Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Can we please move on

This is the last thing I'll post on my blog related to my immigration issue. But as I was recently given a glimpse of hope at a full time job here in San Diego, a new conversation with my attorney arose, and I stumbled upon an obstacle that I never knew existed.

As far as I knew, all that was needed for me to get a job here was the willingness of company X to hire me and pay for the legal fees required for the visa. Brundage, whom I currently work for, hired me right when my visa expired and since the process moved along without issue, these requirements that I recently found out about went without my attention.

Let this be a final "shut up" and middle finger raised at anyone who's ever hinted, explicitly, or implicitly, about my unwillingness to "just get a job". A) I have one that, yes, I can do from the comfort of my couch. Sorry to those who have to be in a cubicle all day. B) to please the jealous/judgmental/whatever your title should be who obviously would like everyone else including me to be 9-5ing like them, here's a last little peak at what I face:

Today, while researching PR/Marketing firms in San Diego and the surrounding areas, as I have done numerous times before in hopes that I'll luck out, I happened across Mindgruve. They are in Carlsbad which would be perfect for me, and they are hiring for a part time admin coordinator. If I was American, and they liked what they saw on my resume, it'd be as simple as "you're hired, when can you start?" and boom, I'd be on payroll in a jiffy.

But, here's what must happen in my case: Said company has to
1) offer a job that corresponds to what I majored in- marketing, ok cool check!
2) pay legal fees...does the company want me that bad over a free American employee? I don't know
3) *NEW TO ME* offer a job that is not a "sales" job...the government does not consider that "professional"
4) *NEW TO ME* offer a job that requires a Bachelor's degree...uhhhm from the looks of the job description, nope! It's part time, and while there's a lot of computer literacy, etc skills required, there's no mention of a degree needed.

Those are the basics, it then gets more complicated with other criteria such as number of employees in the company...etc

FYI I sent them an email...I am an extremely optimistic person, but I'll likely prove my point further with their response.

In conclusion (this isn't a high school paper so forgive the retarded ending phrase, but from the constant nagging I get about this issue, it appears people either refuse to believe me, or are just plain stupid), it is not that I don't want even a part time job, at the very least (if I were such a lazy a**) to build my resume/work experience, or God-forbid I suffer an injury and can't be an athlete anymore- it's that I have a dozen more hurdles than an American applicant; and from the standpoint of the company, I'm a process, while others are a quick fix.

Yes I swim, bike, run AAANNNDDDD work from home (I am well aware how AWESOME this is). I don't talk about what I do because few do talk about their work especially in social media, unless THAT IS their job. Yes I have a great life and a loving family. Yes a lot of what I have I haven't had to earn myself and with that I've stumbled upon many envious remarks/attitudes. But my family has also gone through very hard periods, as we all do in this volatile life.

Here's the moral of this post, if there ever was one...if you can look at yourself in the mirror and like, no love, what you see and are thankful for the life you have, that is happiness. Do not look for it in the success or failure of others.