What it’s Like to Job Search as a Black Immigrant Woman
new year, new job, who this?
At the start of the 2020, I was hoping for a “new year, new job, who this?” kind of situation. I had been on many interviews in 2019 (and prior), but my last interview for the year felt like a sure win, and the thing that would take me out of my very toxic working environment. Unfortunately one Wednesday morning, I decided to check my personal inbox, and saw a very generic e-mail from the place I had interviewed, stating that they went with someone “more qualified” for the role and would keep my application on file. Deep Sigh. I allowed myself to feel disappointed, and like previous times when this has happened, I picked myself up, brush myself off, and started looking for another job. I reflected on the interview process, where could I have gone wrong, and what could have done differently.
interviews and intersectionality
From 2017 – 2020 (time of writing this article) I have applied to over 100 jobs and have simply stopped counting. I have gone on over 50+ in person interviews, where in many cases I made it to the final round, only to be told that they went with the “other” candidate. On one very heart wrenching occasion, I was offered the job, with a start date and papers signed, only to have the process not go anywhere. I am sure that many people have gone through this situation and can agree that the job search process is stressful and a full-time job on its own. However, the job search process is even more tedious and complicated for me because of my intersectionality: I am a black immigrant woman.
The term intersectionality was coined by professor of law at Columbia University and the University of California, Kimberly Crenshaw. Intersectionality posits that individuals with two or more protected classes (e.g. race, gender, and national origin in my case) are affected by a number of discriminations and disadvantages. As a black immigrant woman, it does not mean that today I will experience racism and tomorrow I will experience xenophobia, it just so happens that the oppression I feel will show up differently for me than a black man or white woman and in some cases even other women of color. In the job search, I am a black woman. I am a black immigrant. Being an immigrant in this current political climate in the US can be challenging, however, being an immigrant on a working visa, these challenges exacerbate. Might I add for context, that being a person of color in this country at any time has its own major challenges as well.
There are many articles written on the job search experiences of black women, as well as women of color and their lessons learned along the way. Frankly, it takes women of color a longer time to get a job, be it that we are discriminated against because of our names, the color of our skin, or our hair, the cards always appear to be stacked up high against us. Despite being the most educated demographic in the US, black women on average earn $0.61 cents less than their white male and female counterparts, which is to every dollar earned, 39% less than white men and 21% less than white women. We have all been told by parents and grandparents, aunties and uncles, that we are to work twice as hard to be half as good as a mediocre white man. However, training and education won’t help solve the problem.
When it’s easy or possible to leave our current jobs, we have taken the bold step to ask for a promotion or salary increase that we rightly deserve, only to be rejected or watch the promotion go to someone less qualified both in education and experience than we are. At least 2-3 times a year, I have advocated for a salary increase - leveraging data from PayScale and Glassdoor - only to be met with responses like “if your salary is increased, then Karen (albeit white woman) with similar skills, experience and education as you, would also need an increase and the budget does not allow for two salary increases.” It’s been six months (time of writing) since I last asked for a salary increase and I am still waiting. So contrary to popular belief, women of color do ask for money, we just do not get what we ask for.
Getting and losing a job offer (again and again)
However, being a woman of color is not my only challenge. I am also an immigrant who is in the US on an H1-B visa. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as of 2018 there were 27.4 million (17.1% of the total labor force) the number of foreign-born or immigrant workers in the US. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), states that as many as 419,637 foreign-born workers are on an H-1B visa. The process of getting an H1-B visa can be challenging in its own right and for some immigrants this might get even stricter with the new laws enacted by the current administration. This process might provide some clarity as to why 100+ jobs applications later, I have yet to get another job, even after receiving my PhD 2 years ago.
First, with an H1-B specialty visa (cap-exempt), I am restricted to only applying to certain organizations (for example, government, non-profit, and higher ed) and cannot move from my current organization to a more industry-based organization. This was something that I did not know about until I received an offer from a for-profit organization and my visa was unable to transfer over. That news was crushing. When applying for jobs, I, like everyone else will be asked “are you legally authorized to work in the U.S?,” followed by “will you now or sometime in the future require sponsorship?” While a company is not required by law to sponsor a candidate, some companies have used this as a screening tool to weed out immigrant employees. Similarly, companies will put in their job postings that they will not be sponsoring now nor in the future. While this might be disheartening for an immigrant, especially one searching for a job within a specific framework, it can save time and energy in the long run. Nothing is worse than making it to the final round of the hiring process and realizing that the company does not sponsor immigrants.
Once, after I submitted an application and noted that I would require sponsorship, I made it to the final round of interviewing and an offer was subsequently extended. The HR person called me to ask about my immigrant status and apologized profusely stating that she missed this on my application, and that if she had known that I required sponsorship I would not have even been called in for an interview. This was not the first or last time that I made it to the finish line, only to be told that immigration and sponsorship would be the barrier to the position. At times, despite the great rapport between me and the hiring manager, I have even been ghosted after my immigration status was discussed.
lessons learned
Despite the struggles and how difficult job searching can be, I have learned a couple things along the way which I have used to motivate me and keep me sane:
Realize that it’s not you: This was the first step to me not internalizing the process and thinking that somehow I was the one with the problem. It is likely that companies do not know about the visa process and sponsorship and perhaps because it is expensive or they have been burnt in the past, there is a reluctance to sponsor. The best that you can do is to provide them with the relevant information that is necessary to make the decision. Ultimately, you can show up as the best candidate and won’t get the job, and you have to realize that this is okay too. You are not only in search of a job, but are looking for the right fit for you.
Find social support and self-care: I believe had it not been for my self care regimen and social support network, I would have felt burnt out a long time ago from all the applying. There are times when this feels like a heavy burden to carry and my mental health is affected. However, I can always count on my support system of family and friends to pull me out of the dark hole. Self- care for me can be simple as reading motivational books, scriptures, praying, resting, listening to music, podcasts, and tracking how far I have come in this life. Journaling has also helped me tremendously, as I have a space to really say what’s on my mind and to look back as see that everything in life is temporary and I should trust in my process.
Look for the learning opportunities: There are many things that I did not know when I started this process (e.g. I could not transfer my visa to a for-profit organization, even though this is ultimately where I want to be). Yet, now I am equipped to refine the process and focus on what I need to do to get a new job. For example, I can now zero in on the organizations that I can apply to and spend less time applying to organizations that are unable to sponsor me. This has helped save on time and reduce the burden of wasted energy. I can also use the information I have learned to share my story, and speak openly and candidly about the process with other black women and immigrants who are coming behind me.
Be open minded: If the job market isn’t working for you, it might be an opportunity to start your own business or use your adversity to propel you forward. As immigrants (and by extension people of color) we are known to be resilient and make something out of nothing. With an immigrant mindset we can see opportunity everywhere and are ready for anything. As a result of the immigrant mindset, research has shown that immigrants help businesses grow. A 2018 Forbes article indicated that 55% of American $1 billion startups had an immigrant founder. If you can’t find opportunities out there, make them for yourself.
Have a positive mindset: I have beaten up myself a number of times, but finally realized that there is no use in doing this. Instead of thinking “poor me”, I turned this into “why not me?”. Instead of “I will never get a job”, I turned it into, “I just need one person to say yes”, and “maybe that next opportunity will be the yes that I deserve.” Instead of “this was horrible and I did terribly”, I say, that “I put my best foot forward and did the best I could.” I believe that if a job doesn’t work out, it is because something better is out there for me. This process won’t be easy and the journey won’t be fun, but always remember why you started in the first place and keep fighting.
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