5 ms·

This doesn't happen just because of age. While I was living in Canada, I met plenty of highly-qualified immigrants desperately looking for jobs, and would routi

This doesn't happen just because of age. While I was living in Canada, I met plenty of highly-qualified immigrants desperately looking for jobs, and would routinely get this response even though they weren't old or anything; its just that they would literally be applying for low-skill jobs because the appropriate jobs would not take them for lack of "Canadian Experience".

jpatokal 9y ago
This is a thing in Australia as well, and it's quite baffling. As far as I can tell, it's not even racism or genuine comms concerns etc, it's just that any work experience outside Australia gets discounted as "not real work".
- icelancer 9y ago
  >>it's not even racism >>work experience outside Australia gets discounted as "not real work". I mean, that might not be the strict definition of racism, but it essentially is.
  - derefr 9y ago
    This is still true even when the people getting discounted are of the same race and culture as the interviewer, though. Like, hospitals seemingly don't want doctors that grew up in the US but then studied medicine at foreign universities—even when those universities are world-renowned for producing great doctors. Unless you're suggesting that such places think that the foreign culture "contaminated" their own countrymen in the few years they were abroad—and made them useless—a different explanation is needed for this effect.
    - dpark 9y ago
      If you discount the quality of a degree from a well-regarded university just because it’s in a foreign country, it’s racist (or xenophobic or something roughly equivalent). Not against the candidate but against (citizens of) the nation hosting the university. With that said, I think hospitals want American candidates with degrees from American universities because the concern is that an American educated by a university in another country was perhaps unable to gain acceptance to an American school, in which case perhaps the foreign university isn’t actually as selective.
      - abiox 9y ago
        > If you discount the quality of a degree from a well-regarded university just because it’s in a foreign country, it’s racist (or xenophobic or something roughly equivalent). i don't see how it can be 'racist', because countries aren't races. it might be in some sense 'xenophobic', as it seems more a case of people being more comfortable with people similar to them.
        dpark 9y ago
        Of course countries aren’t races. The citizens of those countries do have races, though. If, for example, you’re only judgemental against Latin American universities, that could be considered xenophobic but it could also be considered racist. The two aren’t really that easy to separate when the prejudice is against a group that is both foreign and a different race.
  - abiox 9y ago
    i'm not sure i follow your reasoning. is canadian a different "race" than australian?
    - icelancer 9y ago
      Describe to me what the average Canadian thinks the average Australian looks like. Now describe to me what the average immigrant to Australia looks like. I think that will help you understand.
      - abiox 9y ago
        what is the correlation between 'the average immigrant' (whatever that is) and this notion? are other immigrants 'outside the average' seen differently within the scope of this notion?
  - tessierashpool 9y ago
    right, this is the “effect, not motivation” thing in the OP.
  - pc86 9y ago
    nationality <> race
- shegs 9y ago
  When I moved to Australia I encountered exactly what you described, luckily I was still junior so I presented myself as fresh out school to find an entry-level job. A few years later I moved to the valley and finding a job was easier in many ways.
- krolley 9y ago
  What about work experience in popular western countries in Europe? I've been living (and working) abroad for the last 10 years but might come home sooner or later.
- nf05papsjfVbc 9y ago
  One reason I can think of, which can cause this, is that it's going to consume greater resources to background check internationally than just within the country. I do know at least two people who have lied in their CV and got jobs based on those and was wondering how they could get away with it so far.
sumedh 9y ago
> I met plenty of highly-qualified immigrants desperately looking for jobs They maybe highly qualified but what about their communication skills? There is a lot of competition as well too many immigrants chasing few jobs.
robteix 9y ago
That’s exactly what happened to my wife. She’s highly qualified and had a lot of international experience in large, well-known companies (HP, Intel, HSBC). Here in Canada, she’s rarely been able to even get to an interview these past couple of years, and when she did, she was “over qualified.” She now makes sandwiches at a local supermarket for minimal wage and all but lost all hope. Breaks my heart. I was lucky to get a job pretty quickly though so there’s that.
- john_moscow 9y ago
  Oh man, that sounds pretty bad. Why didn't she try consulting/remote work in the U.S.?
  - robteix 9y ago
    She’s a project manager. It’s tough to do remotely so not many jobs available. That said, she did a couple of freelancing gigs for foreign companies last year. Not very steady or stable though and they don’t help her with the “Canadian experience” requirement. She’s now learning to code to try and get a job in that. Coding is very in demand here (which explains how I got my first job here within a week of arriving)
    - john_moscow 9y ago
      Wow, that's a tough one. I'm in Vancouver myself and I don't think you can get a PM job here without strong personal connections. The job is much more about trust, confidence and network, than any specific skills, and that's not transferable between locations. That said, if she held similar positions in Fortune 500 companies, maybe she should try using her network from previous places to get her foot in the door.
- toephu2 9y ago
  Interesting, what race is your wife?
  - robteix 9y ago

jpatokal 9y ago

This is a thing in Australia as well, and it's quite baffling. As far as I can tell, it's not even racism or genuine comms concerns etc, it's just that any work experience outside Australia gets discounted as "not real work".

icelancer 9y ago
>>it's not even racism >>work experience outside Australia gets discounted as "not real work". I mean, that might not be the strict definition of racism, but it essentially is.
- derefr 9y ago
  This is still true even when the people getting discounted are of the same race and culture as the interviewer, though. Like, hospitals seemingly don't want doctors that grew up in the US but then studied medicine at foreign universities—even when those universities are world-renowned for producing great doctors. Unless you're suggesting that such places think that the foreign culture "contaminated" their own countrymen in the few years they were abroad—and made them useless—a different explanation is needed for this effect.
  - dpark 9y ago
    If you discount the quality of a degree from a well-regarded university just because it’s in a foreign country, it’s racist (or xenophobic or something roughly equivalent). Not against the candidate but against (citizens of) the nation hosting the university. With that said, I think hospitals want American candidates with degrees from American universities because the concern is that an American educated by a university in another country was perhaps unable to gain acceptance to an American school, in which case perhaps the foreign university isn’t actually as selective.
    - abiox 9y ago
      > If you discount the quality of a degree from a well-regarded university just because it’s in a foreign country, it’s racist (or xenophobic or something roughly equivalent). i don't see how it can be 'racist', because countries aren't races. it might be in some sense 'xenophobic', as it seems more a case of people being more comfortable with people similar to them.
      - dpark 9y ago
        Of course countries aren’t races. The citizens of those countries do have races, though. If, for example, you’re only judgemental against Latin American universities, that could be considered xenophobic but it could also be considered racist. The two aren’t really that easy to separate when the prejudice is against a group that is both foreign and a different race.
- abiox 9y ago
  i'm not sure i follow your reasoning. is canadian a different "race" than australian?
  - icelancer 9y ago
    Describe to me what the average Canadian thinks the average Australian looks like. Now describe to me what the average immigrant to Australia looks like. I think that will help you understand.
    - abiox 9y ago
      what is the correlation between 'the average immigrant' (whatever that is) and this notion? are other immigrants 'outside the average' seen differently within the scope of this notion?
- tessierashpool 9y ago
  right, this is the “effect, not motivation” thing in the OP.
- pc86 9y ago
  nationality <> race
shegs 9y ago
When I moved to Australia I encountered exactly what you described, luckily I was still junior so I presented myself as fresh out school to find an entry-level job. A few years later I moved to the valley and finding a job was easier in many ways.
krolley 9y ago
What about work experience in popular western countries in Europe? I've been living (and working) abroad for the last 10 years but might come home sooner or later.
nf05papsjfVbc 9y ago
One reason I can think of, which can cause this, is that it's going to consume greater resources to background check internationally than just within the country. I do know at least two people who have lied in their CV and got jobs based on those and was wondering how they could get away with it so far.

sumedh 9y ago

> I met plenty of highly-qualified immigrants desperately looking for jobs They maybe highly qualified but what about their communication skills? There is a lot of competition as well too many immigrants chasing few jobs.

robteix 9y ago

That’s exactly what happened to my wife. She’s highly qualified and had a lot of international experience in large, well-known companies (HP, Intel, HSBC). Here in Canada, she’s rarely been able to even get to an interview these past couple of years, and when she did, she was “over qualified.” She now makes sandwiches at a local supermarket for minimal wage and all but lost all hope. Breaks my heart. I was lucky to get a job pretty quickly though so there’s that.

john_moscow 9y ago
Oh man, that sounds pretty bad. Why didn't she try consulting/remote work in the U.S.?
- robteix 9y ago
  She’s a project manager. It’s tough to do remotely so not many jobs available. That said, she did a couple of freelancing gigs for foreign companies last year. Not very steady or stable though and they don’t help her with the “Canadian experience” requirement. She’s now learning to code to try and get a job in that. Coding is very in demand here (which explains how I got my first job here within a week of arriving)
  - john_moscow 9y ago
    Wow, that's a tough one. I'm in Vancouver myself and I don't think you can get a PM job here without strong personal connections. The job is much more about trust, confidence and network, than any specific skills, and that's not transferable between locations. That said, if she held similar positions in Fortune 500 companies, maybe she should try using her network from previous places to get her foot in the door.
toephu2 9y ago
Interesting, what race is your wife?
- robteix 9y ago