DDL

My husband is English; I am American. I lived with him in West London for a couple of years. He had a good job with the council (in IT). We rented from a housing association - rent was relatively cheap, close to a tube station (made trips into Central London easy), but neighborhood was horrid. Lots of ASB, crime-ridden, etc. I had just taken a job with a local solicitor (legal secretary), and was earning good money.

It had been his dream to live in the US, so we made a decision to move to my hometown, in South Carolina...the friendly South, great weather, affordable cost of living. I knew I could get a good job straightaway (which I did), and we just *knew* he would, as well. Besides his strong IT background, he also holds a degree, and has other solid work experience in a couple of other fields.

It's been seven months now, and he still has not been offered a job. He has sent out 135 applications, has had 3 or 4 interviews, but nothing. I am earning good money, but not enough to live on, live WELL, and put something away in savings. I spent nearly everything I had in my savings to set up house over here (we gave away what little bit of furniture he had in London, and sold his car) - including the purchase of 2 vehicles.

We've started discussing the possibility of returning to the UK, but we have found ourselves now in the position of not even having the money it would take to do that. The possibility exists of obtaining a loan from his parents (who desparately miss us), but at our age (40s/50s), we really don't want to do that.

Moving to somewhere else in the US isn't really an option for us, as we are beginning to believe that he is being discriminated against because he is not a US citizen. He is currently taking an online class in Human Resources and learned that under Title 7, it is NOT discriminatory for a company to declare they will only hire US citizens.

Just wondering if anyone else has ever been in our position (or in a similar decision) and how they handled it? Would also appreciate information/suggestions.

Cheers.

snowbunny

He is in IT. The US has outsourced thousands of jobs in the field. There is rampant age discrimination in every field, but especially in IT. I would see what the employment picture is like in your age group in your area -- what sorts of jobs are people doing? Is there something he'd like to retrain for?

There may be another part of the States with a better job opportunity but it has been *very* rough for anyone in IT here. Before moving back to England, I'd make sure you've checked out the job scene there. I have heard from several that most IT jobs are in London and none elsewhere. However, "IT" is such a vague job description.

Have you tried posting in the USA section of the forum as to what the job conditions are like in the US, where there might be jobs?

Best of luck to you -- I'm not quite sure how we are supposed to work until we're 70 if discrimination kicks in at 40!

Bob

Employers aren't allowed to discriminate against you or ask about your visa situation, only to ask for proof that your work authorised....unless it is a government job where citizenship is required.


As for IT in general, it's a tough occupation....maybe it's the resume that's letting him down? Don't need to mention citizenship or age on a resume, it ain't a CV after all.

And to be honest, he'll find the same situation back in the UK with the IT industry, most jobs are in London, and the pay ain't that great these days....does he have niche skills?

What about off-site contract work?

www.dice.com

www.guru.com are pretty good for that kind of stuff.

Also www.linkedin.com and I think www.sapphire.com there a tech recruitment firm....there's plenty of others, like:

http://careers.awn.com/joblist and also the old faithful craiglist.org

ImHere

Hmmmmmmm, not supposed to and not doing it are two entirely different things. Theres plenty on here that would appear to have come across that kind of discrimination...no GC no work regardless of EAD.

evoal2003

In just over 2 years he can apply to be a citizen....

I'm sure he can take interim work. Once your employed
everyone wants you....

Bob

Aye, that's true, happens enough...but there is a distinction about discrimination against citizenship....But it's not worth suing anyone over as it'll cost to much and only get you black listed as a pain in the arse.

ImHere

Yep if it happens its a ball ache but one of those "Chalk it up to experience" things unfortunately. Fortunately its not a problem for me, but it must rile those it does effect.

Mercedes

Might be an age discrimination, especially if he is the one who is his 50's. I know a Chartered accountant who have had no problems getting work until he hit his 40's and that also was in the UK. So if you are thinking of returning you will be facing that problem there also. I think that problem is in a few western countries. I know it was in Australia as well.

Merlot

Sorry, I can only speak from Oz experience too but discrimination is live and kicking in all places, not just age either.

Good luck
Merlot

Mercedes

True, as the saying goes your face has to fit.

NC Penguin

Based on what you've written above, I don't see why you can't consider moving to another US location where his specific IT skills would be more in demand. It could possibly somewhere else in the South too.

Perhaps it's his US CV that's letting him down. Have you searched for and read any of the numerous threads in the USA forum about resume/CV writing?

I've read about and know of Brits who've taken at least seven months to find employment in the US.

Also, when your husband has had interviews, has he been asking for feedback, post-interview/post-results? Such feedback can be helpful to strengthen future job applications.

The two of you have not been in the US for even a year. It's really far too early to throw in the towel.



NC Penguin

veryfunny

Good advise NC Penguin , I will just add that the IT market is really flat even in the SF bay area, it is slowly picking up but not back to the height of what it once was.................

looselips

DDL,

Bob has some good advice. IT is a tough and competitive industry right now. He needs to network like mad and as Bob has quoted on other threads "whore" himself out. Anything helps.

If you both truly think he is being discriminated for being Brit are there any Brit clubs in the area where anyone there can point him in the direction of a Brit friendly employer? I ask this because I now currently work somewhere where I was point blank told by my American employer that since I was from the UK my schooling is better and that my accent is a bonus whenever I am dealing with people on the phone. Granted it's not always easy to find these companies but I was pointed here by another Brit. We have to help each other.

Look for any jobs on job websites that refer to liaise with UK. Try and find companies that have offices in the UK and use the 'global' angle. I have found it works.

Everyone is fighting for the same jobs in the current market so you have to do what you have to do to get that interview. As other have said a great resume is a must. Networking and referrals seem to be the best way to go now in any industry. Once he gets in there, he is on his own.

Stick with it! I wish you both the best of luck.

Sarah

Hi DDL
I can totally relate to your experience. I moved over to Pennsylvania from England in April last year. I am 28 years old, have a degree, was a journalist for 4 years and after that, had a great job in local government working as part of the Community Safety Team, dealing with ASBO's, young offenders, domestic violence awareness, drug action team and other such projects. Since my arrival here, the best I have been offered is a position as a receptionist, which I hated. I had to waitress simply because we needed money depserately, now I'm temping and spent all last week stuffing envelopes and photocopying. I don't know if I am being discriminated against because of my accent, as most employers seem to like it, however I do get a definite feeling that they are hesistant to employ me because they assume that I am too green and I don't know how the system works over here and because I do not have 5+ years work experience in the USA.
Not having a job and/or not enjoying the work I can get, has been depressing and not great for my self-esteem. I have struggled with feelings of wanting to go back to my old life in the UK and I miss doing a job I felt worthwhile and took pride in. Emigrating has been, for me, like starting at the bottom again and its incredibly frustrating.
I hope your husband has better luck in finding a job - I can certainly empathise with how he feels. At the end of the day no-one can make the decision about going back to the UK except you. It might be better to go back to the UK and retire to the US, an idea my husband and I have tossed around a lot.
All I can say is maybe give it more time and see what happens. A visit back to the UK would probably be very expensive for you but may be crucial in order to make a definite decision.
Best of luck
Sarah.

cabritpop

I would suggest not even applying for IT jobs at all unless you have something very specific that is in demand (which at this time is hardly anything) or have experience with some software or computer system that hardly anyone has heard of let alone has experience. And the catch 22 is that you may say "hey look at all those wanted ads for people to work on the superzoom 5000 series server,they have been on monster.com and dice for 3 months, I think i will take a course on it and maybe I could get my foot in the door with it." WRONG!, by the time you do that lets say it takes a year:
1. Everyone and their brother scrambled to become 'superzoom certified' so the market is flooded
2. Superzoom announced the all new 6000 series completely re designed is coming out, oh and by the way it will be manufactured in China and all support will be handled from Bangalore.
3. "Superzoom professionals wanted in Beverly Hills, CA (must be local resident) starting pay $9 hourly."

I have applied for a couple of local government jobs that non citizens can apply for,
one was for vehicle technician at a police dept. They sent me a letter stating something like 'due to the number of apps received they are not considering mine and will NOT be keeping a file of apps received blah blah blah'.
Another one was for Fleet Controller at a city here in CA. They called me to come and take a bunch of tests psych/math/etc etc. I did a head count during the 3+ hours of testing and all the people there were going for the same job something like 180+ if i remember correctly so needless to say I didn't win that lottery. The tests were a piece of piss by the way.

Anyway I could go on and on, I'm not surprised about outsourcing i'm only surprised it wasn't done many years ago. The job market in this country seems pretty bloody harsh at this time, I was unemployed for 4 months in 2003-4 and it totally changed even more my thoughts on this country.I will be, with my fiance and baby, returning to the UK in the not too distant future.Good luck whatever you do.