Life Here & There 
6 Comments Phil-Am Mythbusting – Do Jobs Make You Rich? Part I
One of the myths I have heard from other Filipinos is…
“Hey, you are rich because you have a job.” or “You probably have a lot of money now that you are employed!”
That is so far from the truth. It can be irritating mostly when a group of Filipina women think that you are better than them. But I understand where it comes from. Earning dollars here in America definitely gives us a good feeling that we finally landed a job and are starting to help our family back in the Philippines. The next common question is
“Is it difficult to get a job in United States?”
Well, the answer depends on your English skills, your confidence, your determination and your training or experience. What you are considered qualified to do in the USA is varied. Most employers will look at your background skills and how fluently you speak in English. This may be not important with other employers; but if you speak English well, it will help you get started.
If you are well versed in verbal and written English skills, then a phone based (call center) is definitely a good start. However, your verbal English skills have to be quite good as all Americans here need to be able to understand you. To make it harder there are over 10 accents in the USA (ahh, I’m guessing lang) and it took me six months to understand the Southern accent!!
We all know that most Pinoys who immigrate here in the US have bachelor degrees or are a college graduate but as a newbie, you can never start at the top. So start applying for an entry level job to gain experience. However, do not expect you can get a job right away that is in line with your skills or related to what you studied. For instance, an Engineering degree may not be recognized as the regulations in each state and the university systems are different so that is not a given. Teaching degrees and nearly anything that isn’t in the nursing field are also hard to get accepted. There are paperwork and certification processes that you have to complete to start the application.
We Filipinos will take any job we can get our hands into as long as it is decent, we always work hard. Also, do not hesitate or be afraid if you start working in retail or grocery store such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, or any other such place. There is nothing wrong with that. You may hear from other people or pinoys making comments of “Oh? Retail store lang pala?” You know what, they are not paying your bills so ignore those comments! Yup, these type of jobs do not pay well compared to being a nurse here but it is better than those people who are lazy waiting for handouts from the government. When I asked Goryo about the Social status wise here, retail jobs are the low level entry jobs for high school and college kids to try and make a dollar. Often it may cost more to go to work than if you didn’t have it at all. (Child care, transportation costs, etc.) Yes, the cost of living is high here so no job can definitely make you rich!
To be continued….
Thank you,
How I wish that a lot of our kababayans can read what you are writing in your entries esp about life here as well as this entry. I can never [and probably will never] understand why a lot of our kababayan would take the risk of leaving their life [some good lives at that] in the Phils to come here and end up to be TNTs…and yes I met quite a few. I remember in ’99 when I visited some friends here, I met 3 Filipinas on vacation from Dubai, they were convincing me to go with them and stay as TNT…anyway, we won’t be caught if we don’t do anything illegal…HELLO and being a TNT is not????
Anyway, it just makes me sad sometimes. I know that they think life here is heaven…how I wish we can all just come here for a “free test drive” baga….hehe…then maybe, just maybe, some of our kababayans would think otherwise. Wishful thinking eh?
korek gyud ka kaayo Ana, gone are the days when USA was the “land of milk and honey”, hagbay ra! Ako gani work karon kay mao gyud tawon ni work sa among messenger sa office sa pinas, pero usahay i prefer this kind of job, hago sa lawas pero dili sa utok maong OK ra sa ako. Happy weekend!
Hi Anah, you moved na pala, it’s nice to be here. I commented, pang 3 na ‘to, hay, I can’t seem to get through here. Sa computer ko ba ‘to?
Here’s my 2 cents about your new post. Common doon sa atin kahit dito na most women think we are better off kasi naka hold ng job, but then, Fil-mentality daw yan eh-typical…LOL. Anyway, as for getting a job, it varies talaga, ako eh, I applied noon sa mga retail stores kasi wala akong natapos, pero ni isa walang tumawag…LOL. Kinakailangan ko pa ba’ng mag panggap? Ang hirap dito, medyo mas mahirap if wala ka ng natapos sa school, parang America is the land for the rich, good looking- a complete package, and people na may proper education, ang wala left behind gaya ko. However, di ko na muna kinakailangang mag work, so baka I can go to school to further my education di pa nga ako naka pag tapos ng high school eh, and sa English medyo mahirap but I am trying hard, na maka speak as well as I can, being here for a while helps baya. Anyway, ang sa accents, medyo mahirap intindihin, parang every State may accent eh. Mahirap ang iba, parang lazy English eh, even the peeps sa street may own language…LOL.
Ladies,
Salamat sa pag post ng opinion nyo about this entry. Marami kasi sa atin na kesyo America mayaman na tayo dito. Pero sa totoo lang kahit yung mga mayaman dito they still work at limited ang time to spend with their families. Pakiramdam ko tuloy dito eh they measure happiness with how much dolyares you have in the bank. Ang totoo nyan, karamihan dito maraming problema sa pera, nagpapakahirap sa trabaho at living paycheck to paycheck. Kaya ako, uwi ng pinas in the future para mag invest. Ayaw kung mamatay dito hehe.
Anna, i agree with you. Pag wala kang highschool diploma talagang mahirap. May neighbor kami dito di nkatapos ng highschool, until now wala pang makuha na trabaho. Pero alam mo bakit hindi ka kuha ng GED? Pwede ata yun, take ka ng exam. In fairness, oke naman yung english mo. If you are working na, you’ll be surprise na kahit nga americans di marunong mag spelling at grammar mali mali pa hehe. Goodluck to ya in the future. Spend as much time with your girls, they grow like weeds!
Ladies, salamat ulit at Maligayang Pasko sa inyung lahat!
Passing through and wanted to say hello