else. Example - back when we first moved here and I was looking for a job – a few of the temp agencies I tried to sign up with wouldn’t take me without 6 months verifiable work experience in the US.

[sxdx79 0]

Erekose,

I believe your right. She is applying for Jobs she is suited for, I have interviewed more people than I care to think about and I had plenty of mock interviews with my wife and have to say she answered the interview questions the way I would want them answered.

This may be NY and there are A LOT of immigrants here but you can't prove bias one way or another, certainly not in the interview stage, but after what I'm seeing her go through as compared to Americans going for the same jobs I'm convinced there is immigration bias going on.

[Tim and Bethanie 1]

My husband is in the same situation despite the fact he comes from an English speaking country. I have come to the conclusion it is because he is an immigrant, and all his work history is in another country. We are now on the 4th month of job searching, even applying for positions he is over qualified for just to get his foot in the door. He is having better luck actually getting calls when he can find positions directly with the company vs an agency.

People are angry at the moment with the illegal immigrant topic, and I just wonder if that isn't carrying over into the workforce. Illegal or not an immigrant is an immigrant to some.

Fingers crossed he has another interview with Humana on Thursday........ the savings is gone!

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I think we have this problem too - and I agree that a lot of the foaming at the mouth over "illegal immigration" has had blowback to legal immigrants.

[raphael7546 0]

Don't know if this is true or not but I was told that a potential employer has to pay $25.00 to check credentials from another country. That's $25.00 per company. If that's the case. ( I was told this by 2 different places I've worked at)

If a company has an American & an Immigrant applying for a job, the company would much rather take on the person that is American and has been working in the USA rather then taking the time & expense of looking into the immigrants work experience out of country. Yes, it's discrimination but try to prove it.

It took me quite awhile to get a job in this country which really suprised me. In fact I gave up on finding a job that I was suited for and took the first job offered just to get my foot in the door so to speak. I worked in Retail at a clothing store (had never done that in my life) until I felt I had enough job experience and started applying for something better. I think if I hadn't taken that first job, even though I hated it, I would still be looking.

I now work in a great office in the mall management industry. This isn't in my career field but I figured I would never find a job in that field here anyways so it's ok.

[Nancy2015 2]

Anyone from non-english speaking countries find this to be a problem as well? If this is what I think it is, I'm absolutely disgusted!!!!

Yes, I've experienced something similar as well. I ended up being promoted from a part-time position at the school where I had been an international student before, so I think I'm okay for the time being, but when the time comes for me to look for a new job, I'm not even going to put my overseas experience on my resume any more. There wasn't much anyway, and I got the impression employers are not thrilled about it. When I had an interview for one of the jobs, the hiring manager looked at me as if I had two heads, and the first question he asked was: "Since you're Russian, are you comfortable speaking English?" Duh... :angry:

[Miss_USA 0]

@sxds79, I'm glad you opend up this thread. I'm in the same situation and I also think it is because we are immigrants. Everybody I know thinks I have a great resume and coverletter, but as of yet no companies have called...It is really frustrating. I will try to get a job now for the summer which is not in the field I worked before but at least I can write it in my resume that I had some experience working here and try again after the summer. The job I might get is working with disabled people, a friend of ours can get me in for the summer, I guess thats what I have to do to start my career...

Wish you all good luck and hopefully we all will find the right job!

Nina

[no name 1]

It depends on the country, definitely. My hubby is British, something that is not looked down upon usually(compared to perhaps a non-English speaking spouse). Altho as Bethanie stated, her hubby is having trouble. Also, I have told him to put in his cover letter that he has his GC, so people don't throw out his resume thinking he's an illegal.

Anything less than a professional level job would def. make it harder to find work, I think. (Hubby is a certified architect.)

I had no problem finding work when I lived in London though, strangely enough....

Edited May 15, 2007 by devilette

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Don't know if this is true or not but I was told that a potential employer has to pay $25.00 to check credentials from another country. That's $25.00 per company. If that's the case. ( I was told this by 2 different places I've worked at)

If a company has an American & an Immigrant applying for a job, the company would much rather take on the person that is American and has been working in the USA rather then taking the time & expense of looking into the immigrants work experience out of country. Yes, it's discrimination but try to prove it.

I don't know about this. I'd always hire the candidate that best fits the position I'm looking to fill. Never heard about a $25.00 fee for checking foreign credentials but even if that was the case I'd like to ask: So what? I don't know what kind of place and what kind of job level we're talking about. But for a company to contemplate having the background of the candidate investigated overseas, I don't think we're talking about a $10.00/hour type job but rather a position that pays at the very least upper 30's worth a salary. At $25.00 per company checked, even if I check 10 places, that's less than peanuts considering the investment the company makes in this candidate.

That said, sure, there are places that shy away from foreign nationals. But then, those aren't really the places you'd want to work at as a foreign national to begin with. Find places where diversity is more than a hollow phrase. Like the place I work at. My team consists of 11 employees (myself included) and we have 9 different nationalities represented. I will consider any candidate from anywhere in the world that fits the profile of the positions we're looking to fill. As will any manager that I know. That team of mine is a pretty good reflection of what teams in my company are made of. It's challenging at times but it's also very rewarding. It's diversity in action. Those are the kind of companies you might want to target.

[Alex+R 0]

It depends on the country, definitely. My hubby is British, something that is not looked down upon usually(compared to perhaps a non-English speaking spouse). Altho as Bethanie stated, her hubby is having trouble. Also, I have told him to put in his cover letter that he has his GC, so people don't throw out his resume thinking he's an illegal.

Anything less than a professional level job would def. make it harder to find work, I think. (Hubby is a certified architect.)

I had no problem finding work when I lived in London though, strangely enough....

I think more than the country of origin it depends on the field. With an architect, the proof of your hubby's skills is in the pudding and I'm sure the experience translates perfectly. With mine, his interview for his current job was a 45-minute pop quiz on the type of stuff he'll be doing (programmer-type job) so again, his ability to do the job was the most important thing and it also translates exactly. If he wanted to work in marketing or something, though, it would probably be harder for him to find a job.

However, if the job in question is supermarket checkout person, I doubt my husband would be hired over an American, while your husband's "irresistible British charm" might help him get the job over an American. So I agree there.

[no name 1]

while your husband's "irresistible British charm" might help him get the job over an American.

Edited May 15, 2007 by devilette