Philadelphia Weekly

1. The Divine Miss Pierson said... on Jul 2, 2008 at 06:16AM

“I'm a natural born American citizen with a cumulative of 7+ yrs of education (a degree and a certificate, both of which I completed simultaneously) and I have had a hard time getting professional jobs. I spent 5 yrs working retail. Even currently, I am grossly underpaid for work that a high school or college student should be doing, but I decided to take it b/c I needed my first entry into the industry. I empathize with aspiring Americans nonetheless. Those stupid quizzes that companies make applicants complete about their personalities are another way of discriminating against individuals who don't fit the lame mold of another mindless, corporate drone.”

2. Whoa! said... on Jul 2, 2008 at 07:08AM

“I can sympathize only up to an extent regarding the difficulty integrating and finding suitable work in the US. As a college educated IT professional I and many others have found good paying jobs for upward mobility hard to come by. Couple that with all of the typical immigrant barriers language skills, culture, etc. and yes it will be an uphill battle. Nonetheless, I think immigrants come to this country with wild unexplored expectations so not rooted in reality. And the dirty truth of the matter is---yes there are a significant amount of immigrants in philly that are highly educated but is that education on par with US standards? As a student employee at Drexel working in the advising center, i came across a number of foreign students who would b*tch and moan about how much education they had in their native country, and how little it accounted for in US schools. I'm thinking, isnt that the reason why you chose to go to school in the US because of the superior education. The truth of the matter is that, most foreign schools, educational programs, and professional certifications come up abysmally short of US standards almost universally across the board. In many latin, african, eastern euro countries the amount of education and coursework to get a bach is = to a US assoc degree. The skill & education requirements for medicine, law, and business are waaay below US standards. Imagine being able to practice law with as little as 3-5 years education. Granted in many of these countries practical work is used in lieu of coursework, but in many fields practical theory cannot be trumped by entry level work experience. The countries that tend to have better educational, fair poorly in standardization at best and at worst are paper degree factories which can be gained through fradulent paper mills that churn out "respectable" credentials. Also, lets be honest here in my own professional experience I have worked with and encountered foreign workers who had intellectual talent but horrendous language communication skills in addition to professionalism and tech skills. A quality US education excels in turning out a plethora of students with these skills, so why bother hiring foreigners??!!?And truthfully in my experience working with Indian IT pros, I was shocked at how misguided they were in thinking and perceiving themselves to have professional skills (laughable) If an American or European displayed their same lack of professional saavy they would be seen as incompetent. There is a global standard for professionalism (education, language skills, & experience) that many immigrants simply lack and that is the explanation for the skills labor gap that the article discusses.”

3. ecortes said... on Jul 2, 2008 at 07:18AM

“My father & mother came to this country in the late 1970s for a better life. It was my mother who wanted to come here because her whole family decided to live in the U.S. Of course already married, my father could not stay in Colombia; so he came to the U.S. one year after my brother was born. He may have left what could've been a better (paying) life. He studied law in Colombia and graduated with a degree. Who knows what he could've accomplished there. Sometime I feel bad because my brother and I make more money than he does; note my mother works 3rd shift retail and she has epilepsy. My father used to work in carpentery, but know works for Red Roof Inn cleaning. However, if it wasn't for my parents pushing us to exceed in life, we wouldn't be where we are today, and that I am thankful for. It has been difficult, and finding a job is not easy, but I am thankful for my parents, my education, my friends and everyone whom I came across with in my 24 years of life.”

4. Alex said... on Jul 4, 2008 at 04:30PM

“I really feel for those in this story. I moved to Toronto from Philadelphia a little over a year ago, and there are definately some lessons to be learned from how Canadians treat these same issues. Toronto is a city with 49% of the population born outside of it (compared to the 20% in Philly). Despite this, there are news stories everyday (in the mainstream media) about how perfectly qualified immigrants are being passed over because of lack of the "Canadian Experience". However, the reason I am aware of this is because of TV commercials being taken out by the government of Ontario. Also, because of the Toronto Metro's weekly column dealing with immigration law. This issue is an everyday topic of conversation. I know, there are more immigrants in this city, and that's why there are more resources being made available. But Philadelphia can do better. Great article.”

5. j said... on Jul 7, 2008 at 02:18PM

“Interesting article. I strongly believe that these non-white immigrants are unable to find jobs in their field is because of racial discrimination, which sadly, is prevalant all over the US. I am an American born East Indian guy with an Associate degree (from an American school) in computer aided drafting/design. I am having extreme difficulty finding work in this field or any other type of respectable work. I am finding it extremely difficult to find jobs which pay more than $9.00-$10.00/hr. Also I feel very much discriminated in the dating scene as well. American women are only interested in either dating their own race (white men) or black men. Women are not attracted to Indian guys due to their xenophobic attitudes and nasty stereotypes they have about Indians. By the way, I am tall, athletic and extremely sexy guy who does not fit any of the Indian stereotypes at all. However, I am still single, sad and very lonely.”

6. alexis21 said... on Jul 8, 2008 at 02:27AM

“Nice article. Sadly I don't believe it is really better anywhere else in the world for immigrants. I am an American and am now strangely an immigrant myself in Europe. I know many immigrants around me from other countries in the same boat. You're in the in-group or the out-group, no matter where you live. Business is a collectivist entitty (despite what Republicans want us to believe about socialism...) and does not want or really need the best educated, it needs the most manageable people who can fit in a group. Contrary to what one person wrote, only private higher education in America is known to be outstanding. By international standards, we rank very low on test scores. Anyway, thanks for reminding readers that we are not all Arnold Schwarzeneggers or Grace Kelly's who can reinvent ourselves and integrate somewhere else. It takes more than education and a lot of luck!”