Prince

I need a job.

Not an uncommon notion. However for me, it does raise some concerns and worries, the pussified European male that I am. I recently got my work permit, and while I am eager to find work and make money so I can afford all the simple things in life, I am oddly enough scared shitless of it. Kind of. Let me explain.

I've been living in America since April, and everything's so new to me. I'm 26 years old, and I've never had to write a check before. Back in the old country, I was accustomed to using a debit card, or more commonly using direct transfers (for which there were no fees). Now I have a checking account, a library card, a Social Security card, and perhaps one day a driver's license, once I figure out all these funky new traffic regulations I am not used to. Like turning right on a red light. Groovy, man.

I've had many jobs before, back "home", but it was different there. Looking for work, I always knew precisely what my capabilities were, what I could do and not do. I knew what the expectations were, and whether I could meet them. But here, it's like a clean slate that I don't want to get all messy. The first thing that bothers me is the lack of job security. As I understand it, and please do correct me if I am wrong (I'm just learning these things), in America you can fire your employee whenever you feel like it. You can even fire them without any real reason, should you want to. This to me is not only scary, but rather unfair. Back in Europe, I could at the very least be certain that I would not go to work one morning and come back in the afternoon without a job. I could be certain that if my employer didn't like what I was wearing or how I lost my temper with a customer and told them to fuck off, I'd still at the very least get a notice, and not fired on the spot. And if I did get fired, I could at the very least sick the Department of Job Security on them.

I've heard that nurses are in great demand in the States right now. Regardless of this, I keep reading journals of nurses who work under shitty administration, get fired for the most ridiculous things, and in one instance a new personnel administrator fired the entire nursing staff, just to get "new faces" in. If there is a shortage of something, should you not try to make it work? Would it not be in an employer's best interest to keep an employee for more than a few months or years at a time, rather than be breaking in new people all the time?

Well, on to the practical issues that worry me. I apologize in advance for this may turn out to be a long read, but hopefully someone will be able to point out my misconceptions to me.

1) Language. English is not my native language. I speak English extremely well, but I have not had to use it in "business life". I've only used English in social situations, not customer service, or the like. Since because of my lack of training I am looking at Internet support jobs at the moment, this worries me even more. I mispronounce things now and then. I say "very-'z-on" when I'm supposed to say "ver-i-z'n". I pronounce thermometer as two words, "thermo" "meter". I make mistakes like these all the time now that I use English more than I used to. Not only that, but I dislike speaking on the phone because native Americans speak so quickly, that I've trouble understanding them over the phone. Throw in an accent, such as Texan or Mexican, and I'm at SUCH a loss. Would an employer not find it to be imperative that their employee can understand the customers without constantly asking them to repeat themselves?

2) Cultural differences. The word "sir" doesn't exist in my native language. People refer to you either by your name, as "you", or don't refer to you at all. I'm a little uncomfortable using the phrase "sir", not to mention "ma'am". I don't know when I am supposed to say "ma'am" and when "miss". I don't know how often you are supposed to say it. Because it is not natural to me, if I end up having a conversation with a customer and not say "sir" even once, does that make me rude?

I've also been told by my wife that it isn't polite to ask about pay when you're applying for a job. I've a hard time understanding this, but I am trying to. Why would I not ask how much they are prepared to pay me, especially since they never seem to mention it when they put an ad in the paper. Where I come from, you either put the hourly rate in the ad, or you mention it early in the conversation when interviewing an applicant. I don't understand why I am not supposed to ask; after all, how much they are paying is relevant to me.

I worry about being discriminated against because I'm not an American. With all these unemployed people out there, I worry that they can always get a "better" employee, someone who has the most basics of the culture down, and can speak and understand the language flawlessly, and therefore they can treat me as they wish. I know these concerns of mine can be rather silly, but they are valid worries all the same.

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Who is John Galt?

Prince

Just to be clear on something... I use the term "native Americans" to refer to people who are born in America, as opposed to immigrants. I don't use the term to refer to "Indians" or "Indian Americans".

Meh. See what I mean?

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Who is John Galt?

skysooner

There are many, many people here from other countries that work here and for whom English is not a native language. I don't really see it as an issue.

I'll try to address as many of your points as I can. Yes, most jobs indicate that you are an "at-will employee" and yes, this means they can fire you whenever they want. However we have to deal with reality here. It is always much more expensive to fire an employee and get a new one than to keep the one you already have (and who is hopefully trained). Most companies are not going to go out and fire you on the spot unless you really mess up. Even then, they are going to be careful because you can still take them to court if you are fired for a bad reason. Most will try and document a pattern of behavior and give you plenty of notice before you would be terminated.

People here are used to people who didn't speak English much or at all when they came here. I think that you should probably go for a job where you are going to be talking to people face-to-face more as it is much less frustrating to talk to someone who doesn't speak the language as well in person rather than on the phone where it is easy to be rude to someone who isn't keeping up with the pace of your conversation.

Sir and maam don't have to be used in abundance. The only time I use it is when I'm answering yes or no (I will say yes, sir/maam or no sir/maam). I don't use it in any other part of the conversation. It comes across as too formal. Americans are generally people who like to pretend they are closer than they are to people they have just met. That means the formality in the conversation goes away almost immediately.

As for pay, it all depends on the job. My mother is looking for work where they advertised the pay as $28,000-$45,000. She has 15 years experience, so she expected the upper end of that range. Before the interview even started, they told her it was $28,000 non-negotiable and she got up and walked out. What I would say is the lower paying jobs generally are going to be more upfront about what they pay earlier in the interview. If you are going for the high-paying jobs, most people wait till the end part of the interview to discuss the pay. Look at it this way, the important thing is the job and your fit in it (at least this is the way the employer is going to look at it). If you ask about pay too quickly, they think that is all you are there for, and you won't get hired anyway.

As for discrimination, this is always a risk. However most Americans value efficiency, productivity, and friendliness in an employee versus cultural differences. If you do your job and are a good employee, you are an employer's best case scenario.

Randerolf

skysooner is right about firing people. Many american's are afraid of getting fired when they don't have to. I've been afraid of making grave mistakes, but looking back, it was needless. I didn't need to worry. people will warn you before they fire you for a mistake or something (unless its a lay-off/ downsizing and even then they compensate you or give you some time to look for a job that way you don't come back and kill them).



Good luck my friend! Where are you from origianlly anyways?

Cynthetiq

relax... breathe in/breathe out...

it's really not much different than Europe... and we have debit cards here, and you can set up your banking to send electronic checks to pay bills too.. just takes a little time to setup.

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I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

Prince

Finland.

__________________
Who is John Galt?