From: swami@chtm.eece.unm.edu (Swami srinivasan)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian.american
Subject: Immigrants do have trouble getting jobs...
Summary: a general ramblinG
Date: 8 Apr 92 06:43:47 GMT
Article-I.D.: lynx.8tqjb#r
Followup-To: swami@chtm.eece.unm.edu
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque


The instance quoted by Ron Hira sounds highly improbable to me. If a 
company receives an application from an American citizen who is as
qualified, if not better, than an immigrant, i would  think the respective
employers would hesitate to hirE the citizen. If a company hands
over resumes to an applicant, it definitely isn't worth working for.

It is definitely much tougher to get a job as an immigrant. 

A lot of the high-tech jobs are defense-related (sad, but true) - for
example, unless you are absolutely outstanding, rarely will a company
like Boeing Aerospace or Hughes Research Labs recruit you. Even if they
do, it will probably be on an unclassified project. No complaints about
this - no country will allow foreigners to do  so.

I have no personal experiences with  this kind of  situation, but
some accquaintances of mine feel  that there is a subtle discrimination against
them, in their work-place. Besides, it is difficult to interact with others on 
non-work-related levels unless you are in tune with the society you live
in, and that doesn't come easy if you haven't been brought up in the 
environment. The way immigrant Indians usually manage well is by being
better in the work itself - that's one of the few things they have
control over. And once you gain confidence in yourself, it is easier to
get along..

Some American graduate students from here  are  finding it "difficult" to get
jobs. But if they are good,  it is usually quite easy for them - there's
definitely much more  freedom for them in choosing (yes, quite a few of
them do choose between two/three jobs even  in this  recession). So  far
i am yet to hear of an American grad student from our department not 
getting a job within a month or two of graduation. Getting a job after
leaving school is something they classify as a difficult situation.

It is significantly tougher for Indian and Chinese grad students. With
Chinese  students there is a further barrier - they are less able to 
adjust to this society ( a generalization that isn't always valid).
I know of at least two Indian grad students , who will be getting
their MS and going back to India, not because they want to, but because
there isn't much hope for them in this job market. The outstanding
ones, do manage to get a job or two, but with considerably less choice
and probably less pay than an american would with similar abilities.

Some of what i have said are based on what i have heard, some of it
is  based  on  my perception of the situation,  which  may be flawed.
I myself don't have any experience in this  regard. Will be doing
a year  or so of  post-doctoral research (if i get  that) and plan
to go back to India  and teach. Might have to do research in some other
area since my field (Optoelectronic devices) requires state-of-the-art
capital equipment and not much is available in India except in a few
labs (TIFR, CAT, BARC, etc.). I might add that  the job scene in India
is tough as well, due to the few places open for many highly qualified 
applicants.

The few Indian Americans i have met (mostly undergraduates) are highly
motivated people, usually good in academics (most of them have one
scholarship or the other) and quite prominent in student activities, etc.
For some reason i haven't been able to pin-point, i feel proud of them.
I wonder how they fit in the society they are in - that's why i
i read this newsgroup ... Wishing you all the best!

							swami srinivasan
========================================================================
swaminathan  srinivasan
chtm, eece, univ of new mexico
albuquerque, nm 87131.				cogito ergo sum

swami@chtm.eece.unm.edu
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