spooks

Hi everyone, my question is, here in the UK i am a qualified nursery nurse and assistant manager of a nursery with children aged between birth and 5yrs old, my husband is a qualified electrical engineer, what would we need to do when trying to get employment in the states will we have to go and take more exams or will our qualifications be recognised over there. Thanks everyone Debbie

ian-mstm

Unless you have oodles of $$ to invest, the only way you'll likely get to the US is if you manage to get a company to sponsor you for visas. With your current skills, it will likely not happen. Sorry. But...

Read this... if you can answer "yes" to any of the questions, you might be able to get a visa.


I'm not sure about what qualifications you'd need, but your husband will almost certainly need to recertify in the US.

Ian

spooks

Thanks ian, sorry i didnt make myself clear, we are at the visa interview stages so hopefully i am already nearly there, i was just wondering who hubby needs to contact regarding recertifying over there, and if my qualifications would be enough or if i needed to retrain thanks again Debbie

Duncan Roberts

You're still not very clear, what visa? I think who you need to talk to will depend largely on the city and state you will live in. Daycares around me are 10 a penny and none require any certification, although having one may help get a job offer. Don't expect much in the way of pay though. For your husband it may be worth talking to a local union regarding certification. plus, being union has many perks.

janette

As far as childcare is concerned, you will probably find that each state has its own specific requirements, and will make its own decisions about what qualifications to accept. I have a degree but still had to do basic introductory training, because nobody is allowed to work in childcare without taking those courses in Florida. Also, foreign qulifications need to be verified by a US company to be judged "equivalent", and even when that is done, there is no guarantee you won't have to produce something else to back up what you actually covered in your training! There is a national qualification for childcare - the national CDA - and that is accepted in most states, but is not necessarily a requirement to work in childcare.

lisa67

Her sister has sponsored her

spooks

Hi again, thank you all for your replies, yes my sister has sponsered me and we hope to move to georgia in august, thank you for taking the time to respond to my queries Debbie

meauxna

In the US, a nursery is a place that grows and sells plants.
FYI.

ian-mstm

Ah... then your sister is a US citizen, and many years ago she filed an I-130 on behalf of you and your husband. It's all clear now! Good luck!

Ian

Bob

Aye, down my way, a lot of teachers who work in pre-school have masters, just because people with degrees teaching and looking for pre-school work are 10 a penny.

Also don't know exactly the state certification process, but it's a background check and all the usual stuff required when working with kids.

As for electrical engineer, is that a proper engineer or a sparky? If a sparky, could be anything from retraining, just doing an apprenticeship, or taking some exams, but a local community/vocational school should be able to help there. If a proper engineer, get in touch with professional associations.

Mummy in the foothills

You could open up home daycare, that doesn't require any degree, and maybe play on the fact that you are fully trained (but not in the US) Here you need ECE (early childhood education) units from a local college to work in preschools, my friend works in one and she has a degree to teach Kindergarten through 6th grade and also ECE units.
Home daycare earns better money that she does. (she gets $10 an hour with no health insurance and no paid vacations)
Or you could be a daily nanny that pays well, (Seattle anyway) one lady I talk to complained all the daily live out Nannys want $32,000 a year or there abouts she's thinking of staying home now as she earns not much more than that herself.
Electricians I have no idea about, I would think a lot of stuff is different (rules and regs) and so re training would be in order.

MsElui

Im going to be paying my live out nanny $10 an hour with no insurance from Monday! Have a look at care.com to see the kind of prices people in your area charge for in the home care etc.

Mummy in the foothills

Ohio is a whole lot cheaper than Seattle for nannies then $10 an hour is a bargain, my friends Dd does occasional care nanny, not full time as she's in college and she get $15 an hour. I nearly died when she told me as I had asked her to watch Dd while I went to the Airport and would be gone all day. She did it as a favor for me and for chocolate thank goodness.

Bob

Down my way, that's wouldn't even cover a highschool kid to baby sit

Vimto

As far as your hubby is concerned Spooks, is he an 'engineer' or an electrician?

here are details on the electricians license requirements in Georgia

http://www.contractors-license.org/ga/Georgia.html#ga2

In the US all electrical work revolves around the NEC (National Electrical Code) each state has its own idiosyncracies/amendments so a state licence from one state does not automatically qualify him to work in another state.

Here are some examples of the courses he may have to take prior to obtaining his licence
https://sites.google.com/a/aejatc.or...education/home