Where should an immigrant look for his first job in New York: the personal experience of a Russian

What is it like to come to New York, look for a job; what difficulties await you along the way? All this and not only was told in his blog by a Russian under the nickname PapaRoma227 on Pikabu. He recently moved to the United States and knows all this firsthand.

Next - from the first person.

In the USA, namely in New York, I arrived in November 2022 on a tourist visa, nothing unusual. Upon arrival, I immediately began to take out insurance, a bank card in BofA, and also look for a job.

As for work, there is none. How many YouTube bloggers have watched, that there is more than enough work in New York - moving, and construction, and a driver, and cell towers. As of March 2023, I declare: there are big problems with work. At a construction site, people are willing to work for $10 an hour, while the minimum rate is $15.

Drivers are hired with experience in the United States, they don’t even talk without experience, the moving average is overcrowded, servicing cell towers is also only with experience. For three weeks, by hook or by crook, I was looking for work - I called various Russian-language sites, wrote to bloggers, later I began to go around the nearest stores in search of a part-time job, and called everyone in the second round. The result - all the places are occupied, there is no work. And at the end of November, after the seventh handshake, I found a job at a construction site.

Construction work is, to put it mildly, not an easy one. Rest only from 12:00 - 12:40 during lunch, the remaining 7 hours you pick up something, wear it, shift it from place to place, wear it again, pick it up, etc.

But you also enjoy doing this. Not working in the USA is an expensive pleasure. I received $ 800 a week by check, $ 3200 came out a month. So I worked until the end of February 2023. I already decided to change jobs at the end of December.

In January, I began to apply for a driver's license - Driver's license (DL).

There are several options for working as a driver with a regular DL.

On the subject: A laptop is not a computer: 7 words that give out Russian-speaking immigrants in America

Car transportation. This job is a driver's license killer, you constantly encounter overloads. In some states, overloading is a crime. The guys try to go around the scales on the roads, but this does not always help, as the police, when stopping, sometimes “invite” them to the mobile scales or escort them to the stationary scales. In general, in our situations, when any fine can negatively affect further legalization, and here it is also easy to grab a crime, I do not recommend this type of activity at all. But when you sit without work in a foreign country, you go anywhere, closing your eyes to all the consequences.

box truck

It's like our gazelles.

How did I find this job? Returning from work, I saw that this truck was standing at the house and a guy was sitting in it. I approached and asked for his employer's phone number. We talked with him, it turned out that he was hiring drivers for the company. We agreed on a test. The next day, I drove around Brooklyn, everything suited everyone, shook hands, and began to introduce me into the ranks of drivers.

And here is my first trip from New York to Cleveland (Ohio). Distance 500 miles (804 km), plus another 40 (64 km) from home to boot. The load is light, about 200 kg.

How it all happens: the dispatcher throws off the order, indicating where, where, dates, weight. You arrive for loading, look for the Shipping sign, go up to the first person in the warehouse, show the order - that's all. Really everything.

The guys will upload, if they see that you are not strong in English, they will try to explain to you so that you understand, and you will understand. Everyone here is very friendly, that's true. It's not like we have in warehouses, where each guard turns on the "real master of fate" mode - he communicates with you as with a low-grade one. Where the loading dispatcher is generally the top of the hierarchy, he meets you with a look: “How did you even get here, lackey? You were supposed to perish on the 5th circle of the local hell.”

As for my activities in the Russian Federation, I had to deal with warehouses many times, there is something to compare with.

Roads

Judging by the enthusiastic reviews of bloggers, there should be roads like F1, but this is not so. The roadbed itself is about the same as in the Russian Federation, but the road system here is really good.

The oncoming traffic is separated, which relieves you of additional stress, the traffic is also small, there are no sharp turns, if you go at a speed of 100-120 km / h, then you enter the turn at the same speed. There are no permanent villages and villages on the road, you don’t have to constantly slow down, trudge 40-60 km / h, then again accelerate to 90. If you compare, it’s like a toll road in the Russian Federation.

Truck stops are gas stations where you can park, sleep over, take a shower (for gas station points or $16), have a laundry service - $3 laundry, $2 dry, drink coffee, eat, on the Pilot network, there is even a working computer to print, scan documents. Shower, toilet in good condition - this is not just a name, a really nice place to clean up.

The only point that I still can’t get used to is how to find gas stations without a navigator. In the Russian Federation, gas stations are located near the road, and you do not need to have 2 higher educations to get to them. In the US, there are signs that refueling / food will be at such and such a congress: you need to leave the main road at a certain exit number and look. Once I managed to do this without a navigator, and only because there was a huge Love's gas station billboard by the road, and I could see where it was. And so without a navigator is difficult.

In general, you do not get tired of the road so much. In the Russian Federation, for 8 hours on the way, I got more tired than here for 20. And you just need to get used to the American road logic.

Unloading

At the place of unloading, you look for a Receive sign or without a sign you go to the warehouse to the recipient, say I have delivery, show BoL, you are unloaded, signed - and that's it. Next, you send the signed document to the dispatcher, who sends it to the broker, if everything is OK, you receive the message Good to go! All.

Workflow. In the Russian Federation, a whole Talmud of documents is issued for the cargo: TN, TTN, some internal documents - and this is all in 2 copies at least. The driver must sign these documents in certain places, stamp them at the sender and recipient, and if where he missed the signature or seal, there will be problems with payment. In the US, everything is much simpler. One sheet of Bill of lading is issued, where the basic information is written, you sign it yourself, the sender and recipient - that's it.

Payment. To receive payment for the work done, you need to open a company. I am in the process of opening. The salary is transferred 2 times a month. My first month on the job is 75 cents a mile, my gas, or 45 cents a mile is clean. From the second month it will be 85 and 55 respectively.

Net income for the first 4 days of work (February 24-27) was $963,75.

The original column is published on the website. Pikabu.

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