by Shakti Lieten

On the 30th of March 20 of us joined the Career Connect session organized by S&P to hear stories from Vanessa, Magnus, Lisanne and Chia Ling, who had all found a job in the Boston area and are currently working. For many of us in the audience, still in the job search process, it was interesting to hear their firsthand experiences and the tips they wanted to share with us. The panel discussion was led by Jennifer and after having heard things like how long it took them to find a job and what they undertook to find a job we were given time to actively partake in the discussion and Q&A part.

Take home message

One important message that I took home was: try not to be too desperate. Don’t focus only on job-searching or you may get depressed, as in most cases it takes long to find a job. Everyone has different ways to keep busy. Vanessa saw her first period here as a sabbatical and went to many events organized by MIT or Harvard. She took it easy, followed courses and updated her resume. Magnus also mentioned that during the job-search period it is good to follow a course that is fun and may help you in the future. This takes you mind off the job search for a bit and can make you feel happy. Chia Ling gave a good advice on keeping fit by exercising and sleeping well, to prevent becoming depressed.

Chia Ling said, others agreed with her, that it was also good to know that there are many other spouses who are also looking for a job, “you’re not the only one”. Most of the people in the MIT-community do not fully understand how hard the job search process is for a S&P. As Chia Ling noted “For just one page of a resume, we may spend a few months updating it until the final version is completed. Even though we have tried our best, we may still get nothing, even no response. Maybe that is the reason why it is not easy to explain to others what keeps us so busy every day, even without working.”

THE way to find a job?

Unfortunately there is not ONE way. The panelists all had very different stories to tell and it made us understand that there is not just one fixed way of finding a job. Vanessa and Lisanne found their jobs through LinkedIN, either through an active search or being contacted directly by a company. Chia Ling found new job opportunities through actively seeking and then submitted her resume on an industry specific website (careersinfood.com), and got an offer. Magnus, as an architect, didn’t use LinkedIN. One of his friends found a job through a recruiter company, so for architects that is a good option. Magnus attended events and took part in volunteering work. He got his job offer after being introduced by a friend. Mangus called it a random chance that he got this job "I guess it is the classic example of how the social network can help us." I am sure though that it is also due to his own perseverance of reaching out to others.

We often wonder how to go about the job search and whether it is culturally ok to bombard others with reminder emails. As we heard today, it is important to (occasionally) remind people that you are still interested in finding a job. However, there is no golden rule on this topic. The rule of thumb, as Jennifer mentioned, is 3 times and move on. There was a question from the audience on how to strike a balance and not seem too desperate, to which Magnus responded “the balance is what you do in the meantime. You can send as many emails as you like but remember you might never get an answer.” Quoting Jennifer: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket! If you send out one email per week and spend the rest of the week waiting for a response then it is a waste of time. It is better to spend the meantime doing fruitful stuff like taking a course of fine-tuning your resume.

As some of the panelists mentioned, one of the things they learned from the Career Connect sessions is to send a thank you note. Vanessa gave a good tip "Do some research before sending your reply or thank you note so you have something interesting they could respond to."

How long?

Not everyone knows about the EAD (Employment Approval Document) and SSN (Social Security Number) requirements for working in the US. It is a shame if you only find out about this after job searching and updating your resume. But, once you have the documents it can still take a long time before you finally start working. It took our panelists between 3 months to more than a year to find a job. After that, it could also take several months to finally start working after the first interview. Don’t despair, all of them are working now and enjoying their job and this new experience. It is possible!

What surprised you working in the US? Is my English ok?

Americans have a very positive attitude, to them everything is “AMAZING”. They get straight to the point and are very direct. They are also very welcoming. Lisanne received an email from all members of the team when she joined the office. Americans seem very flexible, as long as you deliver they don’t care, they trust you. The working days are not structured, or at least structured differently from what we are used to. They often don’t have a specific lunch hour! This makes it tough to know when to be social and chit-chatty, as Americans aren’t too interested in chit-chat during working hours. Depending on your own cultural background things are very different here.

Americans, in the Boston area, like your international background and appreciate that you’re trying your best to adjust and speak the language. Your English doesn’t have to be perfect, all panelists agreed on this. You may feel stupid asking for a translation or an explanation, but they often want to help, so go ahead and ask. One way of overcoming this is by google translating or describing a jargon word and asking for the English equivalent. "Sometimes you need to 'Fake it till you make it', laugh at a joke even if you don't understand it completely" as Vanessa pointed out. Americans are interested in your capabilities and experience, not whether you are fluent in English.

Over the last year, at each Career Connect meeting we’ve been told that networking is very important in the job search. Therefore, this is exactly what we were given the opportunity to do. After the panel discussion ended we interacted with the other attendees, assisted partly with prompt questions on papers provided by Christelle.