Khaled

Before Upwardly Global:
Waiting tables and selling shoes
Current Profession:
Routine Maintenance Scrum Master
Current Employer:
Chevron
Alumni_1200x628-2

“I feel loyalty to the country that accepted me and protected me, and I want to make life better for everyone by applying my skills. I am sure that a lot of immigrant job seekers feel the same.”

“I came to the U.S. seeking protection and freedom. My hope was to settle down and start a life I could not achieve in my home. The asylum application process is a very long process, but when I have a goal I work hard to reach it no matter what it will cost me.

I was not expecting to struggle finding a job in the Bay Area as my background is in IT, but the reality was different. The hiring process was so complicated. I was sending [employers] my CV, which was five pages long, and wondering why nobody contacted me. I didn’t understand that no one will ever read a CV that long in the U.S. I was working many different survival jobs and it was a very painful feeling to have these certificates and experiences and end up working a job that doesn’t require a high school degree.

The position I’m in now [with a global management consulting firm] is very important because I was working in a similar job for four years before I came to the U.S.”