For university students in Moldova, work and travel programs are important and many take advantage of these programs. It is difficult to get a visa to go to the US but if you are doing a work and travel program it is much easier to get a visa to come to the US.
There are many businesses all over Moldova that help students and others find programs in the US. Generally the work is of a physical or service nature. I have talked with many people from Moldova that have worked all over. I know a guy that worked in Alaska who worked in a fish factory and then a hotel. Another woman worked in a hotel in Pennsylvania. I also know people that worked in Colorado, for Kroger’s, Flying J and Cedar Point in Ohio.
Generally, by American standards, the pay is OK. With the long house and that some programs provide housing, it is usually monetarily beneficial for the participants. Due to the strength of the US dollar, I know that some students work in the US for a summer and do not have to work during the school year because they made enough to pay for their classes and other expenses.
2 comments:
Tim, you may want to speak with some of the Moldovan work and travel students in greater detail about their experiences. I know that some can do quite well and earn enough in a summer to cover their school expenses the next year. But many of the Moldovan companies which front the work and travel programs have quite a nice racket going on. Ask about the upfront "language testing" fees and other processing fees. When you include discounted airfare (bus to Bucharest then a group rate Delta ticket), the student's initial investment is about $2,000.
Then once they get to the US, students can be at the mercy of "bait and switch" artists. Sometimes the promised jobs are less than advertised (cleaning services instead of bookkeeping), for a lower pay than was promised, and high priced, cramped, living conditions (eight boys and girls in a two bedroom apartment sleeping on inflatable mattresses, with virtually no other furniture). And because the actual employer is not always the hotel or amusement park where they work but an intermediary "service corporation" which provides the labor force to the employer, the service corporation bills the hotel (for example) and then pays a minimum wage (or less) to the students, and also deducts the cost of the accommodations and any "transportation expenses" from the apartment to the job site furnished by the service corp.
I don't want to paint too black a picture, but just to put things in balance, I have a number of friends who saw the less than pleasant side of the work and travel experience, and did not even make their initial investment. At the same time, I have met others who were fortunate and worked directly for decent employers and had a great experience.
I apologizes for not showing both sides of the story, I have heard the good and the bad but my Moldavian friends have had good experiences.
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