Coming to the US I knew that starting over again in the job aspect will be the biggest adjustment I had to make. Just a brief background, in the Philippines I had a job which was an equivalent of a creative director for a garments and accessories manufacturing company in Cebu, before that I was also a senior designer for Sanrio in their Manila office for 5 years. Plus I had a short stint in China as a designer, my summer art workshops (did 6), designing and paintings for commissions on the side. But stepping on the US bound plane 2 years ago, I was prepared to start from the bottom, including being a waitstaff or grocery clerk if need be.

Jobhunting 

Left: The facade of the company I work for now. The building stretches as far back down to the next avenue. Right: The reception area.

Imagine the Sunday Bulletin Today in the Philippines. Now triple its thickness. What you have is a Sunday edition of the Chicago Tribune. I had to deal with that for 4 Sundays when I was looking for a job. Would you believe they have one section devoted to Want Ads only? It is as thick as the Philippine Star main section. It took me probably half a day reading the fine prints and by the time I was done going over each of them I was already tired, drained and nursing an eyestrain.

Other things that I did was to scour 2 other smaller papers, Hotjobs.com and even posters on the local grocery and restos. December of 2003 I was sitting on a computer along Jewel's (Albertson's) aisle to fill up their online forms. I applied for the assistant flower clerk position. I didn't get it. In fact I think I must have submitted 27 application letters and resumes in all. I only got a response from only 3 of them. One interview was done through the phone, which is a disadvantage to an applicant who has english as her second language.

Other factors that put me at a disadvantage were: not knowing how to drive (even dogwalkers and babysitters need to have a car), the distance (some of these companies could be located at the other side of the state somewhere from 2-4 hours drive away), not having character references and of course, no experience for other jobs outside the designing/art field. 

So my tactic was to apply for common/low paying jobs that were in demand and also sent a few applications to jobs that were in my field. It came as a surprise to me that those who called were responses from the latter.

The Interview

Some of our company's products: children's books and stationeries. Our company is the biggest publisher of cookbooks and a pioneer of children's electronic books.

When I was scheduled for an interview it was my boss, the creative director, who directly called me. In the Philippines, this was a job normally done by the HR department. She even gave me the driving directions herself. When Tom got home I told him about the phone call and consulted him of the address. I was ecstatic when I found out that it was only 7 miles from our house. What were the chances of getting an interview for a job in my field very near us after a month of job searching?

To think I hesitated sending my application for this company because they required enclosed samples of work. I know how important presentation is in the designing field. Unfortunately Tom doesn't have a single graphic software in his computer. So I uploaded the 3"x4" photos of the product that I designed to my website and in my application letter I just attached a photocopy of my works with a note stating that the colored version can be viewed over the internet. Thank goodness it worked.

Only recently did I learn that competitors for this position have $2,000 worth portfolios and even units in portfolios classes. That would have been ultra discouraging to me if I knew that beforehand.

My interview was set on one of the coldest days that winter at -2F. As I've mentioned in my previous entry, my boss was expecting me to call any minute then to postpone our meeting. But I showed up anyway.

The interview went well. I immediately took liking to my boss. There weren't any hard/hypothetical questions (like how do you see yourself 5  to 10 years from now) but just no nonsense queries about the past jobs I held. She told me that despite my being unfamilliar with using a couple of graphics software on a Mac platform, my Sanrio and China experience worked in my favor. I was asked if I was agreeable to do freelancing for a few weeks to gauge my ability before I was hired as a regular. Of course, I was more than agreeable. A couple of weeks later? They still liked me.

Signing On

Here I am inside my new and bigger cube. I also have my own light table too. Peter is giving me a hard time about the size of my cube. Look at that cinema screen monitor! The first time my boss showed me around I salivated when I saw all the designers having one but apparently, all the people in the art department got them.

One of the many instances that truly hit me how different it is here in the US compared to the Philippines was when I was about to sign my contract with the HR department I inquired when I was to supply them with my transcript of records. I was told there was no need since they had private investigator who would do a background check on me. Actually, all they asked from me was that contract, some forms I had to fill-out, social security number, my driver's license and my greencard. No NBI, no baranggay, no police clearance nor photos either

We don't have office IDs either. No time/punchcards. What we only have are swipe cards to gain entry to the building. A few minutes after I signed the contract I was immediately introduced to the Vice-President (who knows everybody by their names). 2 days afterwards I was taken to a "New Person To Lunch" together with my team (8 of us) courtesy of the big boss. Another thing, everything is done via the computer including putting for a vacation leave.

I also remember an odd thing, during the course of the interview my direct report made a sales pitch about the company to me the applicant (like it's history, benefits and how good a company it was), totally unheard of in my experiences in the Philippines.

I must emphasize that I am still far from the position I was in the Philippines. I am still an entry-level. But I couldn't be happier. After all, right from the start I was prepared to even just walk the dogs for a living.

A Couple Of Addenda For Previous Entries

So You're Marrying An American: With regards to a fiance/spouse's credit history, please take note

"that the average american family is now carrying between $8,000 - $9,000 in credit card debts alone. We (the americans) owe more on our homes, cars, and education than any previous generation has."

-Jean Chatzky, Good Housekeeping Aug '05

Some Driving Breakthroughs. Check on my first entry on driving last April.

Oh Wow, Brown Cow

The Michigan Meet entry for August 8 had a recordbreaking 766 hits in 1 day. Darn, I should have gotten a counter. Thanks everyone for the comments, tags, PMs and just dropping by! Another reason why I shouldn't limit this blog to family/friends only mode.

Currently listening to: Rob Thomas' "Train"
Currently reading: Good Housekeeping Aug Issue
Currently watching: none