How is an immigrant’s past experience and skills treated in America?

7 comments

1. Hi,

   I currently live in Canada but I am an immigrant. The very reason I came to Canada is so that I could immigrate to America as a Canadian because that has been my dream ever since I was a teenager.

   Canada is a shit show right now to be honest. Long story short, it is slowly becoming a fancy looking third world country (and it breaks my heart to admit this). GDP per capita has decreased by 40% since 2011, cost of living is VERY high and wages have barely increased.

   But that is still fine because life will go on regardless. What really angers me is that Canada wants/needs immigrants but isn’t ready to take care of them. Most of all, when a HIGHLY skilled, extra ordinary achiever comes to Canada as an immigrant with many years of professional experience, he/she basically has to start from scratch because they don’t have any “Canadian experience.”

   This girl, one of my family friends and a single mother came to Canada looking for green pastures, has a PhD in biology with over a decade of research experience and a recipient of many awards in her home country. In Canada? She is now working a minimum wage job in a hospital and is living paycheck to paycheck. This is just one of many examples I can quote from my personal life.

2. It would depend on a lot of factors. If you need some kind of credential to do your job, you might need to pass an exam. My cousin has an MD from Mexico, and to be a doctor in the US he needed to pass the medical board exams – his Mexican degree was not sufficient to practice medicine in the US.

   OTOH one of my coworkers is a quite recent immigrant from Brazil and he was obviously hired by our company, at a professional level. He can do the job, he has a green card, no reason for him to work his way up from the bottom just because he wasn’t born in the US.

3. >Is an immigrant’s past education, experience and skills (gained outside of North America) taken into account when looking for a job in America?

   Yes, unless they are in a field that requires a state or country license or degree, such as a lawyer.

   >Or does he/she has to start from scratch even if they have many years of professional experience in their home country?

   Depends on the field. Also, just because you were a doctor in x country, doesn’t mean you were good enough to be a doctor in America or any other country. You being a doctor in Sierra Leone, doesn’t mean you qualify for the level of care and skill required in America.

   Starting from scratch does happen but it’s usually because you don’t actually meet the qualifications in America.

4. As with most things, it varies.

   Many jobs require government licenses before you are allowed to do the job. It may be difficult to get the license based on foreign skills. You might have to complete retraining, tests, and/or apprenticeships. The lists of jobs requiring licensing, and specific requirements for each job, are different in each state. The rules change from time to time, and recent advocacy to soften occupational licensing requirements has succeeded for some jobs in some states.

   If the job does not require a license then it would probably be easier but depends on the employer. If your education/experience is from a well-known company/university, it has a good chance of being accepted. If not, then an employer may be less inclined to consider you, but they might.

5. It depends on a lot of factors about yourself and where you’re coming from.

   In terms of official certifications or anything like that, you’re gonna have to get recertification in the US for any sort of official licenses or whatever. For some industries, I think there is a sort of fast track if you’re certified elsewhere.

   But in terms of education, it depends a lot on where you were educated. An American who is highering people will probably value a Canadian or British or German education similarly to an American education, as these are developed countries with good education systems. But if you’re coming from like, Pakistan, or Cameroon, or another country with a questionable education standard, many employers may not trust your education was up to par.

   In terms of years of experience, if you’re applying for the same sort of job you’ve been doing for years, most employers will absolutely take that into account, but you also have to be willing to adapt to the American way of doing things.

6. Depends on a lot of factors, here in Texas people look for work all the time, and there are a ton of good jobs to choose from!

   On the Border, Mexican Citizens cross everyday to go to work in the United States and come back to Mexico with the money they made (Yes it actually happens everyday).

7. Realistically, work visas (H1B) go to people with strong education in engineering or computer science, and experience in those fields is a strong plus.