ZA
The story of a single 26 year old female Electrical Engineer from Afghanistan….”She did not let any of her problems stop her.” Upon meeting with the then “FNU* ZA” it was apparent that not only was her case exceptional, but that she was remarkably intelligent and unique as well...Read More
The first time that ZA interacted with the Migration and Refugee Services (MRS), it was through a phone call in which she inquired about how to enroll in the Breaking the Barrier (BTB) employment program. She explained that she was resettled in Pennsylvania but left a week later to move to Northern Virginia. ZA came to the MRS office within less than an hour after she learned that she had to come in person.
She received her Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering in Afghanistan and worked as a project manager for years. It was astonishing to connect ZA’s Curriculum Vitae that showed years of hard work, promotions, managerial experience, and dedication to the expansion of women’s roles in working in Afghanistan to the young woman who would humbly talk about her professional life. With a little push of confidence, it was apparent ZA could do anything she desired.
ZA had so much drive in her, that by the time she attended Pre-Employment Training she had applied to over 100 jobs; mostly transitional jobs and a few entry level positions in electrical engineering. One day, she came into the office when it was apparent of how much physical pain she was experiencing. She needed to see a doctor right away, yet she came into the office to make sure she applied for her social service benefits correctly and to keep the STEP appointment. When asked if she needed assistance from the office to go to the doctor’s, she replied that since she had to take care of herself for so many years that she can do it by herself again.
During Pre-Employment Training, ZA transformed from a humble newly arrived SIV to a confident electrical engineer that was ready to get back into her field. She volunteered to be in the mock interviews; she was very attentive during the training and asked very basic questions. One of our employment specialists had a connection at Helix Electrical Inc. where ZA has submitted her application. When applying, ZA was assisted with resume rewriting, drafting cover letters, recommendation letters, and interview preparation. “Dress for success” was one of the topics discussed.
They immediately hired her after the first interview and offered her $62,000 for her first job with room for promotion in three months. However, there were still a couple of barriers that needed to be ironed out. She needed to be able to drive company cars and she never had any driving experience. STEP provided driving classes for her to maintain her job.
* FNU stands for First Name Unknown
* ZA is a redacted name to ensure privacy
HJ
This is a story about a man who has lost so much, but refuses to give up until he’s the best. Upon meeting HJ in person, it is hard to not feel completely enamored by his personality and his high spirits. His talkative and bubbly personality completely distracts from the suffering and the pain that he has been through. HJ does not talk about it much, but it is a day that he regrets but not for the obvious reasons. A suicide bomber went into a building and HJ and his wife were in the front lines of the explosion. He lost his arm, leg, and several toes, while his wife lost an eye, her arm, and a foot. His regret comes from not protecting his wife better, and he promised his wife that if he was given the opportunity to get a good life in another country that he would give her and their four girls the life they deserved, away from bombs and killings. Once arriving in the US, he was given the opportunity to apply for social service and disability. He would not even hear of it. He wanted to work and he was willing to do whatever it took to become self-sufficient and independent...Read More
Over the following years, he worked with the United States Agency for International Development and the American Embassy as a budget and fiscal analyst. He worked hard for his Bachelors in Arts in Finance and Banking and enrolled in a Masters of Business Administration in International Business and Finance in the University of Wales. Then the chance came for him to move his family away from the violence to Northern Virginia. He kept his promise to his wife and promised his girls a better future.
Once arriving in the US, he was given the opportunity to apply for social service and disability. He would not even hear of it. He wanted to work and he was willing to do whatever it took to become self-sufficient and independent. From day one, he began applying to over 15 places every week and continued the completion of his MBA through online courses. The pressure was on him, and he slowly began losing his confidence and his momentum. He wanted to keep his children inside the house and he became distrustful of the other people in his apartment complex.
HJ was introduced to other Afghan and fiscal analysts through networking events. He was assisted with obtaining his driver’s license and resume updating. For all the jobs he applied to, he was assisted with recommendation letters and reference phone calls. His hard work paid off when one of his connections landed him an interview with USAID as a fiscal analyst. Now, HJ is working as a Fiscal Analyst at USAID for $75,000 starting salary. His managers have hinted to him that he will be promoted in the near future. He will complete his MBA in Fall of 2016, where he will get an automatic pay increase.
*HJ: The client’s name has been redacted to ensure privacy.
H.A.
“He received matching interview from Harvard University, Columbia University, University of Chicago…” H.A.’s motivations and drive to become a United States Certified Doctor began before he walked into the office of the Migration and Refugee Services for the first time. When he first arrived in the United States, he was fleeing his home country of Ethiopia due to physical violence and threats to his life and due to the attack on his clinic where he used to work. Despite having a good job in Ethiopia, he was willing to leave it behind for a safer life...Read More
A safer life and a miserable life. When H.A. arrived to the United States, no one would hire him and he was shuffling between numerous friends’ couches. His housing was unstable, he was applying for his asylum, and he was over-qualified to work at most minimum wage jobs. Despite feeling stuck, H.A. continued to push himself to the fullest. Instead of wallowing in his misery, he started studying for the United States Medical Licensing Examinations and passed the first two scoring at the top of the test takers. In the first exam, he scored in the 99 percentile, which means that he scored above 99 percent of American Medical Students. In the second exam, he scored just as high. What was really impressive is that he completed his USMLE tests in record time.
When H.A. arrived at the Migration and Refugee Services, he just received his asylum approval, but he was already ten steps ahead of other clients of the office who have been in the United States longer.
The STEP program assisted him with paying for the third USMLE test and residency matching exams. He also needed to take an additional Basic Life Support class and more residency exams that were paid by STEP a few months later. While there was some resume editing and cover letter writing assistance, H.A. was confident that he would be able to get a survival job by himself. He was more worried about how to become a medical doctor in the United States and he needed assistance with how to navigate the professional medical field.
His hard work paid off. After completing his third USMLE test, he was confident that he would be matched with top universities. He was right because he received matching interviews at Harvard University, Columbia University, University of Boston, University of Chicago, and more. Throughout these interviews, he was able to connect with an employer in Chicago that offered him a well-paying job as a Patient Care Technician for $20 a hour until he is matched with a hospital in June 2016.
*H.A. is a redacted name to protect the client’s privacy
MQ
Mr. MQ is a father of seven who left his career as a doctor in Afghanistan to come to the United States and the problems that he fought through. MQ first came into the office as an asylee from Afghanistan in August 2012. He was a medical doctor in his country and he was forced to leave his family behind in Afghanistan due of safety issues....Read More
Due to his reputation of being a hard worker and a cooperative client, he was one of the first professionals enrolled in the new STEP program. Starting a new life in a new country for MQ was not easy. He left his family behind involuntarily when he arrived to the States. MQ had to go back to Afghanistan to personally bring his family of five children and his wife to America after obtaining their derivative asylum approval letters. MRS assisted him to secure interviews at numerous hospitals and assisted him with phlebotomy training. In the end, he was able to obtain a job at the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors where he managed grants and helped new counselors obtain training. He was so efficient at his job, that he was promoted quickly and became a manager. Everything was content and he was enjoying his life. His case was closed because he felt that he finally made it in the United States and that his life was going to go better.
Crises intervention: However, as more responsibilities fell to him his mental and his physical health began deteriorating. He felt the high pressure from his job combined with taking care of his two newborns and his other children, and he began to suffer from panic attacks and other anxiety problems. He was unable to cope with the pressures of his job and resigned from his managerial position. With help from the MRS’s Health Liaison, MQ was able to obtain resources that would help him with his personal troubles and his mental well-being. The first step was updating his resume to a professional standard. He was well-educated on how to conduct himself in interviews, but he never had to apply for jobs in the United States by himself.
After some networking, navigation around connections, vigorous applications, and some application updates, MQ was able to score three job interviews and eventually three job offers within a month. He also was accepted to George Washington’s Masters of Public Health program. Even though it was a downpour of good news, MQ still had the pressures of trying to balance all the job offers and future plans at one time. MQ had the best problem: Too many job offers and options.
He began his Masters of Public Health program in January 2016 and will graduate summer 2017. He accepted a job at one of the Northern Virginia Social Services as a benefits counselor for $42,000 which would allow him the schedule to see his family and complete his Master’s on time. For him, success was not about how much he got paid, but rather finding a position that he would be able to support his family and build on from to make a better future. He has plans in the future to take a teaching job at the University of Georgia after his Master’s (which was one of the job offers) and continue to work in humanitarian health resolution.
*MQ: The original name is redacted to ensure privacy
H
From retail to IT Professional
Mr. H arrived by himself from Iraq in March 2013. While living in Iraq, Mr. H. obtained a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and worked for many years in the IT field. Upon arrival, Mr. H. had the determination to become an IT professional in the United States...Read More
Mr. H. remained in the same retail position that the JD originally helped him secure so that he could focus on his education - that is, until March 2016. Last month, Mr H. was able to secure a full-time position with Capital One as a Software Engineer where he now makes $60,000. In this position, Mr. H. helps his new team make the bank’s computers more efficient so that the bank is less susceptible to human error.
With this financial security, the client will now be able to help his family who has been forced to flee Iraq due to the country’s current crisis.
*H: The original name is redacted to ensure privacy.
Dr. Ali
Dr. Ali is a physician from Iraq and was resettled with his wife and five children by CCC in June 2015. Dr. Ali Aljanabi was referred to the IRC from the Henrico Department of Social Services in October 2015...Read More
Ali was trained and worked as a general surgeon and was the ICU Department Chief and Chief of the AIDS Detection Center in Karbala, Iraq. When Ali was referred to the IRC, he was disillusioned and had heard from many sources that working as a doctor would be impossible. Through the IRC STEP program, we were able to create a short term plan to address the more immediate needs and how to become employed within the medical field, followed by drawing out long term goals to allow our client a focused approach for the next few years. Dr. Ali had been referred to an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) course by the DSS worker but was hesitant to go when he began meeting with IRC staff. After weeks of coaching, Dr. Ali agreed to go and completed the EMT 1 and 2 certifications.
Dr. Ali and the IRC staff met every ambulance company within Richmond to introduce ourselves and drop off a resume. We discussed which place he would like to work after meeting all the companies and we narrowed our focus to Richmond Ambulance Authority for their size and international reputation. We tried several times to connect with RAA’s Employee Engagement Manager, but with no success. Instead, the IRC staff was able to schedule a meeting with Chief Human Resource Officer. The Chief HR officer was impressed with Dr. Ali’s credentials and together we created a schedule to volunteer with the company so RAA may see how well Dr. Ali could perform on the job.
After a few short weeks on OJT, we are thrilled to say that Dr. Ali started working for Richmond Ambulance Authority full time as of April 4th, 2016 making $14 an hour.
*Dr. Ali: the last name omitted to ensure privacy.