Hi Everybody,

My friend from Russia has been to some Russian immigration forums.
The concensus there is that you can only find a good job in the U.S. if you are a computer programmer.

What is your wife or husbands experiences in finding a good job in the U.S.

My friend does not want to work at Dillards or J.C. Penny's

In my opinion jobs are hard to come by for anyone right now (guess it depends where you live). If I were your friend I would be happy just to be an immigrant and to find a job because there are a lot of USC working in jobs that they dont' want to have either.

You also have to start somewhere to prove your worth and to build up a stable of good references. Sometimes taking a less desireable job in the beginning will allow for something better in the future.

It depends on what you class as a good job???? is it the amount you get paid and the benefits you get or the fact you are happy in your work and its something you want to do...

It took me 4 months to find the Job I have now.... yes I get paid well and I like my Job so I would say I have a good job...

Kez

In reality...

It all depends on your area of expertise and the place you're moving to...
if you are rocket scientist and you're moving to the Boondocks in the middle of no where, you are going to have problems finding a good job, but if you are a rocket scientist and you move to say FL, close to NASA, I bet you wont have a problem. But if you dont have a specific profession, then, as someone said before, you have to start somewhere, and there's is absolutely not problem with working at Penney's or at any other store for that matter.

Ana

NASA only employs US Citizens.

As happy as I am to finally be with snugglebunny, I am really not looking forward to the new job part. I know I will never see the kind of money I am making now, or the benefits, or the vacation time etc.

I am not doing the best job in the world...but when i moved here in Sept and got a job 2 weeks later (i had a temp ead)then i call myself lucky that i got a job at all...sometimes we can`t be to picky about our job...if we need the money then we will work whilst looking for the kind of job we consider good.

Count me in as one of those Americans who has been looking (for several months now) for a better job.

The competition for jobs where we live is fierce. I've applied for jobs where there were literally 300 to 500 people applying for the same position.

My husband and I have talked about the search for work after immigration. We're both office workers who have good skills. I've told him that had it been me moving there, I would have been happy to start out in the damn chip shop if it meant us having some money and me getting out into society. His first job here was in convenience store - the thing he liked the most about it was meeting people.

Uprooting your whole life means bumps on both sides of the move. Finding 'a good job' is probably one of the bigger ones.

Define "Good".

Where I live there aren't big, corporate jobs where you'd make $100,000 a year. Something like Dillards would be the way to go in my town as it's a paycheck and gets you experience. I just started at Verizon for the same pay I made when I was 19 back in Canada, but for here it's a great paying job.

I am in IT and coders are in high demand in my area. We have migrated from Mainframe COBOL to Client and the dot net world. If she has experience in client she should easily be able to find a good job. The only drawback is the language, does she program in English?

Good luck

i'm in exactly thye same boat. i don't expect to make the same kind of money, but i really liked having loads of vacation time that i could take however i liked and good hours too. that and there aren't many office jobs where i'm at. so far only the funeral home is hiring.

k

EXACT same thing here. But it'll be more than worth it, and I'm prepared to take pretty much any job I can get. I'm thinking I should make the most of the time when I won't be working and try not to be too frustrated by it, because I have a feeling the pay/benefits/vacation time (or lack of it - how I will miss my 31 days a year, not to mention my lovely 4-on/4-off shift pattern!) is going to come as a major shock! But, like I said... more than worth it.

yes. Snugglebunny has warned me repeatedly that I am in for a shock, and he wonders how I will deal with it. I will deal, because that is what we have to do to make this work, and I am hopeful that I will find something unexpected out there and be happy, if not rolling in dough and benefits.

But given that nothing in life is ever certain, I have some concerns about my cv. Maybe my new community only offers a certain wage and a certain type of job, and maybe I have to deal with it to get what I want overall (ie. a life with him) but it might affect my cv and future career path. If things go belly up between us later on, I could be at a disadvantage.

There is risk to all of this. I am more than willing to take it, but I am not going to lie and say it doesn't pop up every now and then to rain on my happy love parade!

You can also consider moving. E.g. with my expertise there is nothing out here where I live. And I don't only have work experience from Europe, also from New York, still there is nothing. We will give it another 5 months and then good bye NC. Best bets for my area are NYC, Bay Area and Seattle.
And I was surprised too, since my hubbie always claimed that there were so many jobs in the US. Fact is, those jobs are jobs for unskilled workers, which is good for a lot of people, but after 6 years at university I want to put my knowledge to good use. And here is the problem: only certain areas offer jobs for high level education.
And one thing which is true: being a computer specialist will get you a job everywhere, but being a PR professional like me, you have to go where all the agencies are. Sad but true!!!!

My husband has a degree in Network Admin and lemme tell ya, it's a b*tch out there trying to find a job in his field here where we live. To actually find something good we'd have to move closer to Atlanta *AUGH* Right now he's had to take a job that fortunately he likes, but doesn't allow him to keep his IT skills current.

You do whatcha gotta do, if you want to help your spouse pay bills. Even McDonald's offers a paycheck, knowwhatimean?

My wife arrived here in the US a year ago. She had a good government job and own a couple of large restaurants in her country. She began taking ESL classes but felt she was not progressing that well due to the fact that most of the students were Hispanic Spanish speaking students. She then applied for a job in the kitchen at a private college an all English speaking environment and they hired her, where she is still employed today and since then she has worked at an American fine dining restaurant and a catering service, working multiple jobs. When she arrived I told her not to worry about working but she has enjoyed the jobs she has landed and they have helped her get acclimated to the US. I guess the key is immerging yourself so that you can get experience and confidence and continue to progress upward. She now has earned her 4 credits for social security this year and she is just happy to be working meeting new friends and getting her out of the house and feeling she is accomplishing something. It may not be the best of all jobs but I am proud of her.

Well I am in IT too with the Australian Government so am giving up a really good job to live in the USA but, I will work at Walmart or Dillards or anywhere until I find something better because the big picture is that I will get to be with my man. That to me is worth more than anything else so as long as I am getting a paycheck that is all that counts. I figure I can work on getting positions more inline with my skills once I am settled.

Well she works as a sales rep. ( I think )???.
They buy from foreign companies and try to sell
to Russian companies. Anything from washing machines to
pasta makers.
She runs her department and earns around
$900 per month. Also since she has such a large
salary. She has two students that she tutors in english.
Each two nights per week for an hour each. Another $40 per week.

She considers herself to be ambitious. I don't want to tell her that
she can make $900 per month in the U.S. standing on a corner with a can
and a sign. It's true! My brother did it before.

One of her co-workers has an ex wife. She is in the U.S. now.
She could only find a job selling jewelry.
I think between the Russian forums and all of the nay sayers.
She is only getting negative advice. She speaks excellent english.
Which I tell her is a huge advantage over people who don't.

Um....I don't mean to sound rude but she makes only $900 a month. I make that much working part time as a secretary. What kind of a job does she think she needs?

And what kind of a job do you think she can find when you don't seem to be sure what she does now?

Reading between the lines here, I don't think you too know each other well enough for her to be talking about moving yet.

And besides, selling jewelry in the US ain't a horrible job. My ex sister-in-law worked her way up to manager in a jewelry chain and ended up with a high five-figure salary, great benefits, and earned trips all over the world.

When the average salary might be $300-$400 dollars a month, $900 is a good job.

She makes $900 a week *in Russia*. An equivalent job to what she's doing in the US could pay 2-4 times that amount, and she'll learn that quickly when she arrives and sees the price of loaf of bread in the store.

She needs to understand that she's starting over, once she accepts that things will be much easier for her. Most, if not all of us, are not doing the same jobs we left behind.

If her English is that good, why doesn't she try to become a Russian tutor once she's in the USA.