Thursday 21 February 2013

'So how's the job hunt going...'

I get asked this a lot. I think it's a polite way of saying 'So what do you actually DO all day, you lazy cow?' but the subtext may me mine, rather than the questioners. 

The job situation has been an interesting one- source of continual frustration and panic and dull acceptance followed by calm enjoyment, then back to the start with a welling feeling of frustration etc etc. For a long time I didn't have a social security number and was not allowed to legally work in the US. I started to look at volunteering but I was pregnant and miserable then not pregnant and not really up to it then it was christmas and I had my work permit... You get the picture. It never happened.

Part of my issue seemed to be a total loss of confidence. My nursing degree is not valid here, and I could do classes to make it valid but it would be expensive. Given that we've not decided how long we are going to be here, it seems a bit imprudent to spend a lot of time and money on changing my degree over. The question then became 'What do I want to do instead?' This has no easy answer. I am essentially unqualified to do anything in a care-related position. California has certifications and regulations for EVERYTHING, all centrally controlled and all extremely unwelcome to foreign degree-holders. To the point it makes me cry hot, angry tears at times. I KNOW I am a good care-worker, and yet I'm not able to do it. 

An admin type job seemed like a good plan, but I've not got very far with that either. Lots of applications, not much response. After a while, you start to doubt if you were ever any good at anything and you should probably just stay in with the cat so you don't bother anyone. More logically, there are a couple of reasons I can think of for this- my CV is kind of all over the place, with my admin days squashed in the middle of lots of childcare jobs, but I do think not having any American work experience or references is a sizeable negative factor. 

Even the nicest Americans you meet* are still convinced everything is (slightly) better here. It's ingrained into them, a doctrine from infancy that *this* is the greatest country in the world, everywhere else is like an irritating sibling or poor cousin- trying hard, but never quite cool enough. Generally it doesn't come up very often, but when it does, it drives me nuts. It's upsetting if I think about the hours I spent on the wards holding sick bowls, suctioning snot or scrubbed in during surgery, or the teeth-rattling headbutts and hard-fought feeding battles as a support worker that are discounted for taking place in the wrong continent. I need to prove that I am up to the challenge of being with real live Americans all the time. Since no one wants to hire me to do this, it'll have to be proven through volunteering. 

This is not necessarily a bad thing. I do find some Americans challenging to deal with at times.This sounds terrible, and obviously you cannot lump an entire continent of individuals together, but people here are loud and insistent. They have a sense of entitlement that can be jarring to my inherent Britishness. They show a great deal of enthusiasm for everything. I find it needy and insincere. I'm not sure of the sincerity, I can't quite work it out. People have assured me that it is sincere enthusiasm, but I cannot quite bring myself to believe it. 

I am quieter here, less likely to wish to be the centre of attention ('NEVER' I hear you shout, horrified.) I am more reluctant to initiate conversation, less likely to join in and venture an opinion. I can't really explain why. I sometimes wonder if my desire to be the opposite of the loud, enthusiastic voices means I'm having less fun than I otherwise could, but c'est la vie. 

I set out to answer the 'what do you do all day' question, and have succeeded in only explaining why the answer is not 'earn lots of pennies'. I'm finally volunteering most days of the week. I talked a bit about Baby to Baby before, but I'm going to be branching out from beyond the yummy mummy coffee morning, giving them my Friday to organise clothes and hang out with the interns, none of whom have two nannies for one child. 

I have also (finally) completed everything that needed to be done to volunteer at the UCLA hospital, which was no mean feat, and involved approximately 80 vials of blood, a week of phone calls and general grumpiness by all involved. I should start next week. It involves some seriously early starts, but I'm looking forward to it. The best I can work it out is that US hospitals use those who want to go to med school to do all the jobs student nurses manage in between learning/making beds/doing obs (or vitals, as they call them here). Given that I'm not trying to earn myself a letter of recommendation or boost an application, and the fact I am well versed in dealing with unpleasant people, I've been recruited to the least glossy volunteering position: the surgical waiting area. This basically involves corralling unruly relatives who are waiting for their brother/mum/cousin to have their kidney transplant and are labouring under the, quite frankly absurd, illusion that the surgeon will come and speak to them when it's over. 

As this is America, they family members believe, quite rightly if we're honest, that they are entitled to an explanation from the surgeon. As anyone who has ever worked with surgeons will know, this is optimistic to the point of foolishness. I will be the one who has to tell people that the surgeon has now gone for sushi/is straight back in the OR (MUST remember not to say 'in theatre'- means something very different here...) and will not be offering them a blow-by-blow account. If I do happen to get a nice surgeon who comes to speak to the family, I will have to explain to him or her that the family has gone for coffee. It will be challenging, intense and slightly mental. I cannot wait. 

I am particularly good at dealing with grumpy families. Once, after a lady had complained at me for 20 minutes about how much she disagreed with me, I accidentally poured a jug of water over her. Another time an irritated mum told me I was 'cutting corners' administering her sons inhaler in front of my mentor (I was, he was kicking me in the face. She was apologising to him for my 'mean-ness'). I made up some shite about not upsetting him too much and finding a balance between following procedure and doing what was best for his emotional well being. My mentor told me that was the moment she knew I'd make a great nurse.

So that will be my new activities. Sorting designer baby clothes and having pagers thrown at my head. Very much looking forward to it.

*Not my friend Hillary though. This is the main reason she is my friend.

6 comments:

  1. Wow, this sounds like such an interesting situation to be in. And by interesting I mean frustrating/annoying/hard. But it is also interesting. I've always thought living abroad would be fraught with would bring interesting dilemmas and experiences. It's also interesting to see the US from someone else's eyes. (I think I just said interesting way too many times).

    Anyhow, best of luck with your volunteering at UCLA. That sounds exciting and sounds like you will do a good job at it. Can't wait to hear the stories.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I realised after I published it that it wasn't necessarily very complimentary to Americans, and that's not at all what I meant! Moving abroad is interesting and challenging and hard and fun and interesting. I love it though. Especially when I spent 2 hours in my bikini on our sun terrace today (it's always hot, even when it's only 60 degrees.) The sun definitely makes up for a LOT!

      Delete
  2. Oh I am so happy for you . I can relate to every single word you wrote. I am a vet (and a biologist) and yet after 3 years in the Netherlands (aside from internships / volunteering) I have not been able to work in my field, and not for lack of trying.
    In the meantime I have worked for the tourism industry (hotel reservation website) and other marketing positions, but they don't fulfill me. I have applied to all kinds of jobs (NGOs, pharmaceutical and food industries, laboratory technician....) but like in the US they believe the locals are better (or they just "know" them and wont' give me a chance to prove myself) and everything is regulated. I can for instance not give Biology / Chemistry / French / Spanish classes in International high schools (for that I would need a master degree) or work at a daycare (I love children) or at a hospital (doing routine lab work, which is, in the first place, fully automatized nowadays). I have the knowledge and I can do it and yet, I am still applying. (ANd hoping hard, I had an interview for a job that I very much want yesterday but the competition is harsh and I don't want to get my hopes up).
    I know I could volunteer, but it really feels like working for free and I will end up feeling undervalued and like a total failure.
    I have contemplated a master but the one I would like to pursue (Epidemiology and Public Health) is 12000 EUR because they consider that physicians and vets are already earning lots of money and they have already been to Uni for 5-6 years, which means it's not subsidized.
    I am thinking of starting a business, in something totally unrelated to my field but it kills my soul a little, because I feel like I have a calling and I desperately want to work in something at least remotely related to Veterinary medicine / Biology.
    I could open my own practice but a) I would need to get lots of experience (which is hard if no one hires me, or I would have to go to some country like India or Turkey to get it) and b) the market for small animal clinics is super saturated (And my love is with large animals, specifically, cows).
    Hard stuff.
    Sorry for the long comment. I just wanted to say I understand and congratulations for this, it sounds great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is so hard, and I know you've had a really rough ride of it. I would be fine anywhere in Europe- there's an EU reciprocity clause for nursing (we all do essentially the same first year, called the Common Foundation Year.) Add in another language (is Dutch your third?) and the situation becomes so much harder!

      Having a short term contract definitely changes things for me. If we were here permanently things would be different, I'd definitely work at getting my license and becoming a nurse here, I'd still have to do some volunteering but it wouldn't be my whole plan!

      I'm sure everything will work out for you. It just might be a long process :(

      Delete
  3. I don't know if it's just an East Coast thing, but people here generally seem to have a much more favorable opinion of the UK/Europe. However, there's definitely a lot more overt patriotism here.

    I think you're right about volunteering opening more doors. Even the simple fact of being able to have American references on your 'resume' will most likely put you that much closer to securing a paid position.

    Also, the enthusiasm is sincere. I know its strange. I'm still weirded out by how easily Americans will strike up conversations with strangers but they love it. I used to be really bitter and cynical about how everything was "awesome" and everyone wanted you to "have a great day" but now I love it and have to remember to tone down my own enthusiasm whenever I go back to the UK.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I suffer somewhat for being Scottish. People ask where I'm from ALL the time (are you Australian? are you Irish?) but sadly most of them have no clue that being Scottish and being British are (pretty much) one and the same. When the only concept of Scotland you have is Braveheart, it's hard to associate that with competence, drive and success.

      LA is a peculiar beast, especially when it comes to the enthusiasm. People here are CONSTANTLY selling themselves, even today sitting by the pool with some of my neighbours it felt like a bad LinkedIn corporate event. The enthusiasm is so intrinsically part of that culture, it really puts me off. The South wasn't like that at all. I KNEW those people just wanted a nice conversation.

      So lovely to hear others' perspectives though, thank you. It's easy to forget LA isn't the centre of the universe!

      Delete

want to disagree? tell me I'm marvellous? Go 'write' ahead...