Hello, I was wondering whether there are some people out there who would like to share their experiences while looking for work.

I just had a rather frustrating experience at a job fair of a local community bank. While I was filling in my profile, the HR lady comes up to me, seeing how I am doing and briefly looking through my resume. She gathers that I am "foreign" and asks what kind of residency or work permit I have. I explain to her that it is a permanent residency card and she tells me that I might not be employable. She explained to me that they had problems in the past where the employers insurance rejected to insure such employees.

The bottom line was that she send me on my way without even giving me a chance to show my qualifications and be interviewed by the HR personnel. Everyone else who showed up had an interview.

I hate to put myself in the position of a victim and I never thought that it will be easy to find a new position in a company; but this incident made me furious as I was screened out solely because of my residency status.

If any of you had similar experiences please share. Also if anyone is familiar with the topic of employee insurance (bondability) or even works in the HR field, can you let me know whether the lady had a valid point?

Thank You!

Alex

That person was totally ignorant and maybe even illegal what what she did. Your green card is your employment authorization, except for govt Jobs, and other private companies that have defense contractor with the govt, those are the companies that requires citizenship to work there, because of the D clearance requirements. You'll find jerks everywhere so don't let that incident tempers you down, keep up your spirit and keep looking. It takes my wife about a year to start working even with the green card, so she took some classes to update her skills while job hunting.

Hi Alex,

That's not okay what she did and I would call them again and inquire to talk to the department head of their HR Dep. That is discrimination because based on if you are a citizen or a green card holder they cannot say we won't employ you unless it is a government job. The girl probably did not know what a green card is and thought you had some sort of work visa that might elapse. Every legally employable person in this country has a valid social sec number and hence is insurable through employer sponsored health insurance - so she had no idea what she was talking about or just didn't like the fact that you don't have an American passport.
I had a very frustrating search myself - I was not accepted even for the smallest entry level jobs in my field, even though experts worked on my resume and I was well or over-qualified. It's tougher for a foreigner to find a job, as expected, though most people do not like to admit it.
I found a job finally in the IT industry - they so do not care where you come from and even enjoy diversity. In the end you will find something and it's going to be fine, we just have to work a tad harder in the beginning to "prove" ourselves.

Good luck!

Hi Alex-

dont let ignoran't people fool or discourage you

when you come into a new environment and people notice that you are a foreigner, you will have to face hurdles, challenges. As others posted, it will take some time until you find a company that appreciates your foreign credentials and degrees.
Just continue what you have been doing, go to job fairs, look online, magazines, network!!, and try temp agencies at first
After 10 months of extreme job-hunting and almost developing depression, I finally broke the ice through an agency and actually was very very lucky to find outstanding job opportunities here in the US because I sold my German degrees and credentials as equally good as american ones.

good luck!

It is a bit tough, my husband had difficulty finding work in Texas, because there were so many ignorant people there doing hiring that pretty much had the idea that if he had a hispanic accent and didn't speak perfect english, that he was an illegal immigrant or equal. Most of the jobs that were entry level in his field were taken by H1B visa holders from India. So I ended up taking a transfer and a promotion with my company and we moved to Fort Lauderdale, FL. He's since gotten a great job in his field of I.T. where they need bilingual English/Spanish workers in alot of the Latin American accounts. We're living better now than ever

That person had no idea what they were talking about by questioning your ability to work with a green card, just pure ignorance and that is the most frustrating thing. Hang in there and the right opportunity will come at the right time

This ignorant HR person needs to be fired, or, at the very least, get demoted for this crap.

She explained to me that they had problems in the past where the employers insurance rejected to insure such employees.

What a bunch of bull...

Keep looking, I bet you will find something

I know how it is in texas. I lived there myself. its a great taste but at first there are many hurdles in the job-hunting for foreigners. been through all that myself-to the point that I developed depression. good you guys have better opportunities in miami!

congrats

Some people are so ignorant.

This is off-point, but goes to the topic.

The other day Wes and I went to sign up for water service at our new house. The water department guy wanted to see ID on both of us. I produced my drivers license; Wes showed them his greencard.

The guy (who had been pretty unfriendly all along) gave the greencard a one-second glance and then flipped though Wes wallet until he found his EXPIRED state ID card and took the data from it instead.

Anything out of the ordinary (with some people) is just too tough for them.

People can be so ignorant about foreigners, especially in smaller cities.

We don't have much choice but to keep looking.

I got in a car accident recently, I was hit from behind on the interstate and the police officer who came to take my information spent a whole deal of time looking on my DL and asking me if my husband lives with me and if we have the same address (the car is under my husband's name).

For God's sake, I am hit, I am pregnant and crying because I am so worried about the baby and he asks me all kind of suspicious questions! When my husband showed up at the scene, the police officer made a point of coming and talking to him about our marriage.

He probably thought I was an illegal immigrant or something. I have valid DL, my last name is Davis and my husband is American! And the only thing I want to talk is how to get to the hospital to make sure my little one is fine!

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 work for a regional Bank in Wisconsin as a personal Banker and I was able to be bonded. I had to have fingerprints taken at the local police station for the bonding company so they could check me out !

last year before me and my wife starts the K-1 process i did some approach tosome potential employers ( i'm a woodworker )... i clearly told the my situation and at my surprise, they gave me an employment application...

today we're about to send the applications for my AOS/EAD... soi'llgo to meet them again to give them some news...plus i did some research tofind some other potential workshops where i could work once my EAD in hand...

i'm optimist on how things would turn for me here...

Good Luck!

thanx!!!

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)