Congratulations!!

I'm a bit upset today because my husband's employer called me last night to say that although he's a good guy, they're having problems communicating with him at work - so he was let go. My husband says that he was able to understand and do what they want...so I don't know.
I know that that boss is not a popular guy, but he said he wanted to give hubby a chance.

I don't want to start all over again - and neither does he...but oh well

Oh noooooooooooo. But don't give up, if you give up you lose the fight. Try applying everywhere you can, even if it's online and if it's meant to be, he'll get a call and you can speak with the employer yourself to see if they can hire him.

Good luck!!!

Diana

Bora Bora,

I'm so sorry to hear the news. We're currently on the job search again as well. I hope there are better opportunties in the future. : )

We never give up. Today we (because I help so much) must have applied at at least 4-5 places, set up an interview, and had a pseudo interview at one restaurant. I think he has a good chance this way. He has to call one place (a staffing agency) tomorrow. That one is nice because he can talk to a Brazilian and this company puts people in hotels (we live in ORLANDO!!). This saves time from applying to all hotels, and it makes it easier since a lot of the hotels only have interviews in English .
I knew there was a way that illegal non-English speaking people are getting jobs.

The good news is that we were approved at the super easy interview today - even a stamp in the passport!

Y'all have been busy! My hubby has a few interviews lined up this week. He's really interested in working in the hotel industry. Is the staffing agency you applied to a national agency? If so please share the name.

AOS approved! Wonderful news, congrats.

It's called VR Corporation and I think it's just local because seems to be run by Brazilians (and maybe other hispanics). There are a lot of both in this area.
It's nice because they don't ask for a resume, just to list some of the jobs you've done in the past. The secretary told hubby to call (a Brazilian) tomorrow to see if he has jobs available. I know he'll find something...our neighbor is helping him as well.

Self-serving bump for commiseration and inspiration.

I'm just exhausted working full time and doing full time handholding duty for hubby while he tries to get work.

Sigh.

And so sorry to hear about the dismissal, Bora.

I know Gabacha.
I'm working a lot too, while hubby wishes he can.
Well, now he can....he starts a new job tomorrow. This job he got through a friend of mine whose ex (they're on GOOD terms) is the kitchen manager at Outback. He's Mexican and was able to communicate very well w/ hubby when he went to meet with him. We filled out the paperwork on Friday and he starts tomorrow (Monday) night.
They're paying him A LOT. I guess that is the Outback way - who knew. He'll be working in the kitchen and it's SUPER close to home. He'll be working with mostly Hispanics so things should be easier for him.

Good luck to us...and our men!

That's great news Bora! It's just a matter of time and patience until they settle. Once they do, it's so nice to have a routine in life, you know? The uncertainty of things from the moment we filed for his visa is not something I enjoy in life.

Diana

I know! I mean, I had a notion of what we'd go through - but yet it doesn't seem like it now that hubby is here. Mr. Bora's first day of work went really well...the manager and other guys liked him a lot. The only downside is that we work different shifts. I work days and he works evenings. But I know we'll have our days off and weekends - we'll make it work.

I'm glad Mr. Bora likes work. Opposite shifts suck. I'm at school all day, when I get home my hubby is leaving to go to school at night. Weekends are definitely the best. : )

My hubby is going to try and go back to school in the morning. Tomorrow he works a day shift so work will come first, but he should still be able to get a lot of studying done.

My husband received good news yesterday. He got a job as a bellman at a new hotel that is less than a mile from where we live. The only downside is that the hotel does not open until March. It is unclear when training will be, but it may be in February. I am just happy that someone was finally willing to give him a chance.

Very interesting thread! I'd have to agree that those online applications are the most frustrating! The worst part is when they have you answer 70 questions about "if a customer did x, what would you do?" or "pick the 5 traits that describe you". WTF. I get so irritated. Like why are you wasting our time on these when you may not even bother to call us! And temp agencies are of no use, they require you have have 6 months of working experience. Once again, catch 22. WHere are you going to get that experience when no one will give you a chance? Reminds me of my first jobs out of college, the frustration!!

Exactly.
I filled out so many job applications for my husband (due to his lack of English) that yesterday at work, when I needed to fill out a form for myself, I wrote my HUSBAND'S name. I had to get another form to do it again.

Pereira, I'm glad that someone gave your husband a chance - that's what they need. My husband has a new job and he got it because of a friend of a friend. He is also an immigrant (as are most of the guys he hires) and that helps.

I figure our best bet will be to find a job that way...through spreading the word to everyone and their mother that he's looking.

I know that Monoke got several callbacks from online applications (at least I think I remember seeing that), but I wonder if anyone else has.

And those awful questions that pbgirl mentioned are used to knock most of the candidates out of consideration immediately.

I've wanted to get my husband into CVS's distribution center for ages now, and they have one of those apps...not to mention that rumor has it that you only get in there if you know someone. Argh.

I filled out many applications online for my husband. All of his applications seem to fall in to some "black hole." There was one hotel where I applied online and then followed up with a phone call. The person had no idea that my husband had applied online. They told me the best way to apply for a job was to come in person because they do a "mini" interview.

My husband got a lot of call backs, and quite a few led to interviews. He was even offered a few jobs - but really not good ones.
I applied on-line for him, he applied on site, and I e-mailed his resume to any job I thought would work for him (mostly found at craigslist.com).
I imagine that a lot of what happens has to do with where you live. We live in Orlando - tourist and immigrant central. I think that is to our advantage.
We're now speaking more English at home and I think hubby's English is/will improve little by little...

Good luck!

I am also a believer that people can help other people find jobs.

Be very careful with those temp agencies.They can be very sneaky cheating people out of their money.I worked as a recruiter for one for 10 years.

Ehavemaria,14 dollars an hour is pretty good.

That's RI for you."It's who you know."Have you tried Electric Boat or G-Tech ?

You want to freeze and be bored all the time ? Come on up to Providence.

Florida isn't that much more exciting ...

I spent the first 20 years of my life cold and bored...life is what you make it, no matter where you are

If only my husband spoke spanish... here in Miami you really don't ever have to learn english until you get a management jobs and then most of those I've seen will pay for special english classes and then hire you anyway. I'm actually at a disadvantage bc I don't speak spanish and am having to go back to school for it (will be my 4th language ).

My husband has found a minimum wage job and was hoping it would help him with his english, but he's actually picking up more spanish than anything and he's really getting frustrated. The ESL class he signed up for is also spanish-english. He spends half the time listening to them speak in spanish before they translate it to english, he now refuses to go. Also says he doesn't feel like he's even in America bc the only time he hears english is from me.

Basically, he refuses to learn spanish and can't get a job with mostly americans bc his english isn't very good. Which means that he's not picking up any english

Seriously,Rhode Island is a pit.I'm not lying when I tell you this either.

Hey, I haven't been on in a while. I just read through posts and had some comments to make.

The online job apps really frustrate me too. Especially those darn Unicru ones....they're the worst. The questions endless unnecceary, and gramatically confusing (use of double negatives). Especially for non-native english speakers, assuming they can read english.

The application black hole is ridiculous. My hubby and I have applied and applied and applied. When we stopped putting his real name on his resume and started using his nickname (He's had an american nickname all his life) he started getting interviews. He goes in has an interview that he perceives is successful and get the we'll call you on Monday. And the phone never rings. I'm not sure he/we are doing anything wrong at all. We've practice interviewing at home, we review the application before he goes on the interview. He dresses in a suit or khakis, long sleeve shirt & tie for every interview. We even tried to switch up his references a bit, to include people he's know since in America (thinking maybe american references were better than non-american. He had a former supervisor and co-worker who have relocated to the US, we continue to list the supervisor as they worked together for 10 years). Okay...I'm gonna stop this before I continue for pages. But you know I'm not really sure whats going on.

Seattle has a large Ethiopian population, which we thought could help but its not turned out to be the case so far. One friend of a friend has offered him a job as a taxi driver if he gets a drivers license. Hubby took the test, and did not pass. The DMV has the book in over 10 different languages, not one is in Amahric even though the 2nd largest Ethiopian community is in Seattle. (there's a russian version! I didn't think the community here was large enough) He's studying hard to try to pass, but he's concerned (and so am I) that it will take him lots of practice to be able to drive on his own, he's not comfortable on the freeway and understanding some of the parking signs. The DMV allows translators (from their approved list), and a non-DMV person recommended a person to call who will "translate" for him, but really just give him the answer. We didn't take the number, because we've worked really hard to do everything the right, honest, legal way....and God forbid we do it and something happens. It wasn't worth the risk.

We've tried going to small mom & pop, immigrant owned business hoping that they would understand that all he needs is a chance. But that hasn't worked out either. Hubby was offered a job a Sams club back in October, but didn't accept because of transportation (it was night shift, the buses don't run in that area. We left our vehicle with my parents because we couldn't afford to ship it, but we may have to suck it up and ship it). Granted I'm not sure if the offer would be extended again. I will get him to call on Tuesday.

Thanks for reading this. This thread is really helpful. I'm not nearly as frustrated as I once was. Plus, I'm excited that my hubby is starting to fill out some forms himself. And he's going to the ATM by himself. And he remembers the people he's talked to about a job and calls them to follow up.

Anyway, I'm open to suggestions let me know if you have any.

reeses16,
Sounds like you're doing what you need to - applying, applying, applying, and calling. That's what we did.
It will work out - that's what I kept telling my husband and myself and I do believe it. Good luck!!

polarbear,
I know what you mean about Miami. Portuguese is close enough to Spanish that he's able to communicate with Hispanics - which is a huge advantage.
I hope your husband finds a job where he can learn English, he may learn Spanish at the same time though.

I teach adults English a couple times a week, and I have a Polish student who speaks English pretty well, fluent Polish and Russian - and has even learned Spanish. Goes to show....

I feel so bad for you guys for having so many issues and the online applications. I know it's a total pain in the butt to have to answer those stupid customer questions online, I mean, do they really think someone will tell the truth on those? It's just dumb.

Anyway, just keep applying and then maybe call the store and follow up with the application. We were lucky in that we got call backs from most of the places we applied, Wal-Mart, Target, Sears, Toys R US and Babies R Us. We liked Babies because they only work from 6am-12pm-2pm and that way he can go to school in the afternoon. They don't pay very well of course but it's only a first job until he learns English and moves to better things.

Good luck to everybody and don't lose hope!!!

Diana

That's so weird. I just checked and Minneapolis doesn't have the booklet or test in Amharic either, although it might soon, and they have a huge number of Ethiopians. If I were you, and you could get someone to actually translate, I'd do it. He can always tell the person not to give him the answers. You need to take the advantages you can and use them to make it work.

there was a job in the local paper here that seemed like a good job..... it was for some type of insurance company.. no experience necessary and they would train, the only downfall was that you had to be able to speak Spanish

The DMV here allowed someone to translate for my husband for his written test - the translator just had to swear in (they wouldn't let me do it). But my husband didn't feel that his "friend" did that great of a job because he didn't pass, yet he knew the rules. So, a few days later we went back and my husband took the computer test in Spanish and passed.
I think also it's more difficult to take an oral test (but that's IMHO).

I can really relate with all of you, but with one added problem. I make really good money (OK who would say that is a problem:-)) and my husband doesn't want to start at the bottom and since we don't really need the money he barely goes out and applies (mind you I am still filling out the forms for the places he chooses). His first real job application was at Brinks Armored Car service!!!! His spoken English is OK, but he can't read or write.

He is in ESL classes in the morning and wants to only work a few hours every afternoon so he is not bored. He doesn't want to work when I am home. As you can see, those parameters make finding a job as a new immigrant practically impossible. Plus almost every job wants a high school diploma and he has only been through 8th grade.

So any idea on a 4 hour a day afternoon job that is not manual and requires no reading or writing and only basic English.

Creel, thats a hard one... I have seen a few jobs that might work, of course I don't know if there's anything like this in your area. I've seen ads for a company that needs someone to exercise dogs. They wanted people to commit to 1-2 hrs a day a few days a week who are willing to run the dogs 6 miles a day. Could be fun if he's into running and likes dogs. Convenience store? I've also seen some after school programs that are looking for people to play soccer with kids after school. Paper route? Movie Theater..probably more than 5 hr shifts. Hospital cafeteria? I know you're in a tough situation. If he has a driver's license maybe a valet?

If you can afford to, would it be possible for him to go to school full-time? It will give him something to do all day and put him in a better position in the long run, also maybe he could apply for workstudy or an on campus job just for the experience.

Update: Hubby got a job! I feel relieved and he's happy. Its a nice place near our house and on his route to school. The manager that hired him seems cool and understands that English is his second language. Hopefully this will be a good match for him.

Congrats reeses16!

Creel, trying looking at www.craigslist.com - they have jobs listed under part-time. I'm looking for my hubby still. He likes his job, the guys he works with, it's close to home, has no plans of leaving. However, he's not working a lot and wants to see what else he can do in addition to Outback.
I've found a bunch of part time jobs...we'll see what happens. I know that his job will pick up when the tourists come back, but 'til then he's bored, and would prefer to make more money.

Congratulations Reeses!!!

Creel,

You've been put in a very tough position and as a member of a family that is full of immigrants I know that in order to go up you have to start at the bottom. As they say, beggars can't be choosers, especially in this country. I think Reeses is right, maybe he can go to school full time or maybe work part time at a fast food place like McDonald's, places like that are very flexible when it comes to hours and schedules.

My husband is an IT tech, he has two degrees and was sweet enough to say that he would work in whatever, wherever and whenever. That made it easier to find his first job and we didn't hold back as far as where to apply. Once he found the job he's at right now, we went ahead and registered him for English classes.

Diana

I have some (possibly) good news for us....
My husband got a new job that he likes for many reasons, and plans to stay, but he's not working (yet) as many hours as he'd like to. So I sent his application to a coffeehouse for part time work. Once the owner saw hubby's resume he said it was "great" and was excited about an interview. He said that the other owner speaks Spanish and they both worked in Spanish shops.
I think that he's interested in my husband because I put on his resume that he understands Spanish (since Portuguese is so close there is easy mutual understanding).
I thought it was nice to see a business owner excited about working with a Spanish speaker. I knew there were more people out there. And...if hubby weren't to be given the job it'd be ok since he already has one. We're just waiting for the tourists to come back to Orlando for the restaurant business to pick up....

try starbucks, borders books, barnes and noble. they have excellent bennies for part timers, schedule flexability and are supposed to be non discriminating organizations.

I just wanted to say that it's a good idea for your husbands to write on their resumes (or the application) all of the languages they speak. My husband thinks one reason why he's getting more hours at work is because he's the only Brazilian and the restaurant has A LOT of Brazilian tourists that stop to eat there.
It's working in his favor - even if his English is still limited (though getting better - I'm so proud).

No news anyone?

Hi! No new news. I just wanted agree with Bora Bora that listing languages spoken can be very important depending on where you live.

Hubby found a better job than the car wash! It's really far away and long hours, but it's what he's skilled at and his employer is actively teaching him both english and spanish (but is an arab so can speak to him so that he understands completely). I had to give up the car to him (we only have one) and he drops me off early at work so he can be ontime and I take the bus home. I'm still usually home 1-2 hrs before him, but I'm proud of him. He seems to have some self-respect back and doesn't mope as much Hopefully his language skills will improve soon and he will learn the city better and be a little more independant

Congratulations Polarbear! You'll see that in no time he'll have his routine down and will be happier with his situation. We also only have 1 car because we can't afford another one right now, so I have to carpool with my sister and leave the care with my husband so he can go to work and school. It's a hassle but it'll get better for us someday, right?

Diana

We can only hope

I told my husband that as soon as he makes abou $2000 we would get him a car (he doesn't like mine anyway - it's too girlly )

Congrats PolarBear! Good news...

We HAD to get another car when hubby started his first job because we tried the carpool thing (and I already do that with friends from work) and I was driving up to 4 hours a day.
Public transportation in central Florida is almost nonexistent so we didn't have that as an option.

So, we've got some news round these parts.

Hubby interviewed for a graveyard shift part-time package handler at FedEx and just had his interview this morning. Looks pretty good, especially because I inadvertently ingratiated myself with the big gun at FedEx when I called back the number from a missed call.

It's only part time and from 2am to 6am-ish, but if he gets into FedEx, I won't complain.

This was the first time he felt really comfortable at an interview and was able to do it all by himself.

Only problem...if he doesn't get his DL this Tuesday, there's no way in hell that I can take him there and pick him up at those hours. He couldn't take his test last Tuesday because I don't have a mirror on the passenger's side...even though I've always passed inspection with it.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Keeping my fingers crossed for you too.

My husband drove our car with just his Drivers Permit when I couldn't take him to work. There's no way we could've said no to his job just because he didn't have his license. (But you didn't hear this from me)

The good thing is, he passed his DL test a few weeks later.

Diana

Good to hear Gabacha, I hope it works out for your husband. I believe also that you have to work your way up so it'd be nice for him to get in, show he's a hard worker, and hopefully get more hours afterwards.

My hubby just completed 3 weeks at his new job and it's going well.

Diana, we actually had that very same discussion last night, just in case the driver's test doesn't go well. But I heard nothing from you!

The supervisor at FedEx called me yesterday to say that they really want him, but that they need to verify his ss# as they often have to do with new hires (immigrants and people getting their first jobs). He was funny...actually a bit pushy, encouraging me to start the process ASAP as he couldn't wait forever. I was like, "Don't worry, I'll get right on it."

You can bet I'll be calling him soon if I don't hear back from the company that does the verfifications!

Great to hear! I hope it all works out for your hubby (and you).

You gotta do, what you gotta do girl.

What I've found out with employers who interested is that they get very anxious to hire someone they know is legal immediately. I guess they've been burned too many times by hiring illegal personnel and having to let them go. Once they find someone who has his papers in order, they go nuts to hire them on the spot.

Diana