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Macaulay Honors College
at Baruch, Spring 2011Professor Els de Graauw
ITF Emily Sherwood -
Authors
▪ Alyssa Alicino
▪ Brandon Baksh
▪ Ru Xiao Chen
▪ Belinda Chiu
▪ Els de Graauw
▪ Becca Glickman
▪ Elisabeth Greenberg
▪ Doris Hu
▪ Peky Huang
▪ Toby Joseph
▪ Haesol Jun
▪ Nika Kartvelishvili
▪ Farrukh Khan
▪ Holly Kiang
▪ Julian Kipnis
▪ Kar Yi Lim
▪ Yang Lin
▪ Cait McCarthy
▪ Sofya Moshkovich
▪ Mariya Tuchinskaya
▪ Ying Zhang Login
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Finding Employment
Having the means to survive in a new country is foremost on the minds of many, if not all, immigrants. No matter where they come from, immigrants understand that money matters for survival – for themselves, their family members here in New York City, and perhaps for family members back in the home country. Many immigrants, however, are forced to take low-wage jobs that do not allow them to take advantage of their educational credentials and skills and that offer few benefits and few opportunities for upward mobility. Others, in contrast, work with local organizations to make the best of difficult employment situations to get what they deserve and to get ahead.
Here you can learn about the different stories our interview respondents shared with us about their hopes of finding a better life in the United States, and some of the economic hardships they have had to overcome in New York City.
Click on another subcategory (Immigration Process, Learning English, Encounters with Discrimination, Political Participation & Citizenship, or Miscellaneous) to explore other quotations about the immigration process.
Starting at the Bottom as a Cashier
Jennifer moved to the United States from mainland China when she was 21 years old in 2002. She has been in the country for more than eight years now. Here, she talks about her first year in the New York City?
My first year here? Uhm. It was like I woke up in the morning, I went to work right after I brushed my teeth. And then, I came home late from work. Uhm. And it continued like this for a very long time. Uhm. I cannot remember exactly how long. It was really tiring. […] We did restaurant work. And we worked until midnight at 12 o’clock. […] I am a cashier. Even though I am a cashier, you have to know the basic work in a restaurant first, starting from the bottom. You got to know what the menu very well.”
No Union
Carolina is a 48-year-old immigrant from Romania. At her workplace, the formation of an union is discreetly prohibited. Below she speaks about what happened when workers attempted to form of a union:
Seven years ago, there was a paper and they told us how many things the owner is doing for us and blah blah blah, and some organization came around the building and tried to spread some flyers of how important it is to be in union and blah blah blah. They didn’t let us to get in touch with those people. The management found out and they said oops, that’s it.”
It’s Friday Night, and I Just Got Paid
Ivan came to American at the age of 15 from St. Petersburg, Russia. He is now 47 years old, has a family, and works as a freelance computer programmer. Here, Ivan commented on how his parents found their first jobs in America and how he was hired to work fresh out of college (translated partly from Russian):
First, my dad was a laborer and my mother was a clerk. Then he got a job as a engineer. The Jewish non-for-profit organization NYANA helped my parents, they worked with many immigrants. [When I was graduating from college] there was recruitment after college and I was offered a job with IBM. I had to leave NYC and move upstate. After that I started freelancing and changed companies many times.”
Being Merely “Exotic” in the Workplace
Rose moved to the United States from Jamaica at the age of 14. She has lived in New York City since and has flourished both academically and socially. Here, she comments on how she has been received by co-workers;
I’d say I’ve had a particularly good experience in my jobs. People might think I’m a little exotic, that’s the most it’s affected me like, “Oh really, girl from Jamaica, tell me all about it,” and they’ll like ask me questions… it hasn’t really been a problem and I haven’t been made to feel uncomfortable in any of those situations.”
Two Dollars an Hour
Joe immigrated to the United States from Malaysia when he was 21 years old and has been living in New York City for over 30 years. When he first started working in New York City, he made two dollars an hour:
[I worked] as a baker. My cousin helped me find a job because he was a baker, too, making, I believe, less than two dollars an hour at that time. I don’t remember exactly. But it was pretty… the buying power for two dollars over there is better than $7.25 now. I can tell you that.”
Always Looking for a Job
Anna immigrated to the United States from China. She is now 49 years old and has been in the country for approximately 25 years. Here, she comments all the different kinds of jobs she worked upon arrival in New York City:
I did everything I could get. I first worked in a factory and helped piece together clothes at the sewing machine. The hours were really long and the factory was in a bad shape and they closed it down. Then I got a job taking care of someone’s baby. […] After that, I went to a job search place and they introduced me to a job in Illinois, working in a restaurant. I didn’t want to go away, but I went anyway because the pay was a little bit better. […] I picked up a little English on the way, but I didn’t know enough to talk to anyone else. I remember when I first started out I mixed up the orders a lot. […] I couldn’t take it anymore, so when I came back, […] I sold phone cards on Grand Street.”
Finding Employment is No Easy Feat for a New Immigrant
Svetlana, 41, immigrated to the United States from Russia and has been living here for 15 years. She recounts her difficulties in finding a job at first:
At first, it was pretty difficult to find work, mostly because we didn’t know English and also because our degrees were worthless here. We had to settle for very basic entry-level jobs… like I said before my husband’s first job was as a Sear’s repair guy and he was lucky to get that and I worked mostly temporary office jobs. After I got my degree and my husband got more experience here though, it became a lot easier and we were able to find good jobs.”
