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I wasn’t sure whether to add to my previous thread, or to start a new one but here we go:
What skills,traits,experience greatly increase your chances of being selected? Would Uncle Ray prefer someone who worked 70 hour work weeks, or someone with arctic experience (say, 70*N) or someone who speaks multiple languages? Does any of this really matter, or do they only look at people with PHD’s or masters to do the dishes? I’m going to spend a year trying to beef up my resume as much as possible. Let’s say I want a job doing dishes, should I spend a year working in a kitchen, or because it is a basic skill, said experience would be moot?
I’m Fluently bi-lingual (French and English) and I’m considering learning another language for fun. Either Russian, Spanish or German. Which one would look better on a resume (or does it not matter?) I’m also considering taking certification like CPR, or front-end loader training (again, if it matters). Can any of you shed some insight as to how I should beef up my skills/resume in a year (and a half)
*Unrelated note* Does anyone know the current postal address for mcmurdo? I think it would be cool to have a bi-polar pen pal thing going on.
The big kicker is that your resume has to pass through a screener before it passes on. That means your resume has to match the job applied for. In other words, if you have worked in food service and they can call and verify, that would be a plus. I don’t know anyone who went through that much trouble, but then again, that’s the life of a job searcher isn’t it.
I’m willing to do any job, except for working in waste managment at the pole. Smelling like Garbage 24/7 with only 2-2 minute showers a week does not sound apealing to me in any manner. Preferably I’d do something variable, like a GA or running equipment, or working in the greenhouse but I’m not picky.
My skill-set is pretty generic. Other than CPR, my language skills, my computor skills (though no formal training), I have nothing really. I work in a resturant, doing dishes and occasionally cleaning. I plan on moving to Inuvik (70*N) when Schools over, and working two jobs to save up for university. Maybe taking IT corses on the side, or forklift training.
Is kiwi even a language? I thought they all spoke English? o.O
I figure what will make me appealing to the new pottential employer will be my amazing references, the fact that I’m in Amazing shape, my previous Arctic experience, my passion for Antarctic, and my age. I’m sure being Canadian doesen’t hurt either. Instead of having to pay my doctor fee’s to get me checked out, and for whatever destistry work I might need done, I can just fly back home and get it done for ”free”. Being young and in great physical shape, I’m much less of a medeical liability than my older counter-parts. Plus I’d be willing to sign up for a year on ice (longer contracts save them money). This is assuming I can get some form of communication to a hiring manager.
Anything else you can suggest I can do to bump my chances up are greatly apreciated.
edit: In winter, Inuvik is on avarge colder than Mcmurdo, though in the summer, it get’s to +25C so mabe calling it Arctic experience is a little misleading, despite it being beyon the arctic circle. Ill be applying for a job in Alert Canada, (82*N) or volenteering there instead of inuvik if I can. Inuvik is a back-up plan of sorts. Surprisingly, it’s harder to get into the Canadian high-arctic program, than the American antarctic program. I guess that has to do with the fact that the our goverment is directly in-charge of everything, instead of a private 3rd party.
Also, I’m metis (native American heritige) though I look white. I even have a offical goverment certificate to prove it. Could this help me out? Like Obama winning the peace prize because he’s black, or like a board of directors hiring women managers soley because they don’t want to look sexist? I hate playing the race card, but I’d hate not going even more. I dunno, Raytheon seems like the type of Company that really doesen’t give a shit about what the public thinks.
Sorry for the tangents and qustions,
Cheers,
CanadiaNormally I would hit edit, but it doesn’t seem to be working ATM.
Do you think working aboard a cruise ship, doing whatever unskilled labor they have, would look good on an antarctic resume? The two enviroments are very similar I imagine. Paid food and board, confined living/working space, dealing with an extensive chain of command, seeing a contract through.
Canadia, I would think in your case that an extensive skill set will be meaningless without a US passport.
Unless something has changed since the last topic, Canadia is hoping for some sort of work visa, like a J1 or an H2B. I don’t know much about J1, but H2Bs are extremely hard to get and require that your employer apply for it by stating that there aren’t sufficient US workers who are capable of filling the position they’re hiring for.
Your youth isn’t going to help you any. Anyone who passes the PQ process is qualified since discrimination in hiring because of age is illegal in the US. Your enthusiasm isn’t going to help either since everyone is enthusiastic about going.
But it is all moot since you are a Canadian citizen. You have to be a US citizen or permanent resident (or be Kiwi, I think) to be a part of the USAP program. I see that as disqualifying you from the start. You also don’t qualify for the British program since you are not a resident of the UK or the EU.
Sorry, but it really doesn’t look very promising.
I’m currently talking to a lawyer about that. I’m hoping the 7th courts decision ruling that Antarctica is a foreign country under the united states Labor code, would allow me to get a H2B or whatever else, with relative ease. If not, I guess ill have to wait 4 years until I get my B.S or something (not really ideal).
Thanks for the suggestions everyone, ill give it a go, despite things looking rather bleak A.T.M
I’m also sent some inquiries to the Canadian Polar commission, asking them if the polar-exchange program is limited to scientist. I’m pretty sure that is the case, but it’s worth a try I guess.
Cheers.
CanadiaThat doesn’t actually make sense, an H2B is a visa that allows work in the US, so if Antarctica was classified as a foreign country (which it’s not) you wouldn’t need an H2B. Either way, you don’t apply for it – your employer does.
We’ve had many Canadians working down at MCM. I don’t think it’s that difficult to get a green card and I don’t think Raytheon applied for any of them.
On the contrary, it’s very difficult to get a green card, which is part of why illegal immigration is so controversial here. The number of green cards awarded each year is capped at well under the demand for them, and generally you won’t get one unless you have a degree in a particular specialty that’s desirable here. Plus, you usually have to have a pending job offer, and even then your wait for a green card is around 6 to 10 years, so if your employer wants you to start work before then they have to apply for an H-1B, which is a temporary work visa for people on the path to a green card. I don’t think those are as hot of an item as H-2Bs, but they’re still difficult to get.
This is all irrelevant though, because a green card is what you apply for in the process of becoming a permanent resident of the US. Canadia’s talking about working in the program and still living in Canada if I’m not mistaken. Actually, despite the huge amount of rigamarole involved with immigrating here, I think it’s probably the path with the best chance of success if her ultimate goal is to work with USAP.
http://reason.com/assets/db/07cf533ddb1d06350cf1ddb5942ef5ad.jpg – This chart is a great guide to how difficult the process is and how much time is involved. Canadia, if you have immediate family members who are US citizens that’s the fastest way to get a green card – in fact, if one of your parents is a US citizen and you’re still under 18, you can get a green card quickly while you’re still a minor.
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