Here's a quick solution to those wasting their talents in the unemployed States of America.

GO HOME!

People need you in your country more than we need you in ours. You leave COLUMBIA to come here to work as a waitress? What about those hundreds of patients you leave behind? How are they going to find decent health care?

Geeez.... doctors are leaving to go volunteer in other countries, leaving behind family, property, and careers because the need is that bad.

The people they left behind don't count; they come here to make it BIG!

Quite frankly, they get what they deserve.

I see nothing to complain about, education in other countries to include degrees and licensing are different from country to country, it's only common sense that what you were there may not be the equivalent here, just got to suck it up, she was better off at home, not anyone fault but hers ...

AnOpinion's opinion accurately reflects my own opinion. Successful in your own country, an immigrant comes here to do what? Help the poor suffering citizens of their new nation, or to make big, quick money? "Hand to mouth" is what many of us without college degrees endure here every day. Reality is sobering, and not always friendly.

My wife got hurt, then fired, from her low paying job. Where's the justice from the corporations? Instead, they use bad doctors to tell her she's a fraud. They're the fraud. And this is how the existing social order treats citizens!

Immigrants leave one mess to enter a different mess. It's just not any better here anymore. America is a republic, and the bananas have taken it over.

Well said.

I think that the USA should let at least 12 million college educated aliens preferably illegal come to the USA. This would dilute the college educated work force and lower overall cost.

This would make it more affordable to go to the doctors, design buildings and every field related to higher education that continues to drive up cost.

I was struck by the line mentioning that illegal status was impeding the success of immigrants, as it should be. Well, I guess money buys immigration status.

Go to a foreign Country and try to get a job.

Most Countries block many occupations from Foreign Immigrants. I live in a Country that makes it ILLEGAL for me to work on my wife's farm or do any house repairs...

These people cry about job restrictions. But do not want to learn the language, do not know the LAWS or the Occupational regulations. If you do not like the US restrictions, GO HOME...

For the HVAC guy, get a degree in HVAC and learn the US electrical and building codes. Then you can compete with the beginners, because HVAC in the USA is NOTHING like the majority of the World. I know I have a HVAC degree & the certifications, and experience. BTY - NO ONE wants a 55+old working on HVAC, that does not have the USA experience... Plus for the last 3+years there are no JOBS in construction...

Paul,

The US already does this. Its called H1B visas. Its already used to replace US citizens with foreign nationals at many jobs and to lower the salaries of the remaining US citizens in that field.

What do you do for a living? Maybe we should let lots of foreign nationals into the US to do what you do for a living.

We can't even give US citizens decent jobs. Why do we have to worry about giving all these immigrants their dream jobs? How about investing in the education and skills of US citizens?

This article is ridiculous and this line of thought is ignorant to the reality of the US job market.

Without explicitly saying so, virtually every post here supports the false notion of limiting our employment pool in order to better our own lot in life. We are saying that we don't want to compete for jobs. We are saying that limiting our country's talent is okay as long as "I" benefit.

The problem is that we are competing globally now and, as a country, need every ounce of talent we can muster. You may or may not want to eliminate illegal aliens... but don't push away the talent... it's self defeating in a huge way.

Think long term, not short term. I don't care for their approach to it, but the Republicans are right in their notion that if the country improves we all benefit. Don't be afraid to compete.

Look, there are many employment inequities that should be resolved. And there are many reasons not to incent the hiring of a particular employee "type". But all being equal, an employer should hire the most talented people and we need to be supportive of that notion.

I'm not afraid to compete. I want an even playing field and none of the affirmative action bs. You're also ignoring our current economy, which has thousands of out-of-work PROFESSIONAL US citizens not finding work in their trained fields. And we should accept a foreigner taking the few jobs available? I don't think so.

The "bananas have taken it over"???Really? That's a pretty disgusting and racist remark. I was with you right up until you played the race card.

This is a junk journalism article.

DEEPTI HAJELA must new here or having a problem rising up the ranks quickly or taken a setback. An article like this stirring up the nest might help, and it might not.

I showed my Indian friends this article and they either laughed or got irritated. I am angered by its slanted view and the part about illegals, since I know many people who have struggled for years with the immigration process and made a go of it here or did not. It is a slap in the face and an insult to those who play by the book to even suggest that an illegal status should be mentioned in this article. Whenever they hear even a suggestion about the argument of illegals getting to stay in this country after all they went through, it is almost as if they had the word "Fool" written across their forehead.

I remember the right saying that if Health Care Reform was passed there would be a doctor shortage. "They" said doctors would leave their profession--lying ass blood suckers. There's no shortage and there's no jobs.

I need to check out Obama's health-care plan. I bet there is a section in there that waves all testing of doctors credentials as long as they are illegal immigrants.

Relax the doctors are coming in to help!

Welcome to America, land of high unemployment, too many skilled workers from all over the globe all fighting to land that job, university graduates waiting tables at Applebee's or dancing down in Atlantic City. Americans are in the same boat, graduating college and not being able to find a job in their intended careers, unless maybe they are financially able to start their own businesses.

Maybe she can move to Chile, I hear being a doctor there is still a very lucrative career where you can get the respect you want and earn a high scale salary while standing tall in the social ranks. Being a doctor in the US isn't as lucrative as it once was. Doctors here are a dime a dozen and the pay is crap after insurances get their big chunk. Several of my friends are doctors here in the states, 2 of them own their own practices and barely make any profit, they'd do better to work in corporate. I also worked in the medical field and the competition for what jobs there are here is just ridiculous and almost doesn't exist anymore.

Geeze, boo hoo already. Tired of stories like this about people coming here and crying about what they aren't getting. If its something you feel the need to complain about, go back to your own country.

why not,

I understand. I chose to retire early and drop out of the job market because the construction management jobs I wanted disappeared. My three kids, all with degrees, are all working at levels way below what was available when the market was stronger. Two of them are in California.

The job market is what it is. We all need to grasp that. We can't pick and chose when to compete and when not to. Or when to be fair and when not to be. Or when to be open and when not to. We can't blame others for our difficulties... its just self defeating. Just sayin.

My observations........I am seeing more and more college grads encroaching on my field. What I do should not require a PH.D yet that is what I am seeing. Think about it; if I were an employer, had 2 openings and 300 applicants, why not take the PH.D over the HS grad? In some countries with high unemployment, you have to be a College Grad just to work at the local burger joint.

My next observation is this.....if I were an employer with an opening, why would I hire an immigrant that has no experience working in the US if there are 150 other applicants that have?

The problem is that there are more people than jobs so the employers can more picky. The US should be reducing the immigration quota's since the unemployment rate is so high.

The Government does not create new jobs but can certainly make the country more inviting to industry through tax breaks, credits, and reform. This will increase our GDP, create a demand for jobs and maybe when there really is a demand for HVAC people, this guy will get a shot.

I agree he should go through the US training classes. His kids should be helping him.

The people they left behind don't count; they come here to make it BIG!Quite frankly, they get what they deserve.

Much like the care-needy from here leave behind the wonderful American doctors here and go to those other countries to get it cheap and better.

As for 'get what they deserve' rhetoric, didn't any of your 401K or other invested savings go into the already rich bankers accounts in the form of bonuses, thies past couple years? If you did, you probably deserved it, I didn't

Good points LMarcT.

I have 2 kids out of work, one is college educated but since jobs were scarce in her field after college and she couldn't find a job, she went into healthcare, but lost that job in May 2009. Unemployment is very high where she lives down south, there are just no job openings and too many skilled workers.
The other works in HVAC. No construction or new construction means no work. He's been out of work for about 9 months now and no one is hiring and his former job isn't calling any of the laid off people back to work.

Its not that americans are lacking in education or skills or are less qualified than any one else, its that we are lacking in available jobs for every educated and skilled worker. You can't have 300 people all trained in the same occupation/career in any given area, and only a handful of job openings. that leaves 290 people without a job or scrambling to find any job they are then overqualified for.

And with technology replacing actual people, it will get worse. Population is booming, jobs are disappearing.

You know for all of you immigrant haters on this board.....is it remotely possible for you to believe that some people immigrate for simple reasons such as marriage? Or, because they wish to live with their families as Singh did? Or to take care of a chronically ill mother as Montenegro did?

Is it impossible for many of you - who are so angry and misplace your anger on anything else but the true causes of your conditions - that the core motivation for someone to leave their own country and to live in another is because of love?

I did.

I am an American citizen, born and raised in the Midwest. I married a German national and moved to Germany to be with my husband. Because I loved him. Simple as that. The entire time I lived in Germany, not only did I have to deal with the Neo-Nazi, anti-West, anti-American propaganda that Germany so tries to ignore, I was unemployed. Though I am college educated and had a strong career in a financial firm in Chicago, "the resume and the educational experiences [was] the clincher" in the country of Germany.

I never even got a damn acknowledgement on jobs I applied for that I may have been qualified to do.

Yes, I had a hard time navigating the labor system in Germany because who new that your CV had to be in a different format (i.e. different than acceptable formats in the States) and that photos of yourself needed to be attached? Who knew that the overarching primary thing a German employer looks for in an applicant is the precise title of your college degree? Who knew that many of my friends and neighbors, also college-educated with equivalent’s to Master’s Degrees also were unemployed/underemployed and living on public benefits in order to survive? Who knew that some Germans would be just as ignorant as some Americans and blame the immigrant for this “lot’ in life?

In the States, my English degree garnered me a nice and adequately paid 10 year career in the financial industry as a financial writer. In Germany, because my college degree was not in finance, I was considered not remotely qualified for this line of work.

Then, you throw in a language barrier. My German classes were not about learning to conduct a phone conversation with a prospective employer and learning about employment opportunities or how to approach your neighborhood labor agency and ask the question on how you could sharpen your CV and cover letter. Rather, I learned to ask a train conductor on what time it was and when the next train was coming and how much it costs to get to Zurich. Really important things, I assure you.

Yet, I remained on in Germany for a little while longer simply because I loved my husband. I imagine for many of you who may say in polite conversation to your mother, your neighbor, your kid’s teacher that you support marriages and families sticking together, you certainly wouldn’t have objected for this immigrant to “go back home”, wouldn’t you?

After 3 years of Germany, I now live in the United States, back home in the good ol’ Midwest. After moving back, in six weeks I found a job befitting of my professional and educational experience. Though, I switched careers from the financial industry to the non-profit industry (something that is next to impossible to do in Germany because your college degree stamps you for life in what you can do professionally), where I am involved in helping a diverse group of people – immigrants and American nationals – who do not have black/white, cookie-cutter lives as some of you, judging on your comments, may have.

How lucky I am to have a job! In this economy no less. How lucky I am to still have love in my life!

How especially lucky I am that having the experience of being an immigrant myself has given me an ability to recognize that there are no two immigrant stories alike, and that the 21^st Century immigrant experience across the globe is just as complex and murky as those domestic and international economic policies are for all of you who are simply looking for a good-paying jobs and careers, to have families and to live as close to them as you wish to, and to have your lives filled with love instead of misplaced anger on individuals who did not cause the “lot” you may be stuck in.

Is just excelent what you wrote!

I have to back up a little bit what AC Robertson said. My friend married his Australian pen pal and moved to Australia almost 20 years ago now and even though he's married to her, has 2 children, and has been there for almost 2 decades he still isn't allowed citizenship and I got the impression that he ended up having to work for his father-in-law as he couldn't even get work at McDonalds.

@some Lame Name Here,

Those Australians must really be racists against Americans! Just joking of coarse.

I know someone from California that married an australian and moved there over 10 years ago. She's a highly educated woman, and yet can't work in Australia? I also know she has to come back to the U.S. I think its every 2 years.

so I don't understand what the problem is. I guess everyone looks at the U.S. as the land of entitlement, if you don't get what you want here you whine? maybe we're portraying a false image to foreigners.

Lol, may I borrow your hanky?

This article title is in error. It should read "Things no one should do when searching to get a job in any profession in any country on earth"

Step1: Learn the national language of any country you go to. Step2: Know the requirements and how things work in your profession in that country. Step3: Don't enter the country illegally. Even if you are a US citizen and you enter and work in Canada or Japan or any other industrialized country on earth, no matter how educated you are they will kick you out. Step 4: Networking is the most important part of any job. If they don't know this then yes, they are going to more or less start at the bottom.

I had to have a work permit to contract in Canada in 2002!

As far as not starting at the "top" when you move from one place to another. That's life! When I started I had barriers and had to rise up the food chain.
If I move or whether or not I change professions I will have them again.

>>>>>

"Most of these immigrants wind up underemployed because of barriers like language, lack of access to job networks, or credentialing requirements that are different from those in other countries. Some are held back even further because they're also in the U.S. illegally."

Welcome to the new service-oriented economy. Now get back to work.

Reagan and Bush, huh? I see you are buffaloed by the left/right paradigm. Can you say fascist? Can you say unseen, undisclosed? The presidency is in the hands of the enemies of good cause.

I never understand why immigrants come here. America isn't what it use to be. Reagan and Bush have made this nation a bunch of stupid morons wasting their lives serving the rich.

Actually, getting rich and continuing to do so has been the much glorified American Dream; it didn't happen in a few years, but with the illusion created by the ones getting rich. And it is the rich that help the politicians, not the other way round.

As far as what America used to be vs what it is now, it is still the same vast nation it used to be (despite the increase in population through the years which, is no different in any other part of the world), unlike a lot of other countries that have been inhabited for centuries longer than the US. That still factors in as far as immigration is concerned, I would think.

It is the land of opportunity...but it is getting harder and harder.

You have to start your own business. You will never get anywhere working for someone else.

She is trying to become properly trained, she just thinks the process sucks.

Griping is as America as apple pie.

Why can't she just take an oral from the authorities in medicine.

Why can't she leave and return to her native country?

I'm struck by the fact that all the people here saying they should go home are themselves descendents of people who came here to build a better life. Its what made America the exceptional country it is. When millions of people around the globe STOP dreaming of America, order the flowers and dig the hole, we're done.

There has been a shortage of doctors in the U. S., especially in rural areas. Why do immigrants come? Well, how about 50% of all the science and engineering Ph. D. graduates are foreign-born? The U. S. need them in order to make progress in these fields. Perhaps Mr. Frank Gruden could help us to fill this void?

Seriously.

Immigration = America.

I think I could enjoy Columbia. My experience is that at my level most industrialized developed nations are the same. I am beneath the competition. I suggest that expectations run overly high due to propaganda in all technologically modern states. Money pursuit kills every venue.

I wonder how WWII would have turned out if Einstein had gone back where he came from. What if the Nazis had gotten the bomb first? But I guess that's what he gets for being born on the wrong side of the ocean.

onevoice? you got it wrong and whoever told you " They give them scholarships and sometimes a Free Ride." is not saying the truth. Any foreign MD who came and able to qualify for Residency in our med school, pays their way and serve 36 hours with little rest. Check this out at Vanderbilt, Meharry, and at VA Nashville.

Unfortunately, it seems as if the US squanders their native talent as thoroughly as they squander tax dollars and missiles.

Hey she bought and paid for her education. Everything else is a gimme? No.

kedbob, your reply to my comment doesn't make sense.

Haha..yeah Kedbob IS the brain drain..can you make any sense kedbob? Ever?

But the problem is that they come here thinking it's going to be better than where they came from. They're watching too many Donald Trump TV shows. If they had good jobs THERE, why would they come here and live sub-standard to where they were? After a while you say, this is not working, and go home.

I think foreign educated professionals benefit companies as long as they speak English, meet credentialing requirements and go through a process whereby they can work here legally. What's so hard about playing by the rules? If we enforce these requirements, why is that such a bad thing? Why should they be treated differently? Are you telling me that we don't have enough qualified, college educated, legal english speaking professionals to fill these jobs? Why are we made to look like the bad guys if we enforce the rules?

Sandy, US is NOT doing anything wrong, but as an industralized Nation, we can do better to make the process work. The author was stating the facts here, and the lady from Columbia was a ref. point. if you have been or live in the country, you will understand the needs for MDs in America.

The credentials issues for doctors is exceptional, and understandable. Cases of technician or engineering talent like that of Mohan Singh are the mainstream issue that the article should address more deeply. But the facts are that America wastes human resources with unemployment & employment under one's skill level, even for many Americans. The processes of getting a job almost always require significantly different skills & attitudes on the part of the job seeker than the skills & attitudes that s/he developed for her/his career specialization. And employers frequently hide from applicants what their true judgement criteria are. This is partly due to the situation of too many lawsuits in the USA: rarely does a rejection letter to an applicant honestly explain to her/him the reasons why s/he was judged unqualified for the job, because if the company states explicit details then lawsuits might pick on those details. The net result is that talent continues to go underemployed.

As long as they can speak English and can back up their credentials, then I don't have a problem with them being in country on a working visa and then eventually applying for citizenship. It's the ones that come here that only know about 5 words in English that I have issues with. You go to any other country - Mexico, Spain, France, Germany - and see if you can get away with making other people speak English to you. They'll look at you like you're stupid and ask why you didn't bother taking time to learn that countries language.

I don't think many of you realize its a problem with "immigrants" (or rather, buy tickets to go to DIsney World on vacation in Orlando, and the family doesn't get on the return flight back).

Look across South Florida. Haven't you read about and heard media reports of state officials closing down illegal medical facilities set up in strip malls? It all boils down to rich doctors with their families "escaping" Colombia, Brazil, and Venezuela. Since these "educated" guys have travelers checks/cash, they just book the family on a flight on Florida vacation and then conveniently diasappear into the societal muck of Dade, Broward, Orange and Palm Beach Counties.

Since their medical licences are irrelevant and below standard, they cannot get jobs at legit health care facilities or hospitals. Lo and behold, they set up shop next to the Quizno's or State Farm Insurance footage in the strip mall, advertise in the local Spanish-language crap of a newspaper, and "they're in business."

I know a guy (he was 20 when I first met him at work at Universal in Orlando) that told me his dad and mom were ruch and they chose to leave. THey came illegally. They didn't fly back after their "vacation."

Shockingly, we all know he, too, remains illegal, but thanks to dirty Brazilian monies, he and his family bought their documents to stay. That family turned its back on their countrymen...and sicne they were rich in Brazil, afforded good schools so the kids could speak English.

Besides FLorida already being a crappy state of white trash rednecks and poor blacks, it's a cesspool of Northeastern (aggressively rude) drop outs and every Haitian and Latino here illegally.

The weather from November to May is the ONLY good thing in Florida. The only beneficial thing leaving the state is a south wind.

There are quite a number of places just like you mention in NYC as well, unlicensed medical practices serving as 'holistic stores' but actually treating illnesses. I used to live in a highly populated dominican neighborhood in northern manhattan that had several "store front" holistic practices is what they call them, these are unlicensed foreigners selling snake oils out of dirty jars. I went into one of them once with my neighbor. Scary place.

She gave you the name, you're already online.

Go effin google it.

Google will never misinform,

I'm a college graduate who is also unemployed at the moment. there is no job openings in my field.

the burger joints aren't even hiring here. actually I don't know many places that are hiring except the Army and Avon.

No, they are highlighting a problem and giving examples to show that it effects real people.

Read it for what it is friend, jeeze.

It's worth pointing out that if all Americans bought only American where possible instead of Walmart, our recession would be VASTLY less severe. Big companies have hurt us severely-no doubt. But we, as a group, haven't done ourselves aany favors. Penny-wise and pound foolish.

Thomas - our recession has nothing to do with Walmart. Walmart provides products at a very competitive rate and saves the average US citizen a lot of money each time they shop.
The recession is being prolonged because of the polocies of Obama and the progressives.

With unemployment as high as it is, how do you expect people to buy American made products that are too expensive because of union workers getting way too much money to assemble it?

So what, you want Union workers to be as broke as everybody else?

Their salaries are peanuts compared to what management makes, even at companies that are failing and hemorrhaging dollars.

Bravo! You said it all!

Nice summation, Will.

and get off my lawn!

I guess you don't remember that a few years back the medical industry was actually short handed and couldn't find doctors and were going to foreign countries to get them.

This one is more current.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304506904575180331528424238.html

Great manipulation of the industry, eh?

Explains why I didn't get many jobs in my youth, tho. :(

Yea because white people are so over-represented with regards to unemployment...

Are you crazy? There's no where in America where white people are unemployed at a higher rate than people of color, with comparable education/skills or work backgrounds. In some places the ratio is as bad as 3-1, meaning if your black or hispanic you are 3 times as likely to be unemployed, than if you are white.

Perhaps whites are unemployed because the system steal their opportunities.

Why are us, the chinese so well-off? It is because we are not like the blacks or hispanics, we do not blame whites or anyone else, we are creating our own wealth.

LEARN FROM US.

I was unaware that the chinese were considered well of in America.

I think immigrants are watching too much of the Apprentice-type shows, and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. I imagine it's a rude awakening to get here and see people are not living on caviar and luxury boats. That's why American TV is detrimental. We here know that life can suck and it's hard (taxes and all), but the people overseas think this is the land of luxury. I guess they're surprised when they see all the homeless in the streets and sheer poverty among our people.

In the US, we don't have state-run media. It's more like a media-run state!

From Chicago, I would vote hundreds of times for you comment.

I am curious to see how many votes it receives.

Why knock McDonald's? They provide work for a lot of employees. They develop dividends for their shareholders (like it or not). The disdain shown for essential level jobs is a real problem. The spire falls and the foundation remains. That cushy office isn't there because there aren't shovels. That plant and equipment doesn't exist because owners do, but in spite of owners, once production moves beyond the founder(s). It's supposedly all about getting back from what you contribute, but really it's about people being denied expectations in this competitive model, for the enrichment of another. Everybody wants a celebrity job. There aren't that many, like there aren't that many celebrities. People who perform functions of contribution deserve to be able to live free from want as well as disdain.

Sandy, I hate to tell you this but they already bendover for the non english speaking foreigners.

Only if they speak Spanish, there are almost no provisions for those speaking other languages.

I agree Sandy, if you immigrate to another country, you need to speak the language!! And if you are in a country - any country - illegally, you should not be able to work. Period.

I have lived (legally) in five other countries. In two of them I was not legally allowed to work, as I came as a dependent. So guess what? I didn't work, even though I sure could have used the money. I would not knowingly break the law of a country I was in, even if I did not think it was fair. Anyone who knowingly enters another country illegally deserves to be thrown out of that country. Period.

My husband is a foreign national. We have paid all the fees, gotten all the paperwork, gone through all the hoops for him to get his green card. Did it twice. Why should people who circumvent the system get jobs and benefits?

Sandy,

I have an aquaintence who was a veternarian in Mexico, came here legally, speaks english with the barest of an accent. He works in a furniture factory, no your reasoning is to some effect flawed.

We no longer can keep the promise that is stated on the Statue of Liberty. Don't white wash it, we are closed to all immigration, for all practical purposes. And we have been for quite a while. My advice to any future immigrant is to look else where.

Pride? Hard to admit you ere wrong and go slinking back? I'd think we'd be proud that people so successful elsewhere still consider America a step up.

This is an old story tho, the old European immigrants had the same problem, working as doctors and engineers at home only to get here and be janitors.

Well if you read the article you would know that the primary reason why they came over here was because of family FromChicago. Next time read the article.