ljudi72

Hi everyone,

My husband is getting very stressed these days. He has is 1 year work authorization card now and prior to this had the 90 day temp card. It's been three months and he has been unable to find a job.

He is a mechanical engineer with a masters degree and lots of experience in his field.

If anyone has any advice for us in this area it would be greatly appreciated. I know the Job market is rather slow now. I just really hope that something comes through for him because any company would be lucky to have him.

Thanks in advance for any information. We currently live in the St. Louis area.

Thanks again

Judi

dave w

Sometimes people take jobs beneath their skill level or outside their main interest to get moving. Flexibility is an asset in this economy. I have noticed that it seems to be easier to get a job that we want once we are already working.

KimJ

Use all available resources - online posting places like monster.com, local newspaper job listings, headhunters, network with people...

Finding a full time job IS a full time job!

Good luck!

katesuiter1

I'm inclined to agree with this. I did some work for a couple of different agencies, managed to land a good permanent job, but then the boss decided to down-size so I was unfortunately laid off. I joined another agency, worked an assignment for them, and that led to the best paid job I've ever had in my life. I've now been taken on permanent, and the future's rosy.

The spooky thing is, in between my lay-off and the job I have now, I took on the world's crappiest job with the worst pay just to keep myself earning "something". Two days later, the agency called me with an opportunity I wasn't really keen on, going by their description of the job. I went along to the interview anyway, and I'm glad I did. The agency waaaaaaaay underestimated the opportunity and I came out with a firm job offer, and totally excited about starting work there the next day.

My advice to your hubby would be to take anything for now, and then pull all the stops out looking for another job. To echo dave w, it's so much easier, especially when you haven't got the pressure of being unable to contribute to the household income.

Kate. xxxxxxx

NC Penguin

If he's only spent three months looking for employment solely in his specialty field, that's not that long really, taking into account the crappy job market out there.

Continue to search for jobs suitable for his prior skills and experience. However, he may be on the hunt for a lot longer (think at least 8 months).

However, if he's more flexible and income is a necessity, then he could always consider employment using transferable skills from being a mechanical engineer, along the lines of what other posters have suggested.

NevAnna

I agree with all posters here. Sometimes, you have to take what you can get and keep looking for what you want, when it comes to jobs. Just landing his first job in the US, no matter if it's actually what he wants, is a great start. He can build his employment background, which means a lot

My husband was a bilingual recruiter for teachers/professors (can't remember the exact term used in the UK, but it's a headhunter here!) in the UK, but wanted to start work, asap here in the US so, he took a job working with medical records for an insurance company. Boring, yes. But, he built an employment background and it kept him sane, hehe.

Mrtravelkay

ljudi72 wrote:

    > Hi everyone,
    >
    > My husband is getting very stressed these days. He has
    > is 1 year work authorization card now and prior to this had the 90 day
    > temp card. It's been three months and he has been unable to find a
    > job.
    >
    > He is a mechanical engineer with a masters degree and lots of
    > experience in his field.

What specific kind of experience, and are there job openings in your
area for this field? If not, then he needs to change locations or fields.

Dant3

Unfortunately, that's the way it goes when you're a new immigrant. In many ways your career is back to square one. In the UK I was a teacher but have been told by the California Teacher Credentialling Agency that to work in the state's public school system I would have to go back to college for several years. Private schools often ask for teaching credentials too, and the tutoring agencies won't touch me because I don't have my own car. So I'm looking at entry level clerical and admin positions and have already had a couple of interviews, but I'll be getting paid less than half what I did in the UK.

A lot of people here say that once you're on the employment ladder, however low the rung, you can climb it pretty quickly. But getting on the first place isn't easy and means sacrifice. It's not much consolation, but EVERY immigrant is in the same position.

Good luck to him.

ian-mstm

Hi Judi,

Other posters have given you good advice. I was out of work for 4 months after moving to the US and even though I was a high school teacher in Canada and at the top end of the pay scale, I took a $10/hr job writing obituaries for the local newspaper for 2.5 years. It got me out of the house. All during that time, I did volunteer work with some of the local charities, hospitals, organizations, etc. It was a great way to network and meet the people who make the decisions. It was 3 years before I finally got a full-time position as a sys. admin. at a university.

Good luck to you both,
Ian (and Sheila)

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Timeline:

Mailed I-129F: November 28, 1997
K-1 interview in Montreal: March 27, 1998
Married Sheila: May 23, 1998
Filed for AoS: June 15, 1998
AoS interview: February 20, 2001
Received PR status: March 4, 2001
Applied for Citizenship: December 8, 2003
NoA: Priority date - December 11, 2003
Fingerprinted: January 20, 2004
Citizenship Interview: May 5, 2004