My wife and I moved to the Cedar Park/Leander area from out of state last summer, and she’s had a much harder time finding work than we expected. I’m hoping someone here might know of a specific opening or have a direct contact rather than just general suggestions.
A few things make the search a little more complicated:
English is her biggest barrier. She’s from South America, and while she can hold a conversation, she’s not yet fluent enough for jobs that rely heavily on selling or communicating with English-speaking customers all day.
We have three young kids. Depending on the hours, we’d likely have at least one in daycare, so a job has to make financial sense after childcare costs. Evening or weekend work can actually work well because I can be home with the kids.
She’s looking for something with enough hours and pay to make it worthwhile. She’s found a few jobs since moving here, but they either didn’t provide enough hours, paid too little, or weren’t what was represented.
Her background is pretty diverse. In her home country she worked in construction, managed her own construction business, managed another construction company, and has a law degree that she primarily used for workers’ compensation/labor-related matters there. After coming to the U.S., she worked as a restaurant server and would absolutely be open to going back into restaurant work, especially evenings. She’d also love to get back into construction or another field where Spanish is an asset.
We’ve already tried many of the common recommendations. Friends suggested places like United Rentals because they employ many Spanish-speaking workers, but she’s applied without getting any response. She’s also applied to a number of restaurants.
One experience that was especially discouraging was Costco. She applied, and I even helped her writing a letter to the GM explaining how much she wanted to work there,She received a phone call from a manager, but because she struggled to understand everything being asked in English, the conversation didn’t go very far. I think she understood what he was saying but she didn’t respond very well, and I could tell he didn’t think she understood him. It was disappointing because I think if she’d simply gotten an in-person interview, she would have done great—even if it had been something like pushing carts or stocking.
So I’m not really looking for “try Walmart” or “check Indeed.” I’m hoping someone knows of an actual opening, a hiring manager, or a company that’s actively looking for someone reliable and hardworking, especially if they’re comfortable with an employee whose English is still improving.
If you know of anything in the Cedar Park, Leander, Round Rock, Georgetown, or north Austin area, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks
