Helping my wife to find a job

[lhp]

We've been back in the US about a month now, and the transition is going about as well as we could expect.

 

The one difficulty is that my wife hasn't found a job yet. She's feeling pretty stressed about that, even though we both know that it can take a little while to find something, especially right after moving to a foreign country.

 

She's got good work experience (worked at a Fortune 500 company company and a highly regarded education joint venture in China) and a master's degree, so I'm sure she'll eventually find something she likes here.

 

I wanted to ask what your better half found most helpful for finding a job? What did you do to help her?

[dnoblett]

Check out topics tagged: Work

 

As for my wife, finding work that she is happy with has been one of the biggest pains of all time for me, it is all about trying to make the most money she can, the problem is she lacks the skills to land a professional level job.

 

Since coming to the USA she has taken classes and acquired various licenses though is not employed in those fields.

• Attended beauty school to get a nail license, then made the switch to a school to get a Cosmetology license, she does not cut hair or do nails.
• Is dead set on pursuing a massage career, she did manage to get a license to do massage in New Jersey, however we live in western NY where the state's training hour requirements are two times the the rest of the USA.
• Stated a couple home businesses but fails to stick to them.

 

The major problem is the job market where we live is quite depressed so the only jobs out there are just over min wage, which is beneath her.

 

Be prepared for some headaches in this area.

[lhp]

Thanks for the link to the Work tag, I figured there was one out there but just didn't see it. The job market here is strong but also competitive. My wife's been applying to jobs that she's overqualified for and has been disappointed to not get any interviews. I think that going out and talking to people ("networking") may be the best bet…I'm just not sure where to start since she's not interested in working in my field.

[warpedbored]

It mostly depends on her English skills. My wife was a lawyer in China. Here she works in a production job. Her English is functional but not good enough to get a professional job.

[Doug]

What does she do?

I guess she put her resume on Monster?

If then any head hunters call for contract work, it can be a very good deal, AND the tax benefit of working job shopper on the W-2 and making the contract company look up and pay per diem for your area, which is tax free unreported money. After all she just moved there. It is at least good for a year. Job shopping also allows them to see if they like her for permanent hire, if available, or it builds references for the future. Also sometimes they are a bit desperate if they are looking for a contract worker, so easier to get in. Sometimes can work from home. Even if it lasts 6 months, GREAT. Move on to the next thing. There are some real success stories.

[Scott@Hong]

English as 2nd language is the most difficult transition I believe for our spouses. Difficult to interview effectively if you are not fully understanding the questions being asked and cannot communicate effectively.

My wife was a wedding planner in China and had solid business going. After she came here we found it difficult for her to get work and she finally took a job as a cashier at the local Chinese grocery store. She had to stand all day and was getting paid minimum wage and the hours were horrible.

One of her friends suggest she work in a nail saloon. Personally I didn't see how this would be better but she was committed to trying so she went to a few saloons and found one that would let her learn though she would not get paid while learning.

She learned quickly, got her license and now she makes $120 a day plus tips and good weeks she is breaking $1500.

Best part she is sitting all day, and when there is no customers she can talk on here phone or QQ.

 

Obviously she would rather be doing wedding planning, but this job is a good compromise.

[Joecy]

Hi Ihp,

I am so glad that you asked, cause I too, worked in a Fortune 500 for 10 years, couldn't find a job in the US.

 

6 months in the US,

I tried searching jobs online, turned out, I can't even do Homedepot store survey;

I tired talking to connections in my previous company, but I didn't have the confidence to compete with Americans for the same position

 

I went through a very low point.

Had to learn to adjust my EXPECTATIONS!

 

It's not easy.

And it will take time.

 

Encouraging her to do some volunteer work, something she's passionate about

This will help her gain local experience. Then with her past experience and knowledge, she will have a better understand of her self value in this new country.

[yanglan]

My wife speaks fluent English and has been running a small English classroom here in China for the past couple years. The plan is to move to a city with a decent number of Mandarin schools and have her make the switch from teaching English to Chinese kids, to teaching Chinese to American kids. Currently Denver, DC, and Salt Lake City are high on the list, and we've already received a few emails back from schools which are interested in interviewing her once we arrive back in the states.

[Doug]

My wife speaks fluent English and has been running a small English classroom here in China for the past couple years. The plan is to move to a city with a decent number of Mandarin schools and have her make the switch from teaching English to Chinese kids, to teaching Chinese to American kids. Currently Denver, DC, and Salt Lake City are high on the list, and we've already received a few emails back from schools which are interested in interviewing her once we arrive back in the states.

There is a private school in Ft Worth, TX that now teaches their kids Chinese. I think all of them, at least in the elementary campus. I would think this is being added on the high school campus as well as the kids grow up. Don't know if they need any teachers or not. http://www.southwestchristian.org/

We used them for a summer sports class for the Lil One once and found out about their teaching Chinese over Spanish or something like that. They were even bringing in kids from China on something as well.

 

Only thing that bothered me was in their high school campus they begin teaching all other Christian faiths, other than main stream Christian protestant, is a cult, but it is not an overbearing I don't think. Turned me off to send the kid there.

 

Still their feeling is that because of all the business with China that it is better to teach the kids Chinese rather than Spanish.

Edited February 5, 2015 by Doug (see edit history)

[Joecy]

The plan is to move to a city with a decent number of Mandarin schools and have her make the switch from teaching English to Chinese kids, to teaching Chinese to American kids. Currently Denver, DC, and Salt Lake City are high on the list, and we've already received a few emails back from schools which are interested in interviewing her once we arrive back in the states.

Good job making the transition plan for her! I'm impressed that you guys are thinking ahead.

 

May I ask what kind of schools you are applying for interview? Is it public US school? K-12?

[lhp]

Thanks for the replies. Sorry I haven't been back sooner, I've started work too and have been 100% busy.

 

It looks like she's going to get hired on at the same school district I work in. Her being bilingual, having an MA, and having a teacher's certificate (even though she's never taught) all were big helps...but like with most jobs it seemed that the biggest help was that when I went to sign my own contract I was able to mention her to HR so they kept an eye out for her application.

 

The same week she got the interview with my district she had an interview for a part-time gig working with immigrants and refugees. Our thought was the same as above, to just take little jobs to build up US work experience and see how she likes working in different environments.

 

We've still got some hurdles to get over (getting her transcripts verified...what a racket!), but things are looking up and she's feeling quite good

Edited February 11, 2015 by lhp (see edit history)