I graduated with a masters in urban design May 2013 and have been looking for jobs way before from Jan 2013. Nothing for me has worked out so far. It's been a harrowing experience. I'm an international student on my F1 Optional Practical training visa which is ending soon this coming May. After a series of really bad experiences with the unorganized way architecture firms big and small, well known and not so well known are handling the hiring process I have really given up on this industry. I have really struggled to come here to where I am today. I have 5 years of experience as a project architect/ senior architect before I got into pursuing my masters degree in Urban Design and graduated with honors being awarded the design excellence awards in my final two semesters. And yet I have not been able to get any job after 1 year of struggle. Talking about a series a bad events, would like to highlight one such event. I was hired by a well known company in NYC. They were ready to do my paperwork to get me my H1 B in order to work in this country. Everything was going fine. They offered me a pay package that I honestly compromised considering the fact it would be a god start for me and would get to learn the processes of this country. Although I was not getting to work on any urban design projects, I was really happy to start with this firm. I was ready to start and was looking forward to a new beginning. I really was hoping that I could work myself up sooner than later and they would eventually see my potential. I was ready to work very very hard. The other reason I compromised on several levels was because I did not want to go back to my country leaving my husband behind who has a good job with a very good company. But after a year of struggle trying to get into an Urban Design + Architecture firm I was left with no options. On my first day of my new job at this company I was told that they had messed up my paperwork needed to apply for my H1 B petition. They had misunderstood the attorney's clear instructions that at the level there were taking me they had to pay a small bit higher than my package that they had initially offered. My Labor Certification Application was already submitted and at the time they had asked the attorney to go ahead. But they misunderstood the whole thing. They thought that it was a range and not an exact amount. All said and done they came back to me on the very first day saying that they were not willing to go ahead since they were not willing to pay as much. I had no clue about all of this and it came as an utter shock to me. i could see my whole career crumble in front of me. I had not even got a chance to show them my potential. They had selected me after an interview and now they decided they didn't want to go ahead. Just like that I lost the job that I had got and now am forced to move back to my country leaving my husband behind. On a personal level this has been a huge blow for us.
I think architecture firms really have to be professional about such things. Even if they had said we will pay this minimum wage as per the requirement but you need to really work hard and show us you can. I would have. I am a hard worker and would have really done my best. The other thing that I have seen is that resumes going thru the HR.... I am not sure how well they are assessing candidates. Are the really deserving getting their dream jobs in the field of architecture? Being a new person in a big city, I knew no one, but really tried hard networking since thats the only way to get thru firms. Im going thru a lot of self doubt and really retrospecting and trying to see if I am good enough. If I was I would have got a job by now. But this whole experience has really shown me the way architecture firms work. Many don't really care for their employees, people come people go. All they want is to pay less and churn out the maximum.
Architecture and Urban Design is truly my passion and i have come a really long way but these experiences really de-motivate you and really the truly passionate lose hope. I hope the industry really hones in and does something. Its such a noble profession. We are the creators of the built world then why is there so much struggle.
Sorry that happened, it shouldn't be that way. You have been hired before, you will get hired again, but it sounds like time is not on your side, making you feel defeated. Here's an idea, it sounds like your husband works for a good company, and I was thinking depending on who they are and what they do, they might be able to help you network and find a position somewhere. It is not in their interest to have their employee (your husband) experiencing the stress of having his wife leave and maybe following her because she has had some bad luck and time ran out while waiting for something to work out. Some large well connected companies do this sort of thing, helping spouses find jobs, helping families assimilate to a new city, etc. Do you really have to leave the country while your husband stays? That's crazy. Plan B: Have a kid.
Actually, Plan B sounds like a fairly good option, with better long-term potential for happiness and satisfaction than wasting your life on a stupid job in a punishing profession far from home. Work is way over-rated. Focus on family.
OH! I was in the same situation! left my country 3 years ago. I was living in a very beautiful island in Persian Golf (Kish Island) while working in a big company as a Design Architect, but immigrated to Australia (Perth). After two years of working for 3 companies, none of them accepted to proceed for my working visa or permanent residency visa. I had to come back to Iran, although my visa is still valid for next 3 month! Now I am just sitting at home, lost my role in that big company, struggling to hard up!
That sounds really tough. Architecture has been particularly hard in the US - where there haven't been enough open positions for even all the qualified US citizens to find jobs. One of my best friends was from India, graduated from a US university, couldn't find a job here and had to return to India. Now, he has started his own company and is designing and building his own work - much more responsibility and in depth experience than he would get in the US for a loooong time.
"The other thing that I have seen is that resumes going thru the HR.... I am not sure how well they are assessing candidates. Are the really deserving getting their dream jobs in the field of architecture? "
If you go corporate, then no, not really. Corporate firms look at your experience as a checklist. Whereas firms like BIG, MVRDV, REX, etc. actually have a working designer looking at your work. Someone who can really dissect your work to understand how you think and if you have potential in the firm.
I was applying Jan '12 to April '13 to around 300 firms before I got my first offer. And that was in China. I recommend applying there even if temporary. After only six months I immediately got an offer at BIG.
I think that prior to studying your previous degree , there had to be some sort of awareness after graduation about the difficulty of attempting to work in the US legally, it's tough first for all architecture graduates to find jobs . Realistically it's just way too expensive for firms small or large to be able to afford you or a number of internationals in their firm when they can hire a just as a talented student US graduate . It's that simple and the government is now making it harder for firms to hire internationals when the national unemployment rate is high . They are cutting down on work visas .
I'm sorry, but I find the OP a bit arrogant and selfish in her remarks.No job (much less a 'dream job') is an entitlement - ESPECIALLY in this economy, and ESPECIALLY in architecture/UD and ESPECIALLY for a foreign national.
While I can appreciate the sadness of her circumstances, her specific situation is far from the only sob story out there. We all know many, MANY talented, capable and worthy design professionals who have been denied employment over the past six (or so) years. Given the state of the profession, attacking the HR practices of design firms seems to me both misdirected and presumptuous.
I've worked at several firms where a number of my coworkers were working in the US on an H1B visa. In almost every case, those foreign nationals hired their own experienced immigration lawyer
I'm sorry, but I find the OP a bit arrogant and selfish in her remarks. No job (much less a 'dream job') is an entitlement - ESPECIALLY in this economy, and ESPECIALLY in architecture/UD and ESPECIALLY for a foreign national.
While I can appreciate the sadness of her circumstances, her specific situation is far from the only sob story out there. We all know many, MANY talented and capable design professionals who have been denied employment over the past six (or so) years. Given the state of the profession, attacking the HR practices of design firms seems to me both misdirected and presumptuous.
I've worked at several firms where a number of my coworkers were working in the US on an H1B visa. In almost every case, those foreign nationals hired their own experienced immigration lawyer,
I'm sorry, but I find the OP a bit arrogant and selfish in her remarks. No job (much less a 'dream job') is an entitlement - ESPECIALLY in this economy, and ESPECIALLY in architecture/UD and ESPECIALLY for a foreign national.
While I can appreciate the sadness of her circumstances, her specific situation is far from the only sob story out there. We all know many, MANY talented and capable design professionals who have been denied employment over the past six (or so) years. Given the state of the profession, attacking the HR practices of design firms seems to me both misdirected and presumptuous.
I've worked at several firms where a number of my coworkers were working in the US on an H1B visa. In almost every case, those foreign nationals hired their own experienced immigration lawyer,
I'm sorry, but I find the OP a bit arrogant and selfish in her remarks. No job (much less a 'dream job') is an entitlement - ESPECIALLY in this economy, and ESPECIALLY in architecture/UD and ESPECIALLY for a foreign national.
While I can appreciate the sadness of her circumstances, her specific situation is far from the only sob story out there. We all know many, MANY talented and capable design professionals who have been denied employment over the past six (or so) years. Given the state of the profession, attacking the HR practices of design firms seems to me both misdirected and presumptuous.
I've worked at several firms where a number of my coworkers were working in the US on an H1B visa. In almost every case, those foreign nationals hired their own experienced immigration lawyer, at their own expense, to handhold the firm as it went through that complicated and expensive process.
Instead of whining here on Archinect, perhaps the OP ought to rethink her own role in this process. If she wants to score on a level playing field, perhaps she should be willing to make a voluntary contribution to making it so.
, to handhold the firm as it went through that complicated and expensive process.
Instead of whining here on Archinect, perhaps the OP ought to rethink her own role in this process. If she wants to score on a level playing field, perhaps she should be willing to make a voluntary contribution to making it so.
own expense, to handhold the firm as it went through that complicated and expensive process.
Instead of whining here on Archinect, perhaps the OP ought to rethink her own role in this process. If she wants to score on a level playing field, perhaps she should be willing to make a voluntary contribution to making it so.
expense, to handhold the firm as it went through that complicated and expensive process.
Instead of whining here on Archinect, perhaps the OP ought to rethink her own role in this process. If she wants to score on a level playing field, perhaps she should be willing to make a voluntary contribution to making it so.
Sorry about the redundant paragraphs. Damn iPhone.
Here's what I intended to post:
I'm sorry, but I find the OP a bit arrogant and selfish in her remarks. No job (much less a 'dream job') is an entitlement - ESPECIALLY in this economy, and ESPECIALLY in architecture/UD and ESPECIALLY for a foreign national.
While I can appreciate the sadness of her circumstances, her specific situation is far from the only sob story out there. We all know many, MANY talented, capable and worthy design professionals who have been denied employment over the past six (or so) years. Given the state of the profession, attacking the HR practices of design firms seems to me both misdirected and presumptuous.
I've worked at several firms where a number of my coworkers were working in the US on an H1B visa. In almost every case, those foreign nationals hired their own experienced immigration lawyer, at their own expense, to handhold the firm as it went through that complicated and expensive process.
Instead of whining here on Archinect, perhaps the OP ought to rethink her own role in this process. If she wants to score on a level playing field, perhaps she should be willing to make a voluntary contribution to making it so.
What gets me is that some firms seem to hire people on H1Bs almost as a way of keeping their workforce hostage. At one firm I worked for; probably around 1/2 the employees were international. I have no problem with that, but it was nearly impossible to ever expect a raise at the firm as the people on the H1Bs were basically forced to do whatever they could to stay employed, which meant they raced to the bottom. It almost seemed like the company preferred H1Bs so that it could keep everyone outside of the very top from being paid any more than 55k a year while the owner made around $5 million (guess based on the idea that avg. salary was around 65k for 130 employees and a revenue of $17 million a year). The situation wasn't good for anyone involved - except the very top.
Yeah. The H1B thing is hugely abused. That program needs to be greatly scaled back or eliminated. There's no legitimate reason for international labor arbitrage when our unemployment rates are still so high.
If you've never worked at any firm in America before, it would be better if you set out looking for a paid internship position for 6 months to a year. More firms would be reluctant to hire you and test you out. Then you can show them how talented you are and work your butt off so they will do anything to keep you around and give you a full time position. There are way too many experienced and talented locals for them to hire someone who has never work in the country before.
@grneggandsam: in your example above, is the $17,000,000 "gross fees" (i.e. total fees before deductions for engineers and other consultants) or "net fees" (i.e. total fees after deductions for engineers and other consultants ?
Thank You everyone for your opinions. I really appreciate it. From all this it does make one thing clear - the lack of organization in this sector.
I apologise to those who felt I was being selfish. My post might have come across to many as such but in all my wisdom I did not mean to hurt anybody's sentiments. From a country of people who 8/10 are into information technology or computer science, there are a few of us who choose not to go that route and lose ourselves and our identities. There are a very handful of us who really want to pursue our passion in design and architecture. But there is little that our country offers in terms of a robust education system like the US. The few of us really work very hard to get quality training and education and save every penny and borrow a whole lot of money from families who really give up on their own comforts for us to get here. I was really not trying to comment on the job possibilities or immigration system. After all the hard work, energy and money spent all I wanted is to put my skills to test while being with my husband. None the less if we don't get the opportunities we chose to simply go back to where we came from.
Thats just about the lack of robust education system in certain countries. India and China are truly doing better in development and global firms do have their stations there. Infact, big ivy league design schools from the US do their travel semester studios in these countries to learn about the complex issues and sustainability methods. After having such global exchange, I don't think we should be thinking of country barriers. We are one community worldwide and we should be happy about creative exchange. None the less, yes its true the employment status is bad everywhere. Such large companies with global presence be it in the US China or India have a HR department who sometimes are not trained to do what like some of you rightly pointed out firms like OMA, BIG etc do. My whole reason to be here is was my love for what I do. But systems failed me. All I wanted to share was a particular incident out of many that I and maybe many more have faced be it any country trying to get thru large firms.
Thank you all for all your opinions and gives me more to really help organise or initiate a system that is fair for all.
Legal systems are complicated everywhere - best to hire your own attorney (that you can trust); HR departments have a lot to worry about, even the ones that are international offices will be hard pressed to provide services in the employees favor (they are for-profit businesses after all). I've had a few friends who had to land a visa, by providing their own means of filling out the paperwork and minimizing the work on the firms' part, they were able to get more offers to work with.
best of luck
Apr 16, 14 11:20 am ·
·
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.
Losing hope in Architecture. Unorganized hiring process and designers not valued.
I graduated with a masters in urban design May 2013 and have been looking for jobs way before from Jan 2013. Nothing for me has worked out so far. It's been a harrowing experience. I'm an international student on my F1 Optional Practical training visa which is ending soon this coming May. After a series of really bad experiences with the unorganized way architecture firms big and small, well known and not so well known are handling the hiring process I have really given up on this industry. I have really struggled to come here to where I am today. I have 5 years of experience as a project architect/ senior architect before I got into pursuing my masters degree in Urban Design and graduated with honors being awarded the design excellence awards in my final two semesters. And yet I have not been able to get any job after 1 year of struggle. Talking about a series a bad events, would like to highlight one such event. I was hired by a well known company in NYC. They were ready to do my paperwork to get me my H1 B in order to work in this country. Everything was going fine. They offered me a pay package that I honestly compromised considering the fact it would be a god start for me and would get to learn the processes of this country. Although I was not getting to work on any urban design projects, I was really happy to start with this firm. I was ready to start and was looking forward to a new beginning. I really was hoping that I could work myself up sooner than later and they would eventually see my potential. I was ready to work very very hard. The other reason I compromised on several levels was because I did not want to go back to my country leaving my husband behind who has a good job with a very good company. But after a year of struggle trying to get into an Urban Design + Architecture firm I was left with no options. On my first day of my new job at this company I was told that they had messed up my paperwork needed to apply for my H1 B petition. They had misunderstood the attorney's clear instructions that at the level there were taking me they had to pay a small bit higher than my package that they had initially offered. My Labor Certification Application was already submitted and at the time they had asked the attorney to go ahead. But they misunderstood the whole thing. They thought that it was a range and not an exact amount. All said and done they came back to me on the very first day saying that they were not willing to go ahead since they were not willing to pay as much. I had no clue about all of this and it came as an utter shock to me. i could see my whole career crumble in front of me. I had not even got a chance to show them my potential. They had selected me after an interview and now they decided they didn't want to go ahead. Just like that I lost the job that I had got and now am forced to move back to my country leaving my husband behind. On a personal level this has been a huge blow for us.
I think architecture firms really have to be professional about such things. Even if they had said we will pay this minimum wage as per the requirement but you need to really work hard and show us you can. I would have. I am a hard worker and would have really done my best. The other thing that I have seen is that resumes going thru the HR.... I am not sure how well they are assessing candidates. Are the really deserving getting their dream jobs in the field of architecture? Being a new person in a big city, I knew no one, but really tried hard networking since thats the only way to get thru firms. Im going thru a lot of self doubt and really retrospecting and trying to see if I am good enough. If I was I would have got a job by now. But this whole experience has really shown me the way architecture firms work. Many don't really care for their employees, people come people go. All they want is to pay less and churn out the maximum.
Architecture and Urban Design is truly my passion and i have come a really long way but these experiences really de-motivate you and really the truly passionate lose hope. I hope the industry really hones in and does something. Its such a noble profession. We are the creators of the built world then why is there so much struggle.
Sorry that happened, it shouldn't be that way. You have been hired before, you will get hired again, but it sounds like time is not on your side, making you feel defeated. Here's an idea, it sounds like your husband works for a good company, and I was thinking depending on who they are and what they do, they might be able to help you network and find a position somewhere. It is not in their interest to have their employee (your husband) experiencing the stress of having his wife leave and maybe following her because she has had some bad luck and time ran out while waiting for something to work out. Some large well connected companies do this sort of thing, helping spouses find jobs, helping families assimilate to a new city, etc. Do you really have to leave the country while your husband stays? That's crazy. Plan B: Have a kid.
Doh!
Did you just tell some young wanna-be intern architect, with no job, to get pregnant as a solution?
Hard enough to survive WITH an intern position on intern pay.
Actually, Plan B sounds like a fairly good option, with better long-term potential for happiness and satisfaction than wasting your life on a stupid job in a punishing profession far from home. Work is way over-rated. Focus on family.
OH! I was in the same situation! left my country 3 years ago. I was living in a very beautiful island in Persian Golf (Kish Island) while working in a big company as a Design Architect, but immigrated to Australia (Perth). After two years of working for 3 companies, none of them accepted to proceed for my working visa or permanent residency visa. I had to come back to Iran, although my visa is still valid for next 3 month! Now I am just sitting at home, lost my role in that big company, struggling to hard up!
That sounds really tough. Architecture has been particularly hard in the US - where there haven't been enough open positions for even all the qualified US citizens to find jobs. One of my best friends was from India, graduated from a US university, couldn't find a job here and had to return to India. Now, he has started his own company and is designing and building his own work - much more responsibility and in depth experience than he would get in the US for a loooong time.
"The other thing that I have seen is that resumes going thru the HR.... I am not sure how well they are assessing candidates. Are the really deserving getting their dream jobs in the field of architecture? "
If you go corporate, then no, not really. Corporate firms look at your experience as a checklist. Whereas firms like BIG, MVRDV, REX, etc. actually have a working designer looking at your work. Someone who can really dissect your work to understand how you think and if you have potential in the firm.
I was applying Jan '12 to April '13 to around 300 firms before I got my first offer. And that was in China. I recommend applying there even if temporary. After only six months I immediately got an offer at BIG.
Hang in there. Best of luck.
I think that prior to studying your previous degree , there had to be some sort of awareness after graduation about the difficulty of attempting to work in the US legally, it's tough first for all architecture graduates to find jobs . Realistically it's just way too expensive for firms small or large to be able to afford you or a number of internationals in their firm when they can hire a just as a talented student US graduate . It's that simple and the government is now making it harder for firms to hire internationals when the national unemployment rate is high . They are cutting down on work visas .
I'm sorry, but I find the OP a bit arrogant and selfish in her remarks. No job (much less a 'dream job') is an entitlement - ESPECIALLY in this economy, and ESPECIALLY in architecture/UD and ESPECIALLY for a foreign national.
While I can appreciate the sadness of her circumstances, her specific situation is far from the only sob story out there. We all know many, MANY talented, capable and worthy design professionals who have been denied employment over the past six (or so) years. Given the state of the profession, attacking the HR practices of design firms seems to me both misdirected and presumptuous.
I've worked at several firms where a number of my coworkers were working in the US on an H1B visa. In almost every case, those foreign nationals hired their own experienced immigration lawyer
I'm sorry, but I find the OP a bit arrogant and selfish in her remarks. No job (much less a 'dream job') is an entitlement - ESPECIALLY in this economy, and ESPECIALLY in architecture/UD and ESPECIALLY for a foreign national.
While I can appreciate the sadness of her circumstances, her specific situation is far from the only sob story out there. We all know many, MANY talented and capable design professionals who have been denied employment over the past six (or so) years. Given the state of the profession, attacking the HR practices of design firms seems to me both misdirected and presumptuous.
I've worked at several firms where a number of my coworkers were working in the US on an H1B visa. In almost every case, those foreign nationals hired their own experienced immigration lawyer,
I'm sorry, but I find the OP a bit arrogant and selfish in her remarks. No job (much less a 'dream job') is an entitlement - ESPECIALLY in this economy, and ESPECIALLY in architecture/UD and ESPECIALLY for a foreign national.
While I can appreciate the sadness of her circumstances, her specific situation is far from the only sob story out there. We all know many, MANY talented and capable design professionals who have been denied employment over the past six (or so) years. Given the state of the profession, attacking the HR practices of design firms seems to me both misdirected and presumptuous.
I've worked at several firms where a number of my coworkers were working in the US on an H1B visa. In almost every case, those foreign nationals hired their own experienced immigration lawyer,
I'm sorry, but I find the OP a bit arrogant and selfish in her remarks. No job (much less a 'dream job') is an entitlement - ESPECIALLY in this economy, and ESPECIALLY in architecture/UD and ESPECIALLY for a foreign national.
While I can appreciate the sadness of her circumstances, her specific situation is far from the only sob story out there. We all know many, MANY talented and capable design professionals who have been denied employment over the past six (or so) years. Given the state of the profession, attacking the HR practices of design firms seems to me both misdirected and presumptuous.
I've worked at several firms where a number of my coworkers were working in the US on an H1B visa. In almost every case, those foreign nationals hired their own experienced immigration lawyer, at their own expense, to handhold the firm as it went through that complicated and expensive process.
Instead of whining here on Archinect, perhaps the OP ought to rethink her own role in this process. If she wants to score on a level playing field, perhaps she should be willing to make a voluntary contribution to making it so.
, to handhold the firm as it went through that complicated and expensive process.
Instead of whining here on Archinect, perhaps the OP ought to rethink her own role in this process. If she wants to score on a level playing field, perhaps she should be willing to make a voluntary contribution to making it so.
own expense, to handhold the firm as it went through that complicated and expensive process.
Instead of whining here on Archinect, perhaps the OP ought to rethink her own role in this process. If she wants to score on a level playing field, perhaps she should be willing to make a voluntary contribution to making it so.
expense, to handhold the firm as it went through that complicated and expensive process.
Instead of whining here on Archinect, perhaps the OP ought to rethink her own role in this process. If she wants to score on a level playing field, perhaps she should be willing to make a voluntary contribution to making it so.
Whoa - what happened there?
Sorry about the redundant paragraphs. Damn iPhone.
Here's what I intended to post:
I'm sorry, but I find the OP a bit arrogant and selfish in her remarks. No job (much less a 'dream job') is an entitlement - ESPECIALLY in this economy, and ESPECIALLY in architecture/UD and ESPECIALLY for a foreign national.
While I can appreciate the sadness of her circumstances, her specific situation is far from the only sob story out there. We all know many, MANY talented, capable and worthy design professionals who have been denied employment over the past six (or so) years. Given the state of the profession, attacking the HR practices of design firms seems to me both misdirected and presumptuous.
I've worked at several firms where a number of my coworkers were working in the US on an H1B visa. In almost every case, those foreign nationals hired their own experienced immigration lawyer, at their own expense, to handhold the firm as it went through that complicated and expensive process.
Instead of whining here on Archinect, perhaps the OP ought to rethink her own role in this process. If she wants to score on a level playing field, perhaps she should be willing to make a voluntary contribution to making it so.
What gets me is that some firms seem to hire people on H1Bs almost as a way of keeping their workforce hostage. At one firm I worked for; probably around 1/2 the employees were international. I have no problem with that, but it was nearly impossible to ever expect a raise at the firm as the people on the H1Bs were basically forced to do whatever they could to stay employed, which meant they raced to the bottom. It almost seemed like the company preferred H1Bs so that it could keep everyone outside of the very top from being paid any more than 55k a year while the owner made around $5 million (guess based on the idea that avg. salary was around 65k for 130 employees and a revenue of $17 million a year). The situation wasn't good for anyone involved - except the very top.
Yeah. The H1B thing is hugely abused. That program needs to be greatly scaled back or eliminated. There's no legitimate reason for international labor arbitrage when our unemployment rates are still so high.
If you've never worked at any firm in America before, it would be better if you set out looking for a paid internship position for 6 months to a year. More firms would be reluctant to hire you and test you out. Then you can show them how talented you are and work your butt off so they will do anything to keep you around and give you a full time position. There are way too many experienced and talented locals for them to hire someone who has never work in the country before.
@grneggandsam: in your example above, is the $17,000,000 "gross fees" (i.e. total fees before deductions for engineers and other consultants) or "net fees" (i.e. total fees after deductions for engineers and other consultants ?
Thank You everyone for your opinions. I really appreciate it. From all this it does make one thing clear - the lack of organization in this sector.
I apologise to those who felt I was being selfish. My post might have come across to many as such but in all my wisdom I did not mean to hurt anybody's sentiments. From a country of people who 8/10 are into information technology or computer science, there are a few of us who choose not to go that route and lose ourselves and our identities. There are a very handful of us who really want to pursue our passion in design and architecture. But there is little that our country offers in terms of a robust education system like the US. The few of us really work very hard to get quality training and education and save every penny and borrow a whole lot of money from families who really give up on their own comforts for us to get here. I was really not trying to comment on the job possibilities or immigration system. After all the hard work, energy and money spent all I wanted is to put my skills to test while being with my husband. None the less if we don't get the opportunities we chose to simply go back to where we came from.
Thats just about the lack of robust education system in certain countries. India and China are truly doing better in development and global firms do have their stations there. Infact, big ivy league design schools from the US do their travel semester studios in these countries to learn about the complex issues and sustainability methods. After having such global exchange, I don't think we should be thinking of country barriers. We are one community worldwide and we should be happy about creative exchange. None the less, yes its true the employment status is bad everywhere. Such large companies with global presence be it in the US China or India have a HR department who sometimes are not trained to do what like some of you rightly pointed out firms like OMA, BIG etc do. My whole reason to be here is was my love for what I do. But systems failed me. All I wanted to share was a particular incident out of many that I and maybe many more have faced be it any country trying to get thru large firms.
Thank you all for all your opinions and gives me more to really help organise or initiate a system that is fair for all.
Legal systems are complicated everywhere - best to hire your own attorney (that you can trust); HR departments have a lot to worry about, even the ones that are international offices will be hard pressed to provide services in the employees favor (they are for-profit businesses after all). I've had a few friends who had to land a visa, by providing their own means of filling out the paperwork and minimizing the work on the firms' part, they were able to get more offers to work with.
best of luck
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.