Hey MENA! I pray for the best for all of you!

My fiance, Tarik has managed his own cafe for 10 years now but he doesn't have a college degree. So I am not sure what he will be able to do here.

I was wondering for those of you who have your man here already, what kind of job do they have?

I think most work whatever kind of job they can get at first...

For most, a college degree doesn't help a whole lot. Nor does job experience in another country (unless it is very specialized experience). Employers want to see job experience in the U.S. so they have to take whatever at first.

I agree.. I took my husband to the local mosque and had the men there work on conections for him and he's now working with one of them. It's still a manual labor job, but he was offered jobs in arab stores,ect. but he just doesn't speak English

Good luck with this...maybe he can find a good cafe to work for here...something as an apprentice where he can work his way up, and truly understand the American process of food distributors, health departments, and how money exchange works? You would be surprised how long it can take for someone to learn our system of change as nothing is marked with amounts like in other countries.

Also, like someone said, see what connections you can make at your mosque to build from there. Nothing like having your community to help you two succeed.

All the best for you two...it will be an adjustment - breathe it out, but with God's help, you two will get through this. I'm excited for you both.

My husband took whatever he could get. He did some restaurant work, some grounds keeping, whatever he could find. He found some opportunities through other Arabic speakers, which was a mixed blessing. I hate to say it, but some immigrants who have been here for many years are as likely to try to take advantage of a new immigrant as someone who was born here is, but it's easier in some ways for someone with a similar background to take advantage IF they are that type of person. Not saying they all do, by any means, but it happens. My husband also attended career fairs and started surfing Craigslist and e-mailing his résumé. He has finally found something we think will be more permanent, thanks to a job fair. But in the beginning, he'll want to take any honest work he can find, and you'll want to keep reminding each other it's just the beginning, a step to a better future. It's not easy, degree or not, and it may be very discouraging for him at times. Set goals and focus on those. Everything he does, no matter how menial, will help him build his résumé and his references.

I think the first job for any immigrant is often a difficult task. Job applictions and interviews can be so differnt from the home country, but any first job is going to do wonders for adjustment and building selft esteem. Then it becomes easier to find a job more to their liking.

I wonder sometimes if it isn't harder or those with college degrees or specific training because they are so over qualified for entry level jobs and its difficult to start over in a new country at the bottom. Not having a college degree might actually be an advantage because he has so many directions he can ow go without worrying about putting to use that degree in teh field where so much time has been invested.

Salaam Babyeshell,

We are going through this same thing right now. My hubbie is out looking for work, with no real prospects yet. His English is minimal and he doesn't have a college degree. He's gone around store to store, and we are blanketing anything we see on Craig's List, but it is slow pickin's... i think for everyone. The economy is really in the gutter and i think there are a lot more applicants for each job... that's for immigrants, American citizens, everyone... The important thing is to keep trying, something will come along inchallah.

Something interesting... my hubbie is reluctant to ask at the mosque or at any Arab businesses here in NYC. Is that weird that he is reluctant? Maybe he is just trying to get comfortable and see his prospects first? i mentioned it several times, and he was pretty clear that he wanted to find a job working with "other people" not just "Arabs".

Good luck!
hz

A bit of a hijack: Did any of your hubbies get a job with benefits at the beginning? From your descriptions I would think not and this scares me the most... To add Govi onto my work plan it would cost $300/month which we will not have. Did you add your hubbies to your insurance or do they not have insurance?

i luckily just got this office job in June with insurance, and i hope to add Habibi to mine, inchallah, when we get the official US marriage certificate.

you are right though... insurance costs are through the roof! i really don't know how people are making ends meet... i don't know if I'LL be able to make ends meet.

Is there an employment agency which works specifically with Moroccan applicants or other MENA people? There is actually an agency in Jackson Heights which places Nepalis in jobs and I am hoping they can help Govi but I am afraid because he doesn't have a degree, only SLC(like HS diploma). I have noticed in certain stores/jobs there are clusters of immigrants from the same country/region and I suspect that the agencies place these workers, like I see all African guys doing supermarket deliveries on the UES and Nepalis stocking shelves at the Health Nuts store on 2nd Ave.

I think that these men have grand ideas of these great jobs and lots of money, so I would prepare him the best you can with the fact that he will have to start out at the bottom of the barrel and work up. Kind of a hard pill for them to swallow.

My hubby has an okay job, but it does have benefits. I had him on mine, which cost a little more, but not bad. But we are saving around $50 a month having him on his own.

Yep, we are going to be living 3 people in a 1br when he gets here(G and I will be sleeping on a futon in the living room - luckily he is used to tight living) and then hope to save for our own place - there is no way I can spend $300/month on insurance, especially while he is not working. We are unionizing at my work and hopefully if/when it is all done then our premiums for family plan will be lower(maybe by the time G gets here) but until then I am looking at him going uninsured - of course he doesn't realize it's a problem...

I did...but I could do it for about $100 a month 4 years ago. It is scary, and they always say - oh, I'm healthy. I just think insurance means, as Chris Rock said, "In case $#!T happens" which it inevitably will.



One other thing you can check out is catastrophic coverage...it is typically very reasonable and can be a wonderful resource if you do have a truly worst case scenario. My mother, who goes on Medicare in 3 months, is dropping her traditional coverage of $1200 a month and going with catastrophic for about $550 total for these 3 months.

Yep - especially if you are working a bottom-of-the barrel job like a dishwasher, break a glass, cut your hand and have to go to the ER, or are a stock clerk and drop a gallon jar of mayo on your foot - of course guys NEVER think these things through.....

Mine was too, but given that he only speaks french and arabic and had absolutely NO english when he got here, his choices were pretty limited. He's really frustrated bc he speaks arabic or spanish all day with the type of work he can find and I'm the only one who ever speaks english with him

Hopefully he will start to pick up the english faster now that he has a little bit of a basis - I really wish we could afford some school for him bc all the free classes are teaching spanish to english ((sigh)) He wants english to be able to find a better job.

Polar, what part of Miami are you in? I used to live there so I know it pretty well. There should be ESL classes that aren't taught with a Spanish to English - it should be all english.

Thanks, sounds more reasonable. I think there was an insurance thread a while back and someone posted a link to a company which specializes in catastrophic coverage for new immigrants, I'll have to hunt that down when he FINALLY gets here.

To update my post - Polar, here's some helpful info:

OK - here's some links to Miami-Dade Adult Ed classes -
For a listing of their courses, which offers a standard ESOL class - http://www2.edworks.org/VOC_AD_Courses.pdf
For a listing of all their service centers - which should have one in your area - http://www2.edworks.org/vocationalcenters.shtml

Best of luck!

Most communities have ESL classes...it might be listed under Adult Basic Education--there are HUNDREDS of free classes in my medium-sized city...my husband took classes for about 6 months--they were great! (his English was already quite good, but it really helped introduce him to new people and ideas).

Like a previous poster mentioned: I'm sorry, but I would be careful about getting a job with Arabic businesses...some business owners see immigrants/other Arabs as being ripe for taking advantage of. My husband's first job was at a local Palestinian restaurant. The owner paid only $7 an hour and worked his employees (most of whom didn't last very long) like a slavedriver. The owner was swearing at and insulting employees in Arabic--the other employees, who spoke Spanish, didn't know what he was saying. He was also incredibly racist towards Jews and other Americans, but that is besides the point. I encouraged my husband, though he was anxious to be working, to quit after 3 days.

When he finally got a real job (after applying to countless places with few bites) it was at a nice Country Club with ok pay and good benefits. He's still there 2 1/2 years later. They treat him well, but it feels low status. I know he'd like something else, but with the current economy he'll probably stick with it unless something better appears.

Thanks for the link He might be able to attend a 6:30pm class, but he doesn't always finish work before 9pm. He just doesn't have a set schedule, which is why we were looking for free ones where it wouldn't matter if he missed classes.

I sometimes think his boss is taking advantage of him bc of the crazy hours and flexible pay, but he pays fairly depending on how much work they do, just not by hour, and seems to actually be a good person. They have a company van they drive all over the city for jobs and sometimes it can take hours to go to the store and pick up supplies, ect... and he's stuck with the guy bc driving two cars around with gas prices the way they are is insane so he wastes hours of the day not working sometimes and comes home pretty late (still before me though )

You are welcome. I know it can be so tough - and Miami is even more difficult. Believe me, I know. It almost destroyed my husband's sense of self. Good luck with everything. I hope the links will provide some good insight.

Dear P,

Something i thought of, but don't exactly remember the specifics of...
When i had no insurance, i learned that immigrants in NYC can get free or sliding scale coverage at Bellevue Hospital. i believe it might be through HealthPlus... you'd have to look into it... if nothing more than to ease your mind a bit. You, as a working USC, won't be eligible, but your hubbie may be... ?






Great idea... will have to check it out...

OMG! Health Nuts! i work right near there!!!

Careful with Unions...they sing a beautiful song and dance until they "dance" away with your money and their "fees" for everything. You might save on insurance (not so much wait until the next year..they are famous for that raising costs one year later) and then they will tag you with joining and monthly fees. Blah!

You can try temporary agencies and some even offer health benefits! AppleOne, LaborReady, Manpower, Adecco, Express Personnel, Officeteam, etc...there are tons and its free. He goes to apply and they place him in jobs locally. You can google locally and even try talking to the recruiter yourself....they get money for every head they place in a job and if the person goes permanet...they get even more....so they are "working" to get you a job. Craigslist works as well. But I'd recommend a Temporary to Perm agency. Ask Human Resources at your job too...if they use a temp agency..if they do, ask them their contacts name and tell that contact who you work for and what you need from them.

Good luck!!

Cool - I've gone in there a few times when I am in the neighborhood and the guys stocking the shelves were speaking Nepali - I am so tempted to go up and talk to them but I am shy... Seriously, maybe ask around or go to a Moroccan/MENA neighborhood(maybe Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn or Astoria) - I actually found out about the emp. agency through an ad in a Nepali-American newspaper that I picked up in a Nepali video store.

Sofyan has been here for over 2 years and has just landed what I say loosely "a real job" Since coming here he sold cars at 3 different dealerships and drove a cab. There were no benefits, and NO STEADY PAYCHECK...there were weeks at a time where he couldnt even come up with money for bills..he was making enough to have lunch and cigarettes for the week...Now, thank god, he is my dads partner at his chemical plant..He isnt making a ton, but, it is a guaranteed check every friday and after 3 months, he will be offered all the benefits..

I, the USC have always had to be the breadwinner, and it may be hard for some to get adjusted to that...My health insurance for myself, sofyan and zaid is almost 325$ a month...

I guess my point is, dont be surprised if it takes time for him/her to adjust to the working environment here, and also it may take time to even find a minimum wage job..Sofyan was waaay too proud to ever work at a fast food chain or gas station, so i just had to grin and bear it..

ETA: Sofyan has no education any only previous work history was in Jordan in a clothing store...Those who have degrees and such may not have such a hard time

my husband speaks good english and has two BS degrees, it has been so hard to find anything and even harder in his field. Just don't give up, nothing in this process has been easy. My husband has found a part time computer job, but is still looking for a full time job in his field.

During the 4yrs I have known Wael, and the many trips I went to see him in Egypt, we spoke alot about jobs here in the states. He knew pretty much what to expect with applications and interviews. This helped him and there were no surprises.

Wael was very fortunate to find a job two weeks after he arrived here. He works for a government contractor and had his benefits beginning the first week of work. During the first two weeks he applied online for many positions and he had a 80% reponse rate from these applications! He is also very fortunate to speak, read and write english which was a real plus. He also has his Bachelors in Accounting.

His plan is to pursue his MBA next year! I'm very proud of him what he has accomplished in his 7 months here in the states!

I worry about this for my husband too. His english is great, but he is a medical school graduate so he is too educated for a lot of jobs. I have been working on ideas for him, but we can't know what will happen until he gets here. The refugee place is supposed to help him, but I heard the jobs they find refugees are basically like factory work for almost no pay Iraq has been a weird exception to most refugee countries because many Iraqis are well educated and we aren't set up to deal with that. I have been considering having my husband apply at Walmart or Walgreens. Has anyone tried that for their husbands?

we're in the same boat. my hubby and i were job-searching before he got here...so he knew what to expect. the most important thing is PATIENCE. there were some days that my hubby would just get all stressed and upset and would not speak a word all day. alhamdulillah, it didn't happen often...but it happened.

his first job did not have benefits, but it had a pretty good salary and he wasn't flipping burgers.. he was a site manager in egypt, so jobs of that sort were out of the question for him....

the job he was doing required a specific certificate in asbestos sampling (or something like that)--he took a 5 day course and an exam and then applied to consulting companies that deal with that stuff...the job was not very stable, they would call him whenever they needed him, and it depended a great deal on his relationship with his boss...if he liked him, he'd call him more often--BUT, it was a job and it made him feel a lot better about himself!!

anyway, so my point is.....look around for things like that. the course he took cost about $800--then, he had to pay about $200 to be licensed, but the money he made from the job was wayyy more--and a certificate like that looks good on a resume

the only thing with that is language--my hubby speaks and reads and writes english..he learned it in high school and college....his listening was a problem, because it was difficult for him to get used to new yorker english...but he was able to get by in the course by studying... so, try searching for courses like that in your area...maybe on state websites, like the Department of Environmental Protection in NY and stuff like that....certification courses, etc...

also, monster.com is great....its slowww...but it works. you have to be persistent with it...just keep applying to jobs everyday..have someone put a nice resume together for him...i'm not so good with that, i had a friend do it for me. we would apply to a bunch of jobs every day and he would get a call once and 20 times not....but, after a few months, he got his first "real" job with benefits and all, working in his field with his degree..thank God!!!

anyway, i think i wrote a little tooo much i hope the info is helpful..otherwise, i apologize for wasting so much of your time.

take care! i wish you all the best

why didn't he try doing something with his medical education?!?!?!! i'm sure it'll be a little rough, but well worth it in the end! try researching about evaluating his degree and stuff...i'm sure you'll find a way around it...the longer wait, the more difficult it will get, i think...
good luck!

My husband isn't here yet so there isn't much he can do. He has been working for free in a hospital in Jordan because Iraqis are not legally allowed to work for pay. Unfortunately due to the problems in Iraq and moving around as a refugee he hasn't been able to do his official residency time. I checked into all the medical licensing and there are three tests he has to take before he can be licensed to start his residency. Also, they will accept his college in Iraq without an evaluation because his college is recognized by the medical association. The first two tests are about $700 to $800 a piece and he will not let me pay for them. They are eight hours long so he will really have to study before he takes them. They third test is done in only a few US cities and is an evaluation of his handling of actual patients. There is another fee for that, but I forget how much. On top of this Residency programs only start in June each year. Most Hospitals already start looking at prospective residents in August and finalize their decision by January. There is no way my husband will get the tests done in time to submit to any applications to resident programs before the deadline. This means he will have to wait until June of 2010 to begin anything. It does give him more time to prepare for the tests which is good. I checked around for some lower medical jobs but they all require certification. I checked the certification requirements and they all say a person must complete a certain course of study at a school. When I compared the classes under these jobs to my husbands college transcript I found mostly they are nothing alike.

Basically he will just have to work whatever job he can find until he can start his residency. I am hoping he could at least get some position in a hospital or volunteer there so he will not lose his skills in the meantime.

..oh wow...that's complicated...and annoying....so, it'll take time, but insha Allah, it'll work out in the end. as for the certification, maybe he can take a course when he gets here. those little certificates really help because it gives them something from america...usually jobs that require those certificates don't look at educational background, so they won't give him a problem with the foreign degree and all. they're just looking to see if he passed the required course.

i wish you two all the best and i pray that your united soooooooooon...

Thank you so much for your input and prayers. Inshallah it will all work out and God will guide us in what is the right path to take.

Insha'allah S and S! Thank god for all the good resources here and great support!

So true Nawal. The support here is so amazing and helpful while going through this process!

S and S,
Could your husband get a certificate as a Nursing Assistant? I know it's a HUGE step down from being a doctor, but usually the certification only takes a few weeks, and entry-level jobs often pay very well. I have a friend who is working as a NA in the Emergency Room at a major hospital downtown--fabulous exposure to the American way of doing things in hospitals! Her starting pay was over $16 an hour. One of the reasons why they hired her was for her language skills (she is fluent in Spanish, but I know there is a great need for people who speak other languages as well).

Basically, if it's something that takes a degree, unless our SOs get lucky-- it's very hard to get into a degreed job right off the bat. If you're applying for an academic position, it's even worse. It takes about 6 years for the average graduate student now to find a good academic position... so imagine what our Sos go through. Also, lots of people are very nervous about foreigners as they have the "not legal to work" thing stuck in their heads. It can help to mention one is a permanent legal resident/green carded/ etc with work authorization. Just because people hear you say PLR or GC doesn't mean they associate that with work permit either Also, as has been mentioned-- most jobs want you to have work experience. Think about it-- we all had to go through teh exact same crap when we were teenagers. We looked around and got a crap job, most of us, and then slowly improved as we did other things or kept switching upwards as much as we could-- whatever. They are not only starting like we were all those years ago, they are also fighting the language/illegal immigrant/foreigner/prejudice/etc factor. At the end of the day, who would most people want to hire? me, the little blonde American girl with the kid voice and 16 years of work experience with multiple degrees or Ammar, the guy with one year work experience, foreign degrees from schools you have never even heard of or places you have no clue about, who is an ARAB, probably Muslim, has an accent, not 100% stellar english, who is like towering over you? So as sad and as unfair as it is because we KNOW our SOs... that is what they are working against. Sucks! But with the right connections or trying hard enough and enough time... they can move up and will move up!!

I have a friend who is thinking about doing that or nursing school, but right now works in the emergency room doing paperwork or something like that. She still has contact with patients and is around the hospital and is learning a lot of the policy and paperwork side of it. She went from a banker to this and is a hijabi (no prejudice so far) and so it seems like it's doable for your husband S and S. If they would hire her with no medical experience, no college degree (although she is in comunity college), and is obviously muslim in a Jewish majority city... mayby he has a shot. His english would have to be pretty good, but they need people who speak other languages in the emergency rooms.

Any hospital job would be a start and give him exposure to the American way of medical care and maby even some conections that might come in handy.

For anyone still looking don't lose hope! The problem my husband had at first is that we're in the Boston area surrounded by TONS of college kids and in the summertime they snatch up all of the entry level positions but now that fall is approaching (i love summertime) all of those jobs seem to be opening up and he's getting tons of emails from places he applied to about a month ago. Feast or famine I tell ya. He already has a job but might take one of them as a second job.


What I wanna know is what do you all do when they start working??? I'm gonna miss him!!!

Girl! Get in there and bust out your Nepali! Turn a few heads!

Or burn the daylights out of yourself as a fry cook or grill cook working 12 to 14-hour shifts. Or cut yourself with lawn equipment. Or fall out of a tree. The jobs they are most likely to get at first are the most hazardous and the ones least likely to provide insurance (including worker's comp, hate to say it). The grounds keeping job worried me enough that we got him a temp policy. Thankfully, he won't need it anymore.

opefully because of the demand in the medical field it will be easier to get into. I know he will have to do the medical boards etc and that will take time. I know a Libyan doctor who is teaching biology and AP parttime at a community college while he works on all the certification and finding a residency. All he needs is 18 graduate hours in a field but an advance degree in any field.

The nursing idea may be a good option though we will need to get his college transcript evaluated. I think at the very least he could use a American medical ethics class since we do things differently over here. He will need to know those things for his medical licensing test anyway. I am working on convincing him a college class or two isn't a bad thing. He just worries about the cost. My husband's english is very good, especially in medical terminology, but also in every day talk. He may have to get used to some of the accents here that he is not used to, but other than that I think he will be fine.

Hopefully you are right and it shouldn't be too hard for him to get some kind of job in the hospital in the meantime. I purposely picked an apartment only a mile from the hospital and then they built a new one and now it is much further There are buses he can take to get there though.

Thanks to all of you for the advice. Every little bit helps in getting ideas of what course of action to take and prepare for when he comes.

This company - J.A. Silny in Miami, Florida is a leader at evaluating transcripts. Why don't you have them do it now, before he gets here. They did my husband's. It is not cheap, but it is worth it. Here is their website: http://www.jsilny.com/

Good luck!

I checked out the site. I will be sure to keep that in mind. It says something about providing originals of his transcript (which is in english). I'm not sure if I could get that before he comes here and it isn't easy to get another copy from Iraq right now. Everything takes money and months of waiting. His passport took 8 months after he put in the paperwork. When he finally got it, they mispelled his name. I told him to not even think of sending it back to get fixed. The Iraqi embassy in Jordan is one of the slowest for getting passports out of Iraq. We will just wait until he gets here and have it changed at the Iraqi embassy in DC. For now he can still use his old passport if necessary.