BritishInOhio

Hi all,
Well long story short, I got my EAD about 6 weeks ago and have been searching for work since then but no luck at all. Have been using monster.com and all the web job sites I can find applied to tonnes of ads in the paper and even sent my resume to all manufacturing companies in the area. I have a degree in engineering and have served an apprentiship with 8 years engineering experience so have good experience and education but still no luck. As soon as they find out I don't citizenship or green card all the excuses come out, wrong education background, wrong work history, too well qualified. Of course until the fact that I don't have the GC they sound really interested. Anyone with any advice for me, I am in central Ohio and there seems to be a lot of work here, just not for me!!
Thanks in advance.
Richard

Andy Platt

If you could prove any of that you would have a good case against them! OK,
the law of the land is that, except for certain jobs that require security
clearance or are government jobs, it is illegal to discriminate because you
have an EAD or a GC. Here's the deal - you can't lie but you can hide it.
Don't say that you have an EAD, talk about your immigration status or
whatever. Say yes you are legally obliged to work.

It's only once you have the job that they have to validate the specific
authorization that you have.

Of course this is easier said than done, particularly when it's an
employer's market right now. A few years ago they would have been offering
to sponsor you for an H-1B if you needed it!!!

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.
"BritishInOhio" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Hi all,
    > Well long story short, I got my EAD about 6 weeks ago and have been
    > searching for work since then but no luck at all. Have been using
    > monster.com and all the web job sites I can find applied to tonnes of
    > ads in the paper and even sent my resume to all manufacturing companies
    > in the area. I have a degree in engineering and have served an
    > apprentiship with 8 years engineering experience so have good experience
    > and education but still no luck. As soon as they find out I don't
    > citizenship or green card all the excuses come out, wrong education
    > background, wrong work history, too well qualified. Of course until the
    > fact that I don't have the GC they sound really interested. Anyone with
    > any advice for me, I am in central Ohio and there seems to be a lot of
    > work here, just not for me!!
    > Thanks in advance.
    > Richard
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Op

"Andy Platt" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > If you could prove any of that you would have a good case against them!
OK,
    > the law of the land is that, except for certain jobs that require security
    > clearance or are government jobs, it is illegal to discriminate because
you
    > have an EAD or a GC. Here's the deal - you can't lie but you can hide it.
    > Don't say that you have an EAD, talk about your immigration status or
    > whatever. Say yes you are legally obliged to work.


'Obliged' to work? Maybe 'allowed'. It may be desirable but I don't think
it's compulsory


    > It's only once you have the job that they have to validate the specific
    > authorization that you have.
    > Of course this is easier said than done, particularly when it's an
    > employer's market right now. A few years ago they would have been offering
    > to sponsor you for an H-1B if you needed it!!!
    > Andy.
    > --

Andy Platt

"OP" wrote ...

    > "Andy Platt" wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > If you could prove any of that you would have a good case against them!
    > OK,
    > > the law of the land is that, except for certain jobs that require
security
    > > clearance or are government jobs, it is illegal to discriminate because
    > you
    > > have an EAD or a GC. Here's the deal - you can't lie but you can hide
it.
    > > Don't say that you have an EAD, talk about your immigration status or
    > > whatever. Say yes you are legally obliged to work.
    > 'Obliged' to work? Maybe 'allowed'. It may be desirable but I don't
think
    > it's compulsory

Whoops - I changed what I was writing about the employer's obligation and
left obliged in. "able" is the word I should have used. BTW, I'm obliged to
work - my wife insists on it!

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.

KissingtheBrit

Hi Richard,

Reading this made me very sad. I feel for you! My husband was so happy to receive his EAD (and months later his SSN) so that he could start to work. Little did we know that it would be as difficult as it is. I'm just relaying what our experience has been thus far, so it's all my opinion, but we seem to be in just about the same boat.

When I first started helping him look, I typed up his resume and very proudly listed all his British experience, schooling, references, whatnot. I'm so proud of him being British I never thought it could possibly be a hindrance. Well...I was remarkably surprised at the *lack* of calls we were getting in response. I went back on this forum and read a thread about finding your first US job and there saw that a poster was recommending "masking" any foreign information to prohibit discrimination. We gave it a try...I took off all references to England and wouldn't you know, the calls started coming in.

So Dave started interviewing and came in contact with some interesting folks. Some were obviously of the notion that if a job of any sort were open, it should obviously be filled by an American. Some had NO CLUE about the immigration process and wrongly assumed that you need to be a naturalized citizen in order to work. Some were just goofy and asked questions like, "Hey, where'd ya get that fancy accent?"

Overwhelmingly the people wanted to know "DO YOU HAVE A GREEN CARD?" - because apparently everyone is under the impression that the GC gives you the right to work. I think they just don't quite get it. Anyway, long story short, everytime Dave said, "Well, no, no green card yet, but I do have the EAD", the interviewers eyes glazed over after the "well, no" and that was all they heard.

We started glossing over the green card thing when asked about it...saying something to the effect of, "Sure, all his paperwork is in order...blah blah blah." We couldn't outright say no, because that's all they heard and really, all they need to know is that his paperwork is in order. They don't understand the difference between the EAD and the GC anyway, so we no longer bother trying to explain it.

Anyway, what finally worked for us was being a little "blurry", if that makes sense. He found a company to hire him and so will you. Hang in there!!

Oh yes, that post is at:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ghlight=resume

Good luck and please let me know how it goes.

Angela

Robin

Richard,

I agree with Andy......unless you're asked flat out whether you have a
green card or not, just let the prospective employer work on the
assumption that you do.

You should have your Social Security card. Employers here in Eastern
Kentucky seem to rely on that item more than anything. Just fill in
your S.S. number (use a heavy hand and BLACK INK), and hopefully this
will overshadow everything else.

I'd not suggest this unless you were having a problem with the 'powers
that be'. But since my British husband has gone through this to a
lesser degree, I think it's an option. After all, you ARE eligible to
work!

Best of luck to you,
Robin

hmiller

This makes me sad too, and unfortunately I anticipated that my fiance' would have troubles finding work here. I think a lot of it is employers not understanding how hiring an immigrant does, or does not affect them or what is required to be in compliance with the government.

Employers are required to fill out an I-9 Form (Employment Eligibility Verification) on all employees to verify they are eligible to work in the United States. It states on the back of the form all the types of acceptable documents, including Foreign passport with I-551 stamp or and unexpired EAD document (Form I-699B).

It also states that it is ILLEGAL to discriminate against any individual in hiring due to national origin or citizenship status (unless individual is not authorized to work in the US). Also, employers cannot specify which document(s) they will accept from an employee, as long as the document is listed it is acceptable. And they CANNOT refuse to hire someone due to a future expiration date on employment authorization.

If the foreigner has a valid work permit that is all the employer need be concerned about. They are required by law to complete a reverification if the work permit is temporary or if the status changes.


Sorry to go off on this topic a little much I really feel for those having a difficult time finding work right now.

Folinskyinla

How does the subject even come up? They are not supposed to even ask until you have a job offer.

Dekka's Angel

This is reminscent of the "accent" thread we had a few weeks ago......

/sigh

John McHugh

Does the company clearly understand that you don't require sponsorship? HR types are not immigration experts, and companies typically receive an unmanageable volume of resumes from folks who have no connection to the U.S. Methinks a dose of persistent education (from you to "them") may be in order here.

Just Jenney

Perhaps this is a bit naive of me to suggest, but what about providing information to employers regarding hiring immigrants if it happens to come up during the interview? Such as a copy of an I-9 form with the information describing acceptable work authorization documents, etc?

For instance, if an employer asks, "Do you have a green card?" you could say something like, "If by your question you're asking if I'm legally authorized to work in the US, the answer is yes, I am." If the employer presses further regarding the green card issue, you could show them the information about how a green card is not a document required for work authorization.

I would only do this if the issue comes up, of course. And it would be very important to do so in such a way that doesn't seem condescending. As my mom always says, it's not what you say but how you say it -- if you present it in such a way as to simply educate the employer, then hopefully they'd be receptive to it. And who knows -- they may even thank you for giving them the correct information, because they really do want to hire you but were afraid to due to your lacking a green card.

There is a lot of misinformation out there, including the misconception that one must have a green card in order to work legally in the US. (Hey, even I used to think that!) Employers probably think it's easier (and, in their minds, less risky) to just pass you over in favor of a born-and-bred American, only because they don't know the facts. And they will do that unless they're educated as to the facts. Unfortunately, that means you must do the educating.

~ Jenney

PEACHSTER

Sorry to hear your having probs getting a job. I think it's crap that they wont hire you just cause you have a EAD. Hopefully you will find something soon.

I couldnt help but laugh tho at there one excuse- "Too well qualified". That one just stood out at me.

Good luck on a job.

Albertacanuck

You should look for work outside of your field. Find any job you can.
Finding work gets a few things done.

1) It helps contribute financially to the household

2) It helps you adjust to your new surroundings and assimilate.

3) It begins to establish your work history in the USA. If other
companies see
that you are already employed, you will appear to be more
employable to
them.

When I moved down here, I got a job that was completely out of my
field, and took a 40 % wage cut. I got 2 promotions then another job
with a different employer and now I make more then I did in Canada.
Do not make the mistake of assuming that you can just pick up your
life and career where you left it off in your old country. If that
was your intention then you should have got a work visa.





BritishInOhio wrote in message news:...
    > Hi all,
    > Well long story short, I got my EAD about 6 weeks ago and have been
    > searching for work since then but no luck at all. Have been using
    > monster.com and all the web job sites I can find applied to tonnes of
    > ads in the paper and even sent my resume to all manufacturing companies
    > in the area. I have a degree in engineering and have served an
    > apprentiship with 8 years engineering experience so have good experience
    > and education but still no luck. As soon as they find out I don't
    > citizenship or green card all the excuses come out, wrong education
    > background, wrong work history, too well qualified. Of course until the
    > fact that I don't have the GC they sound really interested. Anyone with
    > any advice for me, I am in central Ohio and there seems to be a lot of
    > work here, just not for me!!
    > Thanks in advance.
    > Richard

Mfrtavel

By law, in most cases, they can not even ask you about the whether you
are a citizen or have a green card. They can only ask you if you are
legally permitted to work in the US

Mfrtavel

Robin wrote:
    >
    > Richard,
    >
    > I agree with Andy......unless you're asked flat out whether you have a
    > green card or not, just let the prospective employer work on the
    > assumption that you do.

The employer, except for certain cases, can NOT ask him if he has a
green card.
They can only ask if he is legally able to work.