I have spent considerable time reading and listening to resource person’s talk on career development. While working on this topic, I stumbled on Elana Lyn Gross career’s talk centered on a fellow black and who by her background happens to be connected with a black immigrant from Jamaica. What intrigued me in the article is her talk about using value and purpose to find a career path. I sincerely think this is apt for the subject of this discussion: career strategy the African immigrants should consider!
Elana’s focus was on Nicole Isaac, whose early life story resembles the African immigrants; but given the opportunity to rewrite her history in the land of opportunity by her mother, she not only makes good her chance to change her life, but she is also in the crusade to affect other people’s life positively. Nicole is currently responsible for LinkedIn’s policy and government affairs; she is the head of US public policy at the career-oriented social media platform.
African Migration and Economic Reality in the U.S.
African immigrants in the U.S. are estimated to be around 1.7 million and account for 4% total immigrant population in America. Several factors cause the growing trend in migration, but of greater emphasis is the economic factor for migrants seeking better living standard and to escape the hard economic realities of their home countries. African immigrants in the US are competing with other migrants from around the world. The US is largely an immigrants’ destination because of the seeming opportunity and the country’s policy towards visitors. The other side of such accommodating system is that the supply end of labor will be more than the demand and in a simple economic sense, there is the need for African immigrants to look inward to meet their employment needs through creative thinking.
It is an error of judgment for anyone to think that the US is doing immigrants a favor by opening its doors to people from around the world to come. However, it would be foolish of any immigrant to think there is a natural flow of milk and honey in the land of opportunity. As we speak, many immigrants are living below the UN poverty index, yet America is a land of opportunity!
Unless the individual immigrant sits back and develop a survival plan and be creative on career strategy that would help them realize their American dream, the reality of unemployment and underemployment is becoming crystal clear with every passing day.
