Tricky questions and psychology: why it is sometimes difficult for immigrants to get a job in America

Author of the channel "50 shades of New York" on the portal Zen.Yandex writes that sometimes it is not so easy for immigrants to find a job, despite their experience and skills. She tells the story of Yana, a Russian-speaking immigrant who was shocked by the questions asked by HR employees during job interviews.

Yana came to the USA almost 2 years ago and all this time she was looking for a job. Graduate of Moscow State University, graduated with honors from one of the Samara schools. With English, too, everything was in order, I could easily find a suitable job.

Purposeful and sociable immigrant knocked on the thresholds of large firms, but she was refused everywhere, sometimes without even explaining the reason.

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Yana passed the IQ test without any problems - her intellectual index was within the European norm. Questions asked on interview - that's what put the girl in a dead end. They were not too difficult for her, rather it was something else.

Paid interview

For example, in a world-famous company, she was offered a task for speed. They gave the scales and 8 multi-colored balls, one of which, according to the condition, was heavier than the others. It was required to determine this ball by making no more than two weighings.

“Yana explained that she began to act like all normal people - first she put 4 balls in bowls. The heavier group was divided into pairs and weighed again. Like it or not, again I had to choose from two balls, because all the possibilities were exhausted. Then I tried it differently - I weighed the balls in pairs. It was only at home that she realized that this was a good path, but not ideal. I will not reveal the way to solve this problem - at your leisure you can practice yourself or offer this puzzle to your friends, ”the author writes.

As a result, Yana was never hired, but was paid $50 for the time spent on the conversation. Yana is one of those people who just does not give up. She again tried to penetrate the coveted world and get a well-paid and interesting work. However, she received rejections one after another. Then the girl began to think that somehow she was behaving differently.

Questions to determine sexual orientation

Going to the next interview, on the advice of friends, she chose a low-key suit and changed her hairstyle. Yana even bought a new bag without the brand logo. However, this was clearly not the problem - at each meeting she was again asked tricky questions.

The HR manager of one of the firms asked her: “How much would you charge to clean all the windows in New York?” Yana immediately replied that 30 dollars per window would be enough. Her train of thought turned out to be correct, but she never understood how answering the question would help the employer determine that she was a competent employee.

According to Yana, she sometimes felt that the employee of the company sympathized with her. However, to get into the company, some special quality was required, perhaps natural ingenuity or enterprise.

The author spoke to a psychologist friend, wanting to find out what these tasks are, which are almost impossible for a normal person to solve.

The psychologist said that all employers want to know as much as possible about a newcomer. Tests show not only the intellectual level, but also sexual orientation, a tendency to antisocial behavior, and much more. Moreover, each company has its own methodology, and questions are developed by highly qualified specialists.