finding work

[athena_ny 1]

I sympathize with you because of the trouble with finding a job.

But....

I work in HR and have worked in HR for a bank. I don't know what job title you were applying for but the issue she may have been referring to is that we had to have an insurance policy on employees in certain titles that required a security check. International security checks are difficult for government agencies and often unverifiable for non government agencies. Our bank bonded through a State Bureau of Investigation security clearance. If you weren't on record with the SBI, then you couldn't be bonded. The insurance company wouldn't bond such employees. If you aren't bonded, then you can't work in your position. So, they could have wanted to hire you, offered you the job and then had to start the process all over again because you couldn't be bonded. As an HR person, that's a hassle when there are many other qualified candidates that are bondable. So, while it sucks for you, I can understand what she said to you, though I must admit that we never said to individuals directly, we just put their application at the bottom of the pile because of the significant difficulties in hiring.

I don't know where you live but you might consider applying with international banks because they have umbrella policies that might better accommodate your particular situation.

If you have any certifications or degrees in Germany, you can have a credentialing organization review and qualify them with their American equivalent. They supply you with a certificate identifying the american equivalent. You can look them up on State credentialing websites (don't use whatever you find in the yellow pages, use one referred by a State entity to ensure legitimacy).

I'm sorry that you went through that because it wasn't tactful and probably was incredibly frustrating and demeaning to you. Stay positive and continue your search. It takes the average person 9 months to find a good job in this country.

Good Luck!

I have nothing to say but I see your local office is Albany...hello fellow Capital Region NYer!

(so I don't live there now...I wish I did...anything is better than this place)