International Nurse Transition Support for a Spouse

Hi everybody and welcome it's Friday so it must be Connetics USA weekly show onwards and upwards. Everything that a healthcare worker needs to know about living and working in the United States. I am your host, Tanya Freedman, CEO of Connetics USA. And our topic today is, are in international nurse transition support for a spouse. This is a great topic. Every week we talk about the, the nurses journey or the med techs journey. But today we're giving time to the spouses very important part of the family. If you are interested in coming to the United States, please apply to Connetics USA international nursing agency and our team are waiting on hand to speak to you and see how we can make your American dream a reality. So we're going to start off now by welcoming our guests who are on our panel this morning. We have two spouses of RNs who are joining us this morning, and a little later in the show, we will be bringing in some experts. So please stay tuned and keep watching because we're going to talk to you all about the Aryan spouse experience, what it was like for them to come to the United States, what the process was of making the decision, their lives in the United States, how they found a job resumes, LinkedIn, job platforms. Lots, lots more to come. So I'd like to welcome now Judy, and Mark. Hi, Judy. Hi, Mark.

Hi, Tanya. Hi. Hi, welcome. Let's start off with introductions with ladies first, Judy, do you want to go ahead and introduce yourself? All right. Thank you, Tanya, for having us here. And my name is Judy Lopez and I'm a spouse of a US RN, Connetics nurse Mervyn Lopez. And we arrived here in the US last year, October. So we're going to celebrate our first year in America this coming 20 Oh, yesterday. Yeah, we celebrated yesterday. So fast time flies. And as Tanya said, like coming here in the US is a big decision is not only one partner, it should be both of you. Because it's a you know, a life changing decision. So as a spouse, so my husband, Marvin, and I decided to come to the US because of our children. They're growing up, they started to plan for their college or university. And yeah, here we are. And thank you for Connetics, for helping my for helping my husband, not only my husband, but for my husband, for me and our family to pursue our American gene hearing in the US.

Well, we are so excited to have you with us to be with us today, Judy. And thank you for sharing your story. I know it's so inspirational for so many families who are now sitting outside the United States, and wondering what is going to be like for them? Yes, it's really exciting. It's a big decision, but also very scary, can feel quite overwhelming, and very frustrating at times. Thank you for sharing. Mark, tell us a little bit about yourself. Yes, good morning. By the way, I'm Mark Francis Pablo, and I'm a grad, graduate of BSN in the Philippines. My wife is a US RN, her name is Mary Nora. And before arriving here, I work in the biggest pharmaceutical company there which is unilab for 17 years before I migrated here, the US with my family. Suppose we supposedly wanted to migrate here in 2005. But our papers were on hold because of the retrogression. So we just got our call on 2014. But my wife decided not to move here. But due to an incident in 2013, where we live in the Philippines, there was the same one the CDC, where the rebels burned down the city, it made our decision to migrate here. That's the reason also that we push our move here in the United States. And that's what Judy said. It's like a team. You have to talk about it before moving here. And we decided to come here and we're here right now.

Okay, so we excited to have you here Mark to share your experience. Obviously, you've been here for longer than Judy has. So I think that will be an interesting perspective to be able to share with everybody who's watching around the world. And just thinking as you were talking Mark about an incident that happened that kind of galvanized you and your family into moving to the US. I had a similar experience. For those of you many of you might know I was an immigrant myself. I came here 22 years ago from South Africa. And my husband was carjacked in South Africa. My kids were little and he had a gun to his head. And it was a very scary experience. Yes, and that was the most it was actually a moment in my life. I remember it like it was yesterday, when I made that decision. This is it, we need to get our kids out of here and we need to look for a better future. So it's interesting how many immigrants come to the United States for different reasons. And then a lot of the times it's similar reasons that make this such a great opportunity for so many people around the world. Please, everybody stay on until the end of the show, because we'll be announcing the winner of the aisles, competition. We have as the Connetics care package, we pay for the English course for all of our Connetics nurses.

And every month we have a raffle we have we have one lucky winner that will receive the English exam paid for by Connetics USA. So please wait till the end of the show. To find out if your name was picked, if you are a Connetics nurse, and Connetics will be paying for your English exam. All right, I'd like to welcome all the viewers around the world that are watching. It's so fun to watch the chat. Please, if you're watching today, put in put into the chat where you are, what your name is and where you're watching from. So we have Alexis Lavanya, who's saying Hi, good morning, Noah saying hello Xavi, saying hello. And services. I'm looking graceful. So thank you for that. So please, if you have your questions for the RN spouses, please put them into the chat. We have a lot of things that we're going to be covering today. And we'd love your participation wherever you are in the world. All right. So we spoke both Judy and Mark spoke a little bit about decision making. Can you tell us, Judy, was there like a moment where you decided you and your husband to come to the United States?

Well, at first I knew we didn't have that quick decision to go to the US because we know that it was a long process. So there's a lot there was a lot of preparation that has to be made. And the first thing that I remember, I remember that my husband was encouraged to apply or to take the NCLEX because of the visibility and it becomes much faster at the time. So he took the NCLEX exam 2019. And at first, he was having a hard time to pass his IELTS exam. So what I did, I supported him and I told him, oh, that's fine. If you didn't get it, then you can take another exam. And finally he got it. So he passes aisles and the time he started to apply for Connetics. And my kids as well. When we had this decision Tanya and more. It's not only me and my husband, but also my children. They're also involved in this and they're so excited actually. And at first they wanted to go to another country to take to study abroad. But then the plan I mean, this is the God's plan in our family is for us to come to the US altogether. And now here we are Mikey's have started to have their own carrier here in the US. My daughter is studying on nursing in University of Memphis here in Tennessee, and my youngest son is already entered the Air Force and starting his career there. So everything that happened in one year that we're here in the US, it's all like worth it like it's life changing. It is truly American dream is to be in a greener pasture opportunities here in the US is unlimited. So I keep on Slack is telling the nurses and their spouses to encourage them to pursue their American dream is not only for them, but for the future of their children.

Thank you, Judy. Well, that truly is an inspirational story. And I love how your daughter's becoming a nurse. So paying it forward to the community. And you know, your son's career is really so amazing and awesome. So I'm sure you can feel very proud. I know we had some pictures up of your experience in the United States so far. Are there any shout outs on those pictures that you want to share about your experience to all the viewers that are around the world? Oh, yeah. So this is to inspire every nurses coming here in the US. So we celebrated our one year here in the US yesterday. And I'm so happy and grateful to announce that we are now officially a home owner here in Tennessee. So we already closed our house, our new home, first home in the US last end of September. And we are now preparing to move in so who could believe that time you're in? It's in the span of one year like there's a lot of things here opinions are family. And this is something that the hard work of me and my husband paid off. Like, you can see what you really work for. And yeah, I keep on telling the nurses that they are so blessed, because they're coming here as an immigrant, when you see immigrants legality, they can work. Their dependents can work like me, I can, I'm working legally here in the US, my children are studying. And they're enjoying that, you know, the privilege of being a green card holder. And that's what I keep on telling them, they are so blessed. And they are so lucky to be an RN, here in the US and people here. They have a high respect with the nurses. They're very thankful with their service in the community.

Yeah, so it really is such a great success story, Judy, that you are showing to everybody watching around the world. And I know you're inspiring so many nurses right now and their families who can see themselves through your eyes and what you've lived through in the last year, and are hopeful that that can happen to them as well. As you said, when an RN, because RNs are scheduled a they will get the green card, the immigrant petition, and then the families the spouse gets the green card, which means that much, much easier to find a job. Mark, in your experience, was it a different experience to what Judy spoken about? Was the whole family on board when you decided to make the move? Because sometimes that can be difficult, you know, sometimes a spouse 111 husband wants to go and the wife doesn't want to go or the kids want to go or they don't want to go? What was that like for you?

Well, what's happened to us is that since 2005, we were put on hold. I was doing good in my work in the Philippines as a medical representative. So financially, I was able to support my family during that time. And my wife already decided not to go here. But as what I told before that when we experienced the war in the city, where we live in in the southern part of the Philippines, that triggered us to decide to come here. And I was telling my wife that I'm willing to sacrifice everything to start over here just to come here in the United States. And we ask our son, if he wants to come here. And he really wants to come here that so when we decided to come here he was the one very happy when we arrived because he loves to watch usually movies and series in the weather in the Philippines. And the first thing he wants to do this right the school bus. We were happy. When I when we arrived here I was really decided she was asking me Are you ready to throw away everything that you have there in the Philippines, your friends, your family, your work, because she knows that my work there was good. And I told her Yeah, I am. I'm willing to sacrifice everything just to be here.

And in fact, after we arrived here in 2015, after 2020, we became US citizens. And my son right now he graduated with two diplomas, one for the regular high school and one for the International Baccalaureate program that which is being given here in the United States. And he's right now a scholar in the University of Southern Florida, where he is taking up cybersecurity. And as you see my picture here with that's our oath taking ceremony there with my wife in 2020. And it was during the pandemic during the USCIS, and we have also went to a couple of states already here as you see in the pictures we I've been to since I'm in Florida. I'm a Star Wars fan. So I take them both with Chewbacca. And Chris is we went around to check campuses. That's Florida State University and the other is we are in and I these are pictures during my work here. I was a CNA instructor and I work in a nursing facility when I was new here as a housekeeping because the place that we were assigned before because I thought Florida was beaches but we were assigned to a town with a population of 3000 and all I see is ranches and horses. Really Okay, so while we can see it it's it sounds like the sacrifices were differently. Definitely worth it.

And especially I'm sure As you were standing there, getting your US citizenship, I can imagine a very proud and emotional moment, because there's a roller coaster of emotions that get you on a roller coaster of experiences that get you to that point. But it sounds like there were a lot of sacrifices because you were established in your home country. Okay, so and so we have a lot of people joining us we've, I see we've got Safford from Pakistan revenue from Libya. 1010 is asking about the Social Security application so 1010 When you apply for a green card at the DSD 60, which is one of the milestones that is when you will apply for the social security number and you will get that when you come to the United States when you get your green card as an RN, and spouse of an RN. Glorious I'm a nurse watching from the UK welcome glory. Alfonso from Gambia, Nancy from Philippines in Mecca Peter from Nigeria make from Philippines. First Zaba.

I hope I got that right from Kenya. Lori's asking how can I join Connetics to prepare for my NCLEX during we'd love you to join and live your American dream like Judy and Mark, please apply to Connetics USA forward slash application, our team are waiting to speak to you. If you have not yet passed your NCLEX exam, now's the time to do it. It is next generation NCLEX coming up in the beginning of April next year. So now is the time ready to get your NCLEX done. And you might even qualify for the Connetics scholarship. So Mark and Judy, and when you came to the United States, Mark, you came to Florida and duty to Tennessee wasn't what you expected. Mark, you said that you expected peaches. And it wasn't really that. Tell us a little bit about that?

Well, when we arrived here first because we played in through Tampa International Airport. So when I went out I saw because it's near clear waters and wow. This is it. Its beaches and everything I said, I saw the buildings and everything. But when we were being drive driven to the place where we're going to be staying. I was wondering, why is it we're going like to the inside a lot of trees, forest and ranches already. And you're getting nervous. That's what in my wife is asking that. When we arrive to the place where we been assigned. It's called this the town is Inverness. It's a population of 3000. And we were really shocked about it because it's so laid back. There's no buildings, there's no you will only see houses. And it's like a typical us town where there's a few places to go. So we really, for the first few weeks, few months, we were really trying to establish and struggle a little bit, but my son was so happy because he was very excited to go to school and meet new people, classmates. In fact, he only made a month in grade five, and he already graduated and march to a move up ceremony go in order to go to medical school.

So it was really, but it was really hard for me. But when we finished after the year, we moved to Wesley Chapel here near Tampa, that's where we really like because it's like a suburb, and it's near Tampa. So it was a very good experience for me and for my wife. And we learned a lot when we were staying in that place. And move right now where we are where we bought our house. This is where I think we're gonna stay until you retire. So this is where you're going to settle. So what advice would you have for a family when they come to a place that that is surprising? Maybe they didn't expect? I need the advice that I tell them that they have to be just be patient and try to observe the surroundings and not make it you know the expectations too to be too high. Then try to adjust and try to mingle and check the place because sometimes first there's always the impression What is this but when we were there in that town they said it was great. It was also a good place to stay. Because if you want to raise a family it's so peaceful. There's no the school system is good And the cost of living you could save, because everything is if you compared it living in the city, it's quite expensive. But I just usually when I meet also new couples, I always tell them, It's okay to be here.

Just be patient and just stay with your family and try to mingle with other people there as what I did. That's why I was able to found a job there, even though it was not the job that I liked. But I told to myself, I don't want to complain anymore, because I'm doing this for my family. And I want to support my wife, because that's what we did when we arrived here. I told her that we need to be as a team, because what if one of you will not be? Because I've seen other couples that they're not doing? Okay. That's why I'm telling all the fanatics nerds that are coming in that you have, you have to be a team in order to come here and support each other. That's the best thing that you have to do.

Yeah, I think that's really good advice. Because the marriage can be affected. A lot of marriages can be affected by immigration. It's something maybe that people don't really talk about. And I think having I think that's really good advice mark is trying to be supportive, trying to be a team. And also to know that in the beginning, you might have to make sacrifices, you might not get the job, for example, like Mark was very established in the Philippines, he was earning a great living, supporting his family and then had to come to America and take a job. That wasn't his ideal job. But knowing that maybe it's just a stepping stone. You know, it's a it's a means to get you to the end of where you are today. And it takes time. Judy, were there any surprises or things that you didn't expect from your side as the spouse of an RN when you arrived in Tennessee?

I'm not that much then yeah, because before we came here in Memphis, we did a lot of research, we do the Street View through Google, about those particular places. And living in Kuwait for five years, we already had this experience of migrating to another country. But expecting that we're going to be in the US for the rest of our lives, it's kind of you can feel the tension at the airport, when we're coming here. My keys were so quiet, my husband, we're just looking at each other. And I told my kids just feel like we're going on vacation. And so when we came here, it was October, the weather is kind of cold, compared to Middle East in Kuwait when we came from, and that's the first thing that we adjusted when we arrived here. And, but surprisingly, it was a mix of feelings like we are all excited, tense, nervous. And, and also happy to start a new life. And surprisingly, Tanya, my kids love it here in Memphis, because they love nature. And that is something that I really appreciate in the US. Like, in everywhere you go, there's a huge park where you can, you know, enjoy the nature, a lot of outdoor activities that you and your family can enjoy. We really appreciate this, this places and going, the first thing that we big challenge to you when we arrived here is actually driving. When we were in Kuwait, we have this service going to and from work going back home, my husband also has transport so we didn't, there's no need to have a car. But then when we arrived here in the US driving is a necessity. And you know what, this is the first time that I drive. And four of us got our driver's license after six months here in the US and we purchased our car, my keys are driving my husband's driving as well. So I really advice to the nurses coming here is for them to practice driving before they arrive here in the US because that is one of the challenges that they're going to face when they arrive here.

Yeah, those are definitely words of wisdom, Judy, because driving can when it's been a lot of challenges, but it definitely can be one of the challenges. And I love the fact that you have done a lot of research. So I think that's also a good tip for anyone who's coming to the United States is do your research before you get here so that you know more or less what to expect. And the other thing that I think was really valuable that you mentioned, Judy was looking for the positives, because we've seen over the years 1000s of nodes Since come to the United States, 1000s of spouses and families come to the United States, and those nurses who have a positive attitude, and are looking for the positive looking for, I love nature, I'm going to do that, or I'm going to learn this new skill of driving, rather than seeing it as a negative of the ones that settle easier. Because culture shock is really, it's a real thing. It's a well documented phenomenon. And it takes a while to be able to make that adjustment. Okay. And so we're going to move now on to talking about finding a job specifically. And we're going to bring in some of our experts, who are going to be talking a little bit more about how to search for a job, how to put together a resume, how to use LinkedIn, how to interview for a job. So lots to unpack in the second half of the show. And we're going to be bringing in now and Miata. Welcome Miata and Richard. Hey, Miata. And Richard, welcome to the show.

Hello, thank you for having us. Thank you, I think Miata and Richard if you want to maybe start off and just tell our viewers a little bit about yourself, Jada, let's start with you. Sure. Well, my name is Miatta Weisel. And I am the CEO of resume recruit. We have an office here in Savannah, Georgia. And we basically provide a resume writing and professional development services for individual job seekers. We also work in partnership with some staffing agencies as well, to be able to serve as their client needs as well. So later in the show, I can talk to you a little bit more about the services that we offer, and also some insights and tips about looking for jobs and navigating the professional landscape. And of course, what it is that you need to know to become successful working in this job market. Thank you, Miatta. So we excited to have you on the show. As expert advice is going to be coming from Jada on lots of different topics. As we said, resumes interviews, were one of the platforms to use when you search for a job, it can be very different. And if you are like Mark, where you were doing one job overseas, and Judy, as well, and then landed up doing something totally different in the United States, it's hard to know where to where to start and how to learn how to navigate the workforce in the United States, because it can be very different from the home country. Richard, do you want to go ahead and introduce yourself? Richard, you unmute. Richard, you want me? Sorry, sorry. Apologize, everybody.

Good morning. Thanks for joining the show. My name is Richard. I am the senior onboarding specialist here at Connetics I've been with Tanya for over a year. Half of that was as an IT recruiter. So I think that's why she brought me on to share some insights with you. Thank you. So Richard has worked with 1000s of nurses, Connetics abroad 1000s of nurses over the years. And he also has a background and doing it recruitment. But more specifically as a lot of insight knowing about what it's like for spouses coming to the United States, and how difficult it can be to make that transition of finding a job here, when you don't know how things work. And just to share with everybody also who's watching, we have our circle of support. This is how Connetics work. And you can see this on our website, these are all the different ways that Connetics USA, surround the nurses and their families with support to set them up for success. I'm not going to go through this in detail just to point out one or two different areas is we have at the bottom of the circle, you'll see spousal support programs. So this is where today's show comes in. These are all the tools that our onboarding specialists use to help spouses to find jobs so that they can become financially stable and live the American dream as well as the health care workers that they married to.

And please check out our website Connetics, USA to find out more about the circle of support and how we, how we help healthcare workers and their families when they come to the United States. Okay, so let's talk a little bit about finding a job. And both Mark and Judy had shared in the beginning part of the show that they were working in their home countries and came to the United States and landed up working in different areas, which can be very scary and overwhelming when you need to support a family. And you don't know how things work. Yeah. And so in terms of resumes, and Judy and Mark, did you have a resume when you came to the United States? Judy, um, I had already a prepared resume. In fact, I already have the indeed account when I transferred or moving to equate phi years ago. This is the platform that I used to find a job in Kuwait, the teaching job, I'm a teacher by profession. And that is also, when we came here in the US, I already had this prepared resume. Because that's my first plan is actually to for a job hunting, so looking for a job. And yeah, before I came here, I received already offers from different schools. I was quite nervous at the time. Because the transition also to landed in a new job in America, it's like overwhelming, but then eventually, I came up into have a landed a job with Connetics, helping, you know, nurses coming here. And I, I am really fascinated, because we've been there, we're immigrant ourselves. And I felt like having a job as an onboarding specialist is not only like, your having your daytime job, but it's a kind of fulfillment for me to help. Also, those nurses and spouses coming here, because we know the situation, we've been there and I felt like the signup job will help them a lot. And I couldn't help them also give them support when they come here.

Okay, so for you, Judy, it was probably it seems like it was actually a surprise to land up in a position that you didn't expect, but actually very fulfilling, because you are going to be coming as a teacher. Yes, exactly. Tanya, and my advice. Also, Tanya is just like what Mark did? Um, do not, you have to have an open mind, like you don't focus on the position that you want to apply? It really depends on the availability and the place, and also something that will make you happy. I think that's very, very important. Yeah, definitely something that makes you happy and also earns money, because it's important, especially if you come with limited finances in the beginning to become financially stable and have two incomes. And Mark, can you share with the viewers? Did you have a resume? And did you have an idea in your head of what you wanted to do? Because I know you've mentioned that it was different, you ended up initially doing something totally different.

Technically, first, I didn't make any rational me because when we arrived here, my wife told me that I should focus first in establishing our situation while I was the one doing everything, errands and taking care of our son while she was the one working because he told me that you work for 17 years. So you could have a little rest for a moment just to help the errands here in the house. But after a few months, I decided to apply. I made the resume is I just made resume when I was I was using the library in in the county where we was there was a computer there. So I hope I connected to the link like indeed and other application sites. But most of the jobs were outside the place where we're staying. So I decided to look around the area. And I ended up working as I told you my first was doing the housekeeping even though my wife was not happy about it. Because she said she feels bad for me because I do the kind of work where we're the ones in the Philippines because my work there is more on doing promoting. And when we transferred to another county, which is right in our living that's the time I was able to find a job as a CNA instructor because I went to school there.

And the owner told me, why don't you teach CNA here because I have a background because I was a nurse myself, but I didn't practice it in the Philippines. Then as I was doing CNA instructor I decided to look for another job. And I met a friend of mine in Orlando and he said, Why don't you try case management? And I said, Okay, so when I applied in their company, I was able to get inside and I worked as a case management. That's the first time I didn't work from home where I was doing remote work, and it's new for me, but I got adjusted is very fast. Then I met Bom when we moved here in the community and he told me Do you want to try onboarding? And I said, What's that? And he explained to me the process. And I decided okay, I'm gonna Try it. So I ended up here right now. And I really love it because it's, it's  related to my work in the Philippines where I keep on helping people, and talking to people and promoting like I do right now promoting Connetics and helping nurses coming here. Because I've seen the process where when you come here, you don't have anything, nobody's helping you.

No, no onboarding, no, everything, we there's no sign, my wife has no signing bonus, he just came here. We, we paid all the NCLEX, the fees, everything. And we were just given three days in the temporary housing, and we need to find a permanent housing as soon as possible. So that's why I always share my experience to the nurses that are coming in that you have to be very, you're happy, you're there. So lucky that Connetics is helping you establishing here because if you're doing if you what happened to my family during those times, if you're not physically emotionally ready, you're gonna decide sometimes to Why did we come here? Like, question like that. So it's just, you have to be patient. And I in my I don't know, because in my part, I'm my wife said, I'm the one that's anchoring, because there are times that my wife is also experienced she, there was a time that she wanted to come back to the Philippines, because she's not happier. And I told her, No, we have to give it a try. And she was happy that I was the one pushing her to be positive. And right now she's very happy because we're here we have our house, our sons are on college. That's why when I talk to the Connetics nurses, I always share them that your spouse's, they have to be also supportive of you and support them what even what job they could get. So it's just temporarily because as time goes by, they could find a real job related to their work experience where they came from.

Yeah, yeah, I think that's so valuable. So important, what you've just shared, sometimes, the spouse, sometimes the nurse, sometimes the spouse, and was the nurse has to be the supportive one and the anchor, as you put it, I think that's a great word to use. Because it's not always a straight line. You know, sometimes we find nurses will come here, and they will, they're an accountant, and they find an accounting job or their teacher and they find a teaching job, or they, you know, it's kind of like a straight line. But very often, it's a journey, which Mark is as just described, where you start off in one job in your home country, and you come here, and as a spouse, it's not easy, you know, you kind of lose your identity a little bit where you are the breadwinner, and then you come here, and you have to do another job, or you go into a remote town, and you have to find a position that you didn't ever expect to be doing. Richard, what would you say are some of the biggest mistakes that you see spouses make in terms of the resume? Specifically?

Good question, Tanya. Good question, specifically, and I wish I could share my resume. But that's gonna be for another day, I see that. I have noticed, shall we say that, you know, resume formats are different all the way around the world. So the key thing I would advocate is for newly arrived spouses. First of all, talk to me so I can help you. Secondly, I wouldn't be sharing with you the actual formatting that is expected here in the United States. I think that's a key stumbling block. It's not something that you would expect, coming from another culture, but it is relevant here. And so just the presentation is really critical. I think that is, you know, the number one stumbling block to overcome, which can easily be done. And that's why I enjoy working with our spouses. I mean, I, you know, I've advocated for years that I thought that overlooking spouses is overlooking half of the equation. So we need to bring them into the into the loop. And, you know, helping them get started professionally in a new country is challenging, but also exciting. And I like working with people such that you know, you just start with a basic, let's get the format right for the resume. Then from there, we can start our job search. Then from there, we can start networking, we can go on to the online platforms, we can go on to LinkedIn, it is a process. And, you know, like I was mentioned earlier, it is not a straight line. My family are communist refugees from Cuba. My grandfather was a well to do business owner and when he got here, he was a janitor. He had to support the family and that's just what you have to do. But, you know, it's my pleasure, great pleasure working with the international spouses and trying to get them started career wise here in the United States. I enjoy it and it's A, it's challenging, and it might not be a straight line. But I'm here to help you for sure.

Thank you, Richard. And I'm just sitting here thinking, I'm just looking at Mark, Judy and Richard and thinking, I feel really proud that we have onboarding specialists that have lived this journey of immigration in their families that might be immediate or past generations, and have such passion and kindness, and thoughtfulness in trying to help the whole family. The other, there are some very different things about how they start with a resume, the resume is formatted in the United States. Can you share with everybody who's watching today, Richard, you know, spoke very briefly about the fact that just the format looks different. Can you talk about what's expected in a US resume, and I know you've got a few graphics as well as you as you're talking? Well, absolutely,

you know, one of the things that we have to understand is that in countries outside of the United States, individuals tend to put on personal aspects of their background. And here in the US, that's definitely one of the things that we will take off the resume. So things like your marital status, your hobbies, if they're not related to your current position that you are applying for. And, of course, the formatting, the font has to be very, very streamlined. One of the big things that we've kind of moved into right now is making sure that your resume is ATS compliant. And you'll hear about it all the time. And what that really means is because we've moved into this age of technology, is that a lot of companies have a resume tracking system, it's, you know, no more going to, you know, emailing the human resources department, and, you know, being able to email a manager directly, a lot of companies have streamlined that. So one of the most important thing is stating the position you are applying for having a really strong and solid introduction, right. But the introduction, again, is not a job description. It's about your core competencies, meaning what are your strongest strengths, your qualifications, and how you can embed them into the organization, or the company that you are applying for.

So resumes are very technical. A lot of people think they can do them on their own. Some have tried, some have failed. But it's really because of the industry that we are in now, when it comes to technology, and how recruiters are sourcing resumes, that it's really important to think like a recruiter. And it's really important to make sure that your resume embodies the job that you're applying for. One of the things I always tell my clients is that if you're interested in applying for a job, number one, be flexible. Because there there's an abundance of positions available. And each company will call one position, so many different names. And I can go into the back end of that. But that becomes a longer a longer story, of course. And to keep it short, just to say that if you're creating a resume for a specific job or specific industry, it's really important for you as an individual to do your due diligence, right? And by that I really mean doing industry research, what are the key words that these individuals or these companies are using to highlight on their job description, find those key words and embed them into your resume, look at multiple jobs that might be called the same thing and see what the differences are.

Because of the plethora of positions that are available, it's going to be hard to kind of stand out. And if you're not doing what's important to help stand out, then of course, you know, you want to focus on areas that you can help build onto your resume. So you're not writing a resume based upon or basically writing a resume based upon the job description that you've held in the past. You're creating a narrative, you're creating a story, you need to quantify and this is one of the areas that I think a lot of individuals don't really think about is employers nowadays want to see quantifiable data. And that basically means is show me the numbers. Let me understand what impact you made at your current position. Because numbers necessarily numbers really help kind of give a bigger and clearer picture, as opposed to say I managed a team. But if you say I managed a team of 40 individuals, that kind of gives more of an impact to that recruiter to or hiring manager to get a better sense of, you know, what your level of qualification is, and what impact you can bring into that organization. But of course, you know, there are many different ways to format resumes based upon On your experience, if you've had no experience, if you're coming back from, you know, hiatus, having been in the workforce for so many years, and that's where resume recruit comes in, we help you navigate that we have a conversation with you to really help build that story. And to basically create a narrative that you can present and help, you know, help your job search.

Okay, so some very, very important and interesting tips there, Miata that maybe most immigrants don't really think about. You know, I think Richard mentioned how when, when somebody comes here from the United States, they different formats, they're different things. Like, for example, in South Africa, where I come from, you would put your first job you've ever had first, whereas in the United States, you put your most current job first. So there can be some formatting differences. But I think interesting, where you spoke speak about creating that narrative, because that's kind of a different way for many immigrants to think about a resume, whereas most people would think of it like, you're just putting down the jobs, you're just putting down your, your history. And if we put up that we have a graphic of a sample resume. And, and I'm just thinking, Richard, I know it's a little small here, but can you maybe see if you can point out some of the differences that you've seen that international spouses have and what we see here as kind of a template of what people should be doing.

Cause even though my glass is pretty small, okay. Small, so me automate your resume. And apologize. That's okay. What can you maybe you highlight for everybody, just some of the things here that because I think sometimes when it's visual, it's just easier to kind of get the point of what you were just elaborating on. All right. So this is very small, I do apologize for this small tech. But this, this resume was created to kind of give individual jobseekers just in that a different glance of what a combination resume might look like. And again, here in the US, we have different formats, you know, we have a functional, we have a combination. And again, it really just depends on your background. It depends on if there are gaps in your resume, that you have to kind of hide those gaps or sort of change the angle in which someone looks at your resume. I think that's the better way to phrase that. So it really depends on what you're trying to do when it comes to creating this resume. And one of the things that I wanted to mention is the first three bullets of the Well, the first part of the resume indicates the position that you were applying for. And I believe this wouldn't say program manager workforce development, right. So that's somebody who's worked in the educational landscape.

And then the three bullets underneath that kind of dive a little bit deeper about that individual's experience, and what they brought to the table within their years of experience, and also rounds out how many years of experience they've had, in terms of the capacity of years of experience they've had within that specific position. Below that has the technical skills, the competencies, the technical skills that you would use within that space, working in education, there are so many different technical, technical skills that you would need, whether it's working with Blackboard, whether it's working with campus view, whatever the case might be, you want to highlight that as well. Whether it's working with Google Suite, MS, Windows, Mac, whatever the case might be. And underneath that other core competencies, the core competencies that illustrate this individuals skill set their strength, do they have an expertise working or collaborating with multiple departments on a campus or in a university setting? Do they have experience writing, you know, grant writing? Do they have experience, you know, generating analytical reports, whatever the case might be, you want to focus on streamlining your most important core competencies relevant to your experience.

Now, this individual had different areas that they worked in, over a course of 13 years. And one thing that you have to mention is resumes are no longer four pages. It literally takes 15 seconds and this was you know, not only a few years ago, 15 to 30 seconds for a recruiter to go over your resume. The first part of it is going through the ATS tracking resume tracking system. The second layer is going through the recruiter which is about 1530 seconds. And then the third layer is probably in the hands of the hiring manager who might just want to look at your cover letter, because the recruiter has already dug deeper He has given the green light to go ahead and move forward with that candidate. So you know, and the cover letter, again is something we have talked about. But that's also really, really important. And I always recommend, if you have the opportunity to, to get a cover letter in there, that's going to set you apart from a lot of other individuals as well. So this individual, because they'd had so many years of similarly aligned experiences, they wanted to kind of show their areas of strength within those specific areas. And that's how we came about creating this resume. And of course, you know, we don't, we don't put the education and the certifications at the front of the resume anymore, especially if you've had, you know, 10 plus years of experience, 13 years of experience 20 plus years of experience working in that industry, that's kind of you know, that's the ladder of information. But if you're a new grad, of course, you definitely want to highlight your most recent achievements at the top front of your resume as well.

Okay, so a lot of information there to unpack a lot of kind of like technical things that people need to know that you really can't know, on your own unless you've done your homework or you work with a company like resume recruiter, highly reputable company that can help guide you through that process. And we're going to put that sample resume into the chat, so that I know it was a little small for people to see so that people can see and a little bit more detail about what a format should actually look for. And Judy, Mark Richard as onboarding specialists, if you have a candidate who is a spouse who has a skill set that they are not going to be able to use in the United States. So for example, I'm just thinking as I'm speaking, we were in the Philippines recently, and I was speaking to a nurse and her husband is a seafarer. He works on in on boats and ships. And there really isn't that kind of job in the United States. What kind of advice would you give to someone putting together their resume if that job doesn't exist? Or maybe there isn't a maybe they like Marco to a town of 3000 people, and maybe the job that they were doing in their home country just doesn't? You know, it doesn't mean this. Richard, you're nodding your head. Well,

first of all, we have seafarers. We have Merchant Marines. So that's it. That's an excellent question. What I would advise as a recruiter would be to summarize the skill that they use, let's just say and see very, okay, let's just say you're a captain of a Fisher's fishing boat, maybe, well, what are those skill sets? And now how can we tie them together and present them in a way that is not specific to being a sea captain? I have excellent organizational skill. I know, you know how to run a team, I know how to organize all the parts that had to come together to make that boat operate every day. So I mean, that's a fun challenge, because I would take that individual and obviously you have a long discussion, and then portray those skills. Great. No matter is more conveyable to other roles in other industries. I think that can easily be done. Well, perhaps not usually it would be. But that would definitely be a fun one.

That will be a fun one. Okay, good. So it's really highlighting those things like me, I just said, Were you looking for skill sets that you've got in your, in your, in your past in your in your resume and your background? And then seeing how that can be translated to creating the narrative. As Miata said, Could you add anything to add to what Richard has said about helping a spouse if maybe they specific job type doesn't exist in the United States. I mean, the Seafarer does exist, of course, as Richard said, but I'm just you know, just taking an example of something where maybe they're not going to be doing exactly what they did in in their home country, Judy, also nodding, what else when anything else to add, um, Danny, the good thing about Melody's Levana healthcare is that they are willing to also provide jobs for the spouses who are not RNs. So in the hospital facility, they also have some openings for spouses. And when I talked to Don and Nicky, all they have to do is to send their resume to the facility. So I encourage them to do that if they want to others, they also advise them to, you know, to widen their networking, like their network.

We have the PDP Nursing Association of Memphis, who knows a lot of companies or a potential, you know, employer who, accepting applicants, and also just like what Richard said a while ago, it's not the particular job that you had before, and you're looking forward to apply here in America but the skills that you can have apply to the new job opportunity that you are applying for your good organizational skills, your computer skills, if you if you well known about machines if you are a chef, so there's a lot of skills that you can use and put on your resume for applying to a particular position. So here I advise the spouses to look for a job that can you know that they can have the, the opportunity to, how can I say that Tanya, the thing is, most of the spouses here, this is what I recently experienced, they looking for a part time job, a job that they can attend steel with their children, because their nursing spouse are working full time. So they're looking for a job that they can, you know, manage their time looking after the kids and at the same time, they can earn money to support the family. So there's a lot of job opportunities in every state only have to do is to prepare a very effective resume, look for flatforms widen your network, know people with no school. And I think that's just the first the basic thing that you should do when you're looking for a job.

Okay, so I also got a lot of good advice there. And some very practical things like widening your network, or just having an open mind when you look at the hospital system or the long term care facility, wherever your spouse that the healthcare workers working. It's just looking at other opportunities there and having a broadening your mind. And as the artist is creating that narrative, as Richard has said, looking for those skill sets that you might have that might match that particular job. And I see we have a lot of people that have put into the chat where they're watching from. And so just a quick shout out to and fat Sava from Kenya make from the Philippines. I said the Mecca from Nigeria, and glory is, as I've mentioned already, and if you are looking to write your NCLEX, everybody, please make sure that you apply right now there is next generation NCLEX. We did a whole show about this about two weeks ago, which is coming in in April 2023. It's going to become more difficult, unfortunately. So if you are interested in coming to the United States, please prepare for your NCLEX and apply to Connetics, you might be eligible for our scholarship. We have lots more people from all over the world. Lovely. Hi, Jessica from Canada Tsujita prudence from Zimbabwe, and yet my home country, South Africa was reeling from Turkey Tsujita, India, the waste from Saudi Arabia. So thank you, everybody, for watching all over the world. Mark, do you have any final words of advice for because I'm just looking at the clock, we're almost at the hour of the first part of our series, and helping spouses because we're going to be back for the second part. And Mark, do you have any final words of advice for spouses of our ends, looking for a job?

Well, I think almost Richard and Judy already said all those things that regarding they have to broaden their skills aside from the skill set that they have. One advice is the I could only give one advice to the one spouses is you have to swallow your pride. That's the best advice I have and be very adaptive to your surroundings. Because it will not be your comfort zone. That's what I'm telling all the nurses coming in here with their spouses, because I have experienced that. Like, when I was there, one spouse, he went back to the Philippines because he could not do anything here because he wants to be a manager. So if you keep on harping on your skill set, and if you could find it here, it will be very, it will be really hard for you when you're here in the United States. So I only advice to the nurses, especially to their spouses is keep an open mind. Be patient. And even though you're going to get a job, and if you're not happy about it, just you know, build up your skill set. And if there's an opportunity regarding your skills, opening in this area where you're you are, then grab it and if they're gonna hire you, that's it. But that's what I'm telling everybody when they come here, you have to because some spouses, I know pride sometimes is a burden. So I tell all the nurses that they have to be they have to talk to each other all the time, and be supportive. Even though the job example the that is not the one the light, I always tell their counterpart, the nurses, the spouse, or the nurse that support your spouse, if that's the job there. That's the only advice I could give for the nurses that their spouses are having here in the United States.

Well, that's really good advice, Mark. And thank you for being transparent and honest, because I think that's what onwards and upwards is all about. It's, it's, it's empowering nurses with knowledge and experience of those who have gone through this process, or the experts like Miata, or Richard have, it's sharing their experience to help and swallowing your pride is a big one for the spouse. As you're talking. I'm thinking of my own husband who came here in South Africa, he used to own his own business. And when he came here, he was working. We lived in San Diego, and he was working in Los Angeles, he had to travel up and down every day. And he hated it. He hated it. He was miserable. It was terrible. He used to take his suitcases, put them on the bed and start packing and saying I want to leave here. I don't want to be here. And today, he really is the proudest American you'll ever find. So it does get better, as Mark says. But it's important to know that it is going to be a transition and it is important to work as a team. So that with that said, I want to thank the panel. And Judy, Mark Richard and Miata for joining us for this hour. It has been a fun and informative.

This is the first part of our series on helping spouses to adjust. And in the second part of the series, Miata, Richard and the team will be back where we're going to be talking a little bit more specifically about the different platforms like indeed, like LinkedIn, we're going to be talking about the interview process, how to prepare for an interview in the United States. What are behavioral based questions, so lots more to come to help spouses to adapt to life in the United States, and before everybody leaves? I wanted to announce the winner of the IELTS competition. So drumroll, the winner is Hansel, the weasel one. Congratulations Connetics USA is covering the cost of your English exam. We are excited for you to get your English done so that you can be living your American dream like the rest of our panel. And before you leave as well, just some upcoming shows. We have just a reminder onwards and upwards every Friday 7am Pacific Time check the time in your home country. On November 4 We have stateside we're talking about Florida on the 11th we have our regular segment immigration Q&A on the 18th. We have a whole show about med techs coming to the United States. On the 15th the love for a talk show we have a lot more information about next generation NCLEX coming up in April next year.

And on the 13th we talking about the clinical differences working as a med surg nurse overseas and the United States. Every Monday we have Connetics College, which is our education. This is free education for all nurses around the world. And on the Connetics College we have our esteemed partners Aspire. I pass and Niners will be doing classes on NCLEX PTE IELTS. Lots of information free information share so please tag your friends, Connetics initiatives. And so remember everybody our Connetics initiatives we ever have free English scholarship for all Connetics nurses. We have free NCLEX scholarship for selected nurses $1,000 referral fee if you refer a somebody with NCLEX and we also have our podcast nursing in America direct hire for nurse aides. So there was a question about nurse aides from Christian Shavn. So we do have a program for nurse aides onwards and upwards every Friday Connetics college every Monday and we also have allied needs and before you leave us we have some Halloween pictures of nurses who are going to get us in the spooking mood for Halloween that is coming up for this weekend. Thank you everybody for joining us onwards and upwards. Thank you. Thank you everybody onwards and upwards