Opinion
A Canadian Cast Away
April 15, 2009 - 11:00pm
I just found out that there is a mistake on the resume that I have been sending out in my job applications.
A member of Cornell Career Services notified me this week that this error accounts for why I failed to secure an interview with a potential employer.
I’m not talking about some wee, negligible oversight — a “9” where there should be an “8,” a double space instead of a single one. I’m talking about a mother load of a blunder, as monstrous and glaring as it is undeniably and irreversibly catastrophic.
Under my “Home Address,” I have the following listed:
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Not a grammatical glitch or a formatting failure, but a stain on my record all the same.
[“This email is being sent to all students who … did not receive an interview.”]
I blame Obama.
In February of this year, the administration started making things a lot more difficult for international students looking for employment in the U.S., including myself. “The Employ American Workers Act” (EAWA) restricts companies that get federal bailout money from hiring foreign students on H1-B visas (the kind of visa I would need to stay here beyond about June 2010).
Currently, about 85,000 people a year are granted this temporary work permit.
The act doesn’t actually ban international workers outright, but it imposes a series of restrictions, which effectively do just that.
Companies that might want to hire this eager undergrad, for example, would have to prove that they had not “displaced” an American worker in the process. They would also have to demonstrate that they made a genuine effort to find an American to fill the spot before settling on a paltry Canadian. In a period of massive layoffs, that’s virtually impossible to do.
Goodbye, friends. It’s been swell, eh?
Some experts think the Act could bring about the end of all temporary worker programs.
And goodbye, too, to hopes of a global America.
[“Thank you for applying for an internship at X. I’m sorry to tell you that you were not selected … Perhaps our paths will cross again. In the meantime, we wish you much success.”]
On a philosophical level, this just seems profoundly at odds with Obama’s campaign message — his talk of a worldwide community and a global marketplace —his belief in a restored international image.
On Election Day, the world stood behind him.
When The Economist endorsed him, it was in spite of his “inexperience,” but in the hopes that “America’s allies would rally to him” and with the knowledge that “the global electorate … shows a landslide in his favour.”
(And yes, that’s how the world spells “favour.”)
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who fought for the new restriction, claims:
“While we are suffering through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the very least we can do is to make sure that banks receiving a taxpayer bailout are not allowed to import cheaper labor from overseas while they are throwing American workers out on the street.”
Throwing American workers out on the street? For a bunch of flighty foreigners? That’s scandalous!
The New York Times readers, commenting online about a recent article, seemed to agree:
“It is long past time to put an end to this, by cancelling the H1B program outright, and requiring that all H1B visa holders go home.” — Mike Morrin
“What a crock! Americans are laid off and replaced with the average and below Indians who come here to work but have no desire whatsoever to become citizens.” — Sal
“Why can’t these ‘elites’ do something striking in their own land.” — Bobbi
A small sample of an overwhelmingly unified call to arms.
Jingoism? Certainly. A kind of veiled xenophobia? Maybe.
Sure, it was in large part Wall Street, USA’s irresponsibility that caused this mess in the first place. But that won’t stop this administration from taking this opportunity to shut out its high-skill labor market to those countries it harmed along the way.
[“Dear Applicants, We had a tremendous response to our posting … However, I regret to inform you that you were not selected as a final candidate. Best of luck with your search for a satisfying and challenging employment opportunity.”]
But there’s also a strong argument to make that this policy will ultimately harm the very Yankees it’s trying to protect.
Let’s face it, a lot of the American competitive advantage has nothing to do with Americans … but, instead, has everything to do with the bright, highly educated students that America so successfully saps from the rest of world.
A time of crisis is exactly a time when companies must be free to maximize innovation, even if that means importing innovation from abroad.
“Brain Drain. Brain Drain,” is what my high school teacher chanted when I told her I was coming to Cornell.
Over half of Silicon Valley tech start-ups between 1995 and 2005 were founded by immigrants. Intel. Yahoo. Sun Microsystems. Google. In 2005, those companies generated $52 billion and employed 450,000 workers — many of them American.
About 60 percent of engineering Ph.Ds are foreigners.
Over a quarter of the U.S.’s global patents were filed by foreign nationals working here.
Thanks for all your hard work, but …
Last month, Bank of America Corp announced that it was being forced to lay-off its international student hirers as a result of the new bill. Not a merit-based decision. But a calculation based on crude national distinctions.
It doesn’t even seem legal!
But the Obama administration flexed its muscles — made itself an effective part of the HR team in the country’s biggest banks — and that was that.
[Dear Katie … While I’m sure you’d be a great asset to X, we’ve had to make some tough choices. Good luck in your future pursuits. Best, Y”]
OK. But who is to trust a self-entitled Canadian columnist?
And shouldn’t American jobs be the most protected?
Well, the strangest thing is that, at the same time as this program is making things tough for a few thousand highly-educated foreigners, Obama has announced a new plan to allow as many as 12 million lesser-skilled illegal immigrants to gain legal status.
You just spent time and resources educating me. And now you’re going to send me back … at the same time that millions of unskilled laborers will be allowed to stay?
The reverse brain drain has started.
Thousands of immigrants are leaving every month. A Duke University survey showed that the majority want to start their own companies, viewing their home nations as more receptive to new business opportunities.
I spent my day looking into UK citizenship.
Toodle-oo!
It’s not just these new restrictions that are the problem. It’s the complexity and costliness of the whole system — one that turns the possibility of a real global market into a jumbled bureaucratic mess.
Obama may seem like the whole world’s president. But if he shuts out the whole world’s workers, that image may not last.
The company that declined to interview me, for one, didn’t want to deal with any of this. Cornell Career Services explained why:
“Dear Katie: I am hard pressed to understand why you did not receive an interview … Katie, are you Canadian? Unfortunately…”
Katie Engelhart is a former Sun Senior Editor and a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She may be contacted at kengelhart@cornellsun.com. Don’t Shoot the Messenger appears alternate Thursdays this semester.
I just found out that there is a mistake on the resume that I have been sending out in my job applications.
A member of Cornell Career Services notified me this week that this error accounts for why I failed to secure an interview with a potential employer.
I’m not talking about some wee, negligible oversight — a “9” where there should be an “8,” a double space instead of a single one. I’m talking about a mother load of a blunder, as monstrous and glaring as it is undeniably and irreversibly catastrophic.
Under my “Home Address,” I have the following listed:
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Not a grammatical glitch or a formatting failure, but a stain on my record all the same.
[“This email is being sent to all students who … did not receive an interview.”]
I blame Obama.
In February of this year, the administration started making things a lot more difficult for international students looking for employment in the U.S., including myself. “The Employ American Workers Act” (EAWA) restricts companies that get federal bailout money from hiring foreign students on H1-B visas (the kind of visa I would need to stay here beyond about June 2010).
Currently, about 85,000 people a year are granted this temporary work permit.
The act doesn’t actually ban international workers outright, but it imposes a series of restrictions, which effectively do just that.
Companies that might want to hire this eager undergrad, for example, would have to prove that they had not “displaced” an American worker in the process. They would also have to demonstrate that they made a genuine effort to find an American to fill the spot before settling on a paltry Canadian. In a period of massive layoffs, that’s virtually impossible to do.
Goodbye, friends. It’s been swell, eh?
Some experts think the Act could bring about the end of all temporary worker programs.
And goodbye, too, to hopes of a global America.
[“Thank you for applying for an internship at X. I’m sorry to tell you that you were not selected … Perhaps our paths will cross again. In the meantime, we wish you much success.”]
On a philosophical level, this just seems profoundly at odds with Obama’s campaign message — his talk of a worldwide community and a global marketplace —his belief in a restored international image.
On Election Day, the world stood behind him.
When The Economist endorsed him, it was in spite of his “inexperience,” but in the hopes that “America’s allies would rally to him” and with the knowledge that “the global electorate … shows a landslide in his favour.”
(And yes, that’s how the world spells “favour.”)
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who fought for the new restriction, claims:
“While we are suffering through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the very least we can do is to make sure that banks receiving a taxpayer bailout are not allowed to import cheaper labor from overseas while they are throwing American workers out on the street.”
Throwing American workers out on the street? For a bunch of flighty foreigners? That’s scandalous!
The New York Times readers, commenting online about a recent article, seemed to agree:
“It is long past time to put an end to this, by cancelling the H1B program outright, and requiring that all H1B visa holders go home.” — Mike Morrin
“What a crock! Americans are laid off and replaced with the average and below Indians who come here to work but have no desire whatsoever to become citizens.” — Sal
“Why can’t these ‘elites’ do something striking in their own land.” — Bobbi
A small sample of an overwhelmingly unified call to arms.
Jingoism? Certainly. A kind of veiled xenophobia? Maybe.
Sure, it was in large part Wall Street, USA’s irresponsibility that caused this mess in the first place. But that won’t stop this administration from taking this opportunity to shut out its high-skill labor market to those countries it harmed along the way.
[“Dear Applicants, We had a tremendous response to our posting … However, I regret to inform you that you were not selected as a final candidate. Best of luck with your search for a satisfying and challenging employment opportunity.”]
But there’s also a strong argument to make that this policy will ultimately harm the very Yankees it’s trying to protect.
Let’s face it, a lot of the American competitive advantage has nothing to do with Americans … but, instead, has everything to do with the bright, highly educated students that America so successfully saps from the rest of world.
A time of crisis is exactly a time when companies must be free to maximize innovation, even if that means importing innovation from abroad.
“Brain Drain. Brain Drain,” is what my high school teacher chanted when I told her I was coming to Cornell.
Over half of Silicon Valley tech start-ups between 1995 and 2005 were founded by immigrants. Intel. Yahoo. Sun Microsystems. Google. In 2005, those companies generated $52 billion and employed 450,000 workers — many of them American.
About 60 percent of engineering Ph.Ds are foreigners.
Over a quarter of the U.S.’s global patents were filed by foreign nationals working here.
Thanks for all your hard work, but …
Last month, Bank of America Corp announced that it was being forced to lay-off its international student hirers as a result of the new bill. Not a merit-based decision. But a calculation based on crude national distinctions.
It doesn’t even seem legal!
But the Obama administration flexed its muscles — made itself an effective part of the HR team in the country’s biggest banks — and that was that.
[Dear Katie … While I’m sure you’d be a great asset to X, we’ve had to make some tough choices. Good luck in your future pursuits. Best, Y”]
OK. But who is to trust a self-entitled Canadian columnist?
And shouldn’t American jobs be the most protected?
Well, the strangest thing is that, at the same time as this program is making things tough for a few thousand highly-educated foreigners, Obama has announced a new plan to allow as many as 12 million lesser-skilled illegal immigrants to gain legal status.
You just spent time and resources educating me. And now you’re going to send me back … at the same time that millions of unskilled laborers will be allowed to stay?
The reverse brain drain has started.
Thousands of immigrants are leaving every month. A Duke University survey showed that the majority want to start their own companies, viewing their home nations as more receptive to new business opportunities.
I spent my day looking into UK citizenship.
Toodle-oo!
It’s not just these new restrictions that are the problem. It’s the complexity and costliness of the whole system — one that turns the possibility of a real global market into a jumbled bureaucratic mess.
Obama may seem like the whole world’s president. But if he shuts out the whole world’s workers, that image may not last.
The company that declined to interview me, for one, didn’t want to deal with any of this. Cornell Career Services explained why:
“Dear Katie: I am hard pressed to understand why you did not receive an interview … Katie, are you Canadian? Unfortunately…”
Katie Engelhart is a former Sun Senior Editor and a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She may be contacted at kengelhart@cornellsun.com. Don’t Shoot the Messenger appears alternate Thursdays this semester.
Well...
I bet, by reading the tone of your other articles, you supported Obama and you were just soooo delighted he won last fall. Now, because of him, you're screwed. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!! So will Canada be, trade-wise, yet the population here ignorantly supported this man and celebrated when he won. Tells you how much Canadians understand economics. I'm sorry to hear about your job search woes.. why dontcha come back home after graduation, I hear Tim Horton's is hiring!!
Advice to Katie: 1) Hang in
Advice to Katie:
1) Hang in there mate, something will pop up. And yes, change that home address to your US address ASAP! I'm surprised no one at Career Services told you about that.
2) Try physically networking with recruiters. Being a Canadian citizen actually gives you certain advantages over citizens of many other countries, as Canadians have access to the TN visa.
3) Try networking with alumni. Cornell has a great alumni network spread out across the US which you can use.
Good luck!!
As for U of T alumni:
Mate, doesn't schadenfreude feel good? Isn't it great to watch the girl who went south of the border to Cornell struggle now? Serves her right for abandoning little Canada. Isn't Canada so much better than the US? Don't you just want her to wear that Timmy's uniform? Don't you want to feel all high and mighty? Come on, admit it mate!
Canada on the whole is a great country. Canadians on the whole are generally even-minded and fair, until you say that the US might be better at X than Canada. Then the inferiority complex kicks in, and rationality flies out the window, because little Canada is compared unfavourably to the big bad US. How DARE he say that? The horror, the horror.
As for Obama's win - I will say this. Regardless of how well Obama performs, it made many Canadians proud to see a person with a funny name, a person from a visible minority and a son of an immigrant win. It was a defining moment for the planet. That was what people were celebrating. However, the moment was important. It enabled a lot of us from visible minorities say that change is possible, that many things are possible for us in this world.
He might still make a bigger mess of the whole thing than Dubya - that is left to be seen. And yes, Canada may get screwed by him in the process, which I will not be happy about. In fact, I can see how some of his policies may be bad further on down the road. But his win was a defining and symbolic moment - it showed how far the world had come.
Regards
PS Katie - I loved your line about the correct spelling of "favour". I remember a presentation in my US engineering grad school given by an Australian grad student. She was subsequently told that she had spelled and pronounced aluminium incorrectly. Hell hath no fury like a Commonwealth citizen being told by an American that his/her pronunciation and spelling of English words are wrong!
The media are full of
The media are full of foreigners like Katie Engelhart advising the us that American success is a result of themselves and foreigners like themselves.
What is wrong with the US requiring employers to give American citizens preference?
Why are arguments against foreigners taking American jobs limited to comments on articles supporting foreign labor?
If they are as great as they say why is it that neither they nor their ancestors have built a country worth living in and able to provide them with jobs?
Immigration and xenophobia
Immigration and xenophobia issues involve those who come to America seeking new opportunities -- immigrants who have either gained U.S. citizenship or who seek it.
But you, an elite foreigner turned Ivy League student, are not one of those immigrants. Unless you apply for U.S. citizenship, how could we know you have the intention of staying in America and contributing to our economy? Otherwise, you might just be a young intern intent on having fun in New York City for a couple of years before heading home to Canada, and bringing your American education and skills with you.
Obama's plan: Xenophobia, no. National interests, yes.
Applying citizenship
>>. Unless you apply for U.S. citizenship, how could we know you have the intention of staying in America and contributing to our economy
Unless you get a permanent residency (Green Card) you cannot apply for citizenship. To apply for Green card, you generally need a valid work visa - H1B. H1B is the first step towards the long road of citizenship for most skilled immigrants. H1B adds less than 0.08% of workforce every year. So in the worst case H1B visas would cause only 0.08% extra unemployment. The last 1 year US lost 25 times more jobs than that. And this 0.08% workforce addition creates more jobs than it replaces.
1. US exports more than $1400 billion worth of goods every year. Whether it is iPod or Windows or financial services, you need to understand the target market and culture. H1bs help a lot in that. That crucial input is worth many billions out of that 1.4 trillion new money to US economy.
2. Higher education employs more than 2.5 million Americans, and a part of this is due to the new F1 students coming every year. If there are no F1 students 1000s of Americans in education will lose job.
3. H1b applicants also lead to 1000s of new startups every year and that employs 100s of 1000s.
In short it is not a question of foreigners are superior to Americans or vice versa. It is a question of cooperation. Skilled foreigners couldn't bring their potentials out in their home countries (try creating software in Somalia or Afganistan) and they help lubricate the wheels of American economy. Adding 75K immigrants with 300M Americans is not going to neutralize Americans anytime soon or put them out of job, but just add more catalyst for expansion.
Why have they not built a country worth living in?
Well, the answer most of the time, and for a huge amount of immigrants is very simple.
Neither they nor their ancestors have built a country worth living in and able to provide them with jobs because America destroyed their countries.
If you study American history, most of Latin America was laid waste during the 20th century because of American-backed dictatorships (That is, american-paid mercenaries) meant to fight communism. And Africa or East Asia have quite a history of American involvement.
Neither they nor their ancestors have built a country worth living in and able to provide them with jobs because the world financial system, enforced by American armies, deprive their countries for access to credit.
I would challenge the brightest man in the Business School to build up a transnational from scratch in a country where credit for start-up companies comes at three-digit annual interest. In many cases, this was produced by American forced implementation of economic policies designed in Chicago.
Neither they nor their ancestors have built a country worth living in and able to provide them with jobs because the most lucrative markets are closed off to their products.
I would challenge any American to move to Ecuador, without american capital, and, while conforming to the law, start a lucrative transnational company.
Neither they nor their ancestors have built a country worth living in and able to provide them with jobs because America forced them (often militarily)to open their markets, while keeping America's borders closed to them, leaving them at a gross competitive disadvantage.
Now, we believe we might be able to put some of that history behind us and cooperate with the USA in the development of a better world, but comments like yours make it difficult to believe that we can expect cooperation from a USA that seldom seems to be able to see problems beyond their southern border. The world is not a level playing field were everybody gets such an easy life as most Cornell students. Considering the resources spent in the education of most Cornellians, I would expect more intelligent approaches to such a complicated problem.
We had a Canadian trip ruined because someone had an old DUI
and we were treated like DIRT by at the Canadian border.
Now, you're upset because you, as a Canadian can't take one of our jobs in a an economic depression?
The arrogance of you people is unreal
Hi Katie I feel bad for the
Hi Katie
I feel bad for the situation you're in. Let me try to put things in perspective, though. The H1B/L1 visa situation has gotten out of hand. While initially it may have been geared towards allowing the 'best and brightest' of the world to work in the US, it has now become nothing more than an easy way for employers to depress wages via the use of temporary workers who are *not* highly skilled. I say this with experience having worked in both India and the US for the world's largest IT offshore provider and user of H1B visas. Thousands of low wage Indians and other third world workers are brought into the US as 'indentured servants' in order to perform jobs that Americans are both capable and willing to do.
When you hear employers throw out the mantra 'We just can't find enough skilled workers in the US' you need to hear what is actually being said:
'We just can't find enough skilled workers in the US willing to work for the low wages we'd really like to pay...'.
As a recently laid off software engineer from a company largely invested in offshoring and low wage visa workers, let me just say that I really hope this issue is solved shortly; as soon as all qualified US workers are again employed, we in the US will be happy to work together with talented Canadians, Europeans, and other foreigners from nations that treat their employees well. Until that day, I say close the borders, eject the indentured servants that are driving the middle class into the ground, and forget about the lies of a 'global economy' until we (the middle class) are able to enjoy some of its promised benefits.
There are 3-4 million
There are 3-4 million American expatriates working in other countries. Since the US is the only country with the double taxation law for its own citizens, these expat Americans form a source of tax revenue to the US government.
I'm all for a tit for tat by other countries. Cancel the work permits of expatriate Americans and send them back home. Let their fellow Americans and their government take care of these returning expatriates. I hope you guys have enough unemployment insurance to cover them.
Keep your head up
Katie, thanks for the article. I wish you the best of luck, and encourage you to never give up. I agree with you for the most and share your frustration. I have had all my job opportunities turned down simply because I am not American. I got all my interviews but when I get there, as soon as they ask me whether I have permanent residence, and I have to say NO, they would dabble on for a few minutes, out of politeness I guess. But I know from their expression it's over. Their reply is always the same. "Thank you...we will keep you in file for future... blah blah."
As a foreigner it is difficult, otherwise impossible to get an entry-level job in the US. We have to somehow show that we are superior to a fellow American graduate. We can only do that through our GPA or summer internships, but that often is not enough.
I find it absurd that there are individuals who blame the work visa for their woes and have little compassion. US issues about 75000 H1-B, there are over 500,000 international students that enroll each year. Not all the 75k visas go to graduates, a huge portion comes from outside. Think about how many international students go home each year, whether they intended to or not. I come from a country where the average GDP per capita is $1200 a year. That's $100 a month. The closest thing to welfare in my country is probably the case that the Government won't send you to jail if you are unemployed.
I have spent 4 years studying in the US, and like most Americans I am in debt. Everyday I think, whether I made the right decision and if I have jeopardized my family's savings by coming here.
I am not angry with Americans who are upset and blame foreigners, after all I have made a lot of good friends here. But some Americans need to understand we have to feed ourselves too. I went to one of those highly rated colleges, but to be frank, I am ready to mop floors to survive for the time being.
Keep your head up
Hi Foreigner,
I can understand what you and katie are feeling like. I am on H1 here in USA. I know that the job which i do for a big financial company in boston. no other american will not like to do..because in a way its dirty work..you know..they will just think of big concepts..will do the clean job..like being my manager..etc...and asking me when i can complite that job...while in reality i am doing all the work..all the logic spending hours in front of computers and shortning my life to half by working extra hours which realy no one cares..i came here 5 years ago..i made some money...and with promis that if i work for so -so years then i will be granted green card :) then i can also be same and live relaxed life but i guess by the time i get my green card..i am not sure i will be even be in good shape to enjoy my green card..
because it will easily take at least 10 more years..
i regret that why did not i came first to maxico..then should have come illegaly here...and should not even have to pay taxes...i could have saved more then what i have now...and Mr Obama would have made me legal and probably would have given citizenship..
another issue..my wife..which used to work in india..but here she is just passing her time in jail...because she is not allowed to work on H4 visa..
so i guess for money we are loosing too much..while if the same talent we could have spent in our country..ie..india..then probably not us but at least our next generation would not have to come to forein land...seriously...i sometime think that why dont we all indians who are working in ORACLE, IBM, Mircrosoft,GOOGLE..stop working for this companies here in USA and tell them that we will creat all this product in India, and do all the patents there...why not ??? just think....