land of opportunity

A girl from the Swedish Friendster online community emailed me about finding a job in the US. She is finishing up classes in a Swedish communication department.

I think in Sweden the attitude is to find a job, and a salary, that fits your level of education and experience. Ideally it's a one-stop affair. You graduate, apply for jobs, get one, and then you are set, sometimes for life. Stability is a big part of Swedish culture.

My students in the US have one or more unpaid or barely paid internships, they have night jobs and room mates, and they move back in with their parents while they look for jobs, network, and wait.

If a foreigner wants to look for work in the US there is also always the question of visas. Despite the heated discussion about immigration, for the average European person it very difficult to find a way of being able to emigrate to the US. With an advanced degree in an attractive field a university or large company may make you an offer, and they may be able to sponsor you for a green card. But everybody else is on their own.

Immigration to the US is largely family based. Relatives can sponsor each other. And many come here through marriage.

I am in the US thanks to winning the lottery. I had never won anything before in my life. When I had won, the Chinese students at San Jose State asked to touch me for good luck. Immigrants themselves they completely understood the wonder of what had happened.

So, I feel as if I deflated some dreams in my response to the Swedish girl who wrote to me. I told her to aim for setting up an internship for herself in the US, in the industry she is interested in going into. I think that is do-able, even though it would take some work, and possibly quite a bit of money.