Jobs situations for immigrants--stories?

[ardilla 0]

My husband is from Peru. When he came here in 2002 he left behind a good job with responsibilities and a good salary. He gave up a lot of other things too. Since then he has learned English, completed a masters degree, and held two different professional positions in his field. Being in graduate school gave him time to network and master English. At the same time, we both talk a lot about going back to Peru, fantasizing about getting some source of income that would allow us to live in two countries all year round (and never deal with MN winters nor Lima winters!). We plan to retire in Peru.

[LaGreenEyes 0]

Hello,

My husband went thru some trials and tribulations with the job search here. He's from Panama and has been here a year and a half. He took about 9 months and used the "Ingles Sin Barreras" program, got some good grammar books that explained in Spanish the mechanics of pronunciation and grammar, and those things helped him immensely. His English is decent now, but we were running into problems here in Texas for him to find a decent job. Because of all the illegal immigrant stuff, he was being looked at as not good for anything but low paying jobs pretty much because he had still a heavy accent and didnt type 65 words a minute. We decided to move to Miami. There are lots of jobs for bilingual PROFESSIONALS there. You don't even have to speak perfect English, accents are fine..everyone is accustomed to it. After searching for a job there for 3 weeks, my husband landed a great job. I don't think he had 3 interviews in the 4 months he searched hard here in Dallas. I got a job in Ft. Lauderdale, and we are both very exited to be starting a new adventure together.

The only thing that would concern me here is that moving to south Florida is going to make it easier for him to not improve his English, if you get my drift...since many parts of Florida are non-English speaking. I would be concerned that his development in English would come to a standstill and never improve.

We are not going to be moving to the predominantly hispanic areas, he would rather be in the burbs, and I don't think he will be hindered in any way because of where we'll be living. The job he got was for bilingual...he'll be speaking English and Spanish, the biggest difference was that he wasn't denied a job because of his accent. I guess some of the places he will be visiting, the managers and people using the software/systems will need assistance, some in English some in Spanish. It's all over the tri-county area so he'll be meeting lots of people. He was exited to be able to be using his English face to face with people while making field calls and getting the chance to improve, while using his Spanish also. He's also exited because there are some very good classes in Miami in technical writing in English for Spanish speakers..business conversation, stuff like that. A lot of business people come up from South America to better their English so they take these courses. He plans to get involved in those come September. He'll be making enough money where he can get into the classes and it won't put a dent at all into our financials. The biggest plus is that he will feel good about what he is doing.

[athena_ny 1]

My husband is from Peru. When he came here in 2002 he left behind a good job with responsibilities and a good salary. He gave up a lot of other things too. Since then he has learned English, completed a masters degree, and held two different professional positions in his field. Being in graduate school gave him time to network and master English. At the same time, we both talk a lot about going back to Peru, fantasizing about getting some source of income that would allow us to live in two countries all year round (and never deal with MN winters nor Lima winters!). We plan to retire in Peru.

My husband tells me Lima winters are not all that cold O.o

[Chica Yeyé 41]

I'm not sure if my husband's story is totally out of the norm, but here goes. He arrived here from Spain this past Sunday. On craigslist.org for our area I always do a job search with the word Spanish...that's it. Well, on Monday, there was a listing for a need for someone with Spanish abilities. Monday night we translated his resume and sent it over. Tuesday he had two phone interviews. Thursday he started work at Yahoo, as in the search engine! This really is the land of opportunity for him!!!

He feels a little overwhelmed because his English isnt' the greatest, but it's a great opportunity!!! He really has been blessed throughout this journey!

Wow!!! you guys are so lucky I am jealous!!! I remember the one question interview and now this. Great news!!! I am happy for you both!!!!

[alejandra 0]

Talking about getting jobs in USA . Does anybody knows how a bachelor degree in Business Administration that is from a latin university could be useful there??

[rob&ana 0]

Talking about getting jobs in USA . Does anybody knows how a bachelor degree in Business Administration that is from a latin university could be useful there??

I am not sure I understand your question, are you asking if your degree is valid here? or how can you use your degree? if it's the first, your degree is as good here as it is in Bolivia, and if it is the second one, then you can use your degree to do the same thing you were doing in back home too...

Usually what happens when you apply for a job, is that they run a background check on you, and it may take a little bit longer to confirm your work and education history because you're coming from a different country, however it's not impossible. They will call your old jobs and call your university to confirm that you worked/studied there and then they will give you the posititon. In the case that your university does not have an English speaking person working in the admin offices, then you can offer your transcripts (notas certificadas) and your diploma (titulo de licenciado) if you brought them with you (I brought my transcrips and diploma, legalized by the different Ministeries in Venezuela and legalized - apostille - and then translated to english).

Good luck with your journey!!

Ana

PS: Before coming to the US (during our K1 visa process) I posted my resume at monster.com and applied to a couple of jobs, just to get a feel of what types of jobs were offered, and to check if my resume was OK by US standards. Granted that I do have a very specific job title/position (Im an internal auditor), but give it a try and try your area for jobs that might interest you.

[athena_ny 1]

Talking about getting jobs in USA . Does anybody knows how a bachelor degree in Business Administration that is from a latin university could be useful there??

I am not sure I understand your question, are you asking if your degree is valid here? or how can you use your degree? if it's the first, your degree is as good here as it is in Bolivia, and if it is the second one, then you can use your degree to do the same thing you were doing in back home too...

Usually what happens when you apply for a job, is that they run a background check on you, and it may take a little bit longer to confirm your work and education history because you're coming from a different country, however it's not impossible. They will call your old jobs and call your university to confirm that you worked/studied there and then they will give you the posititon. In the case that your university does not have an English speaking person working in the admin offices, then you can offer your transcripts (notas certificadas) and your diploma (titulo de licenciado) if you brought them with you (I brought my transcrips and diploma, legalized by the different Ministeries in Venezuela and legalized - apostille - and then translated to english).

Good luck with your journey!!

Ana

PS: Before coming to the US (during our K1 visa process) I posted my resume at monster.com and applied to a couple of jobs, just to get a feel of what types of jobs were offered, and to check if my resume was OK by US standards. Granted that I do have a very specific job title/position (Im an internal auditor), but give it a try and try your area for jobs that might interest you.

You have to get your foreign credentials evaluated...I've heard of people being told their degree is NOT valid here because it's not equal to what they'd get from a US accredited university.

[rob&ana 0]

You have to get your foreign credentials evaluated...I've heard of people being told their degree is NOT valid here because it's not equal to what they'd get from a US accredited university.

It would depend on the credentials, if it's a lawyer or a doctor, and even an engineer; they might need their credentials validated, but not for business majors or accounting majors.

[athena_ny 1]

You have to get your foreign credentials evaluated...I've heard of people being told their degree is NOT valid here because it's not equal to what they'd get from a US accredited university.

It would depend on the credentials, if it's a lawyer or a doctor, and even an engineer; they might need their credentials validated, but not for business majors or accounting majors.

O.o

Maybe business and accounting majors from South America are special...I didn't know that. All I know is we even had to get my husband's high school diploma evaluated and I heard of a guy from Egypt or somewhere in that area of the world who was forced to get his business credentials evaluated and they were deemed "not equivalent".

I'd do it to be on the safe side, regardless. I'd rather be safe than be told, "Sorry, we don't know if the credentials are valid here, so it's a no go."

[rob&ana 0]

I never said that credentials from S.A. were special. I just expressed my experience so far, I got my transcripts legalized by the different Ministeries in Venezuela, got everything Apostilled and then translated (including the Apostille that makes the document valid anywhere in the world).

Frankly, since I've had my background checks performed without problems (they have been able to confirm my education and my working references), I havent had to show my translated transcripts to any employer, and I have never been asked to get my degree validated.

Then again, Accounting Principles in Venezuela are based in Mexican accounting principles, and Mexican are based in Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in the US, the only variations are specific laws to each country. I dont know about Egypt or any other areas in the world.

The only thing that required me to validate my degree (diploma), was when I tried to get a Certification as a Fraud Examiner, it seemed like it would be a really expensive process and it seems that it would required someone from the US to validate the documentation, I dont think it can be done in your home country (but then again, I might be wrong).

Highschool diplomas and college diplomas are also required to be evaluated when you are trying to go back to school (to get a bachelor's or master's degree).

[tom&tata 2]

You have to get your foreign credentials evaluated...I've heard of people being told their degree is NOT valid here because it's not equal to what they'd get from a US accredited university.

It would depend on the credentials, if it's a lawyer or a doctor, and even an engineer; they might need their credentials validated, but not for business majors or accounting majors.

O.o

Maybe business and accounting majors from South America are special...I didn't know that. All I know is we even had to get my husband's high school diploma evaluated and I heard of a guy from Egypt or somewhere in that area of the world who was forced to get his business credentials evaluated and they were deemed "not equivalent".

I'd do it to be on the safe side, regardless. I'd rather be safe than be told, "Sorry, we don't know if the credentials are valid here, so it's a no go."

I don't think it is only South America - my experience is the same. I think it also depends on the employer & the type of job. My current employer is the one who employed me as temp before. They have seen me performed the job, so I guess that is the reason they did not need a verification (not even reference check).

On the other hand, I applied to another company. They did reference check (my ex co-workers got emails), but they never asked for certificate/diploma for my degrees. I am in finance/accounting, same as rob&ana.

But, different employer, type of job, might have different experience.

[alejandra 0]

Thank you soooooooooo much to everybody for the info

It was very helpful!!!

[~krakatoa~ 27]

You have to get your foreign credentials evaluated...I've heard of people being told their degree is NOT valid here because it's not equal to what they'd get from a US accredited university.

This is true.

From what I have so far experienced, I cannot simply sell myself using my degree and work experiences without the US accreditation.

Take for example one job position I want to apply in the near future, clinical lab scientist. Most clinical lab scientists job openings I want to get in require a CA clinical lab scientists license, AND the foreign credentials like transcript of records evaluated by a designated committee in the US. The CA license application form even desires the application be made by only the American Association of Collegiate Registrars & Admissions Officers (AACRAO).I'm glad I did (I did not know the impact until later).

It depends on what field you are applying in, what type of job and what type of US company you are eyeing and what type of pay/salary grade you are most happy with. Just to avoid undesired rejections & incompetency, having the foreign credentials evaluated in the US by a recognized board is not wasteful at all.