Washing toilets and buying a car: how much can you earn in the USA under the Work and Travel program - ForumDaily
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Washing toilets and buying a car: how much can you earn in the USA under the Work and Travel program

A trip to work in another city or country does not guarantee a good income, but it is unlikely to do without adventure. Tinkoff collected the stories of readers who, as students, tried this scheme by going to work and travel on the "Work and Travel" program. They told what kind of work they had to do and what the money earned was enough for.

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Wash toilets and buy a car

  • Author: Anna (wanted to become an immigrant, but did not)
  • Job: cleaning lady and cook
  • I managed to save up: ~ $ 2500
  • What else was enough for: a trip to California, MacBook, gifts
  • When: 2017

I went to work in the United States, to the very small town of Orlins, Massachusetts in 2017.

You can start looking for a job yourself, especially if English allows, or you can pay the agency $ 300 - and they will do everything for you. I studied at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, and I did not have an extra 300 bucks. As a result, I received contacts of the future employer from friends who traveled to America a year earlier. The job was not one of those dreams of being a janitor at a cleaning company. But they promised (and later paid!) A good salary, so I agreed.

It was not difficult to get settled. I got in touch with Kate - this is the owner of the business, we did a Skype interview. She took over the paperwork, since she already had experience in hiring foreign citizens and knew the whole procedure.

I worked for her for four months and I can say that this is one of the best bosses that I have had: she paid regularly, provided housing, helped with all issues, including household issues, gave time off. But it only depends on the person - not everyone is so lucky in the States. I've heard a lot of horror stories about cheating, unpaid overtime and rights violations.

Cleaner work is not sugar. And it's not even the toilets that need to be washed - after the tenth toilet you don't even think about it. It's just physically difficult.

In the morning, my partner and I received a list of addresses - our front of work for the day. We went to the homes of mostly rich people and put things in order there. We worked 6 days a week from 7 am to 16 pm.

Then I had an hour break and I went to my other job - a cook in a restaurant with a schedule 5 days a week from 17 to 22. I found this position already on the spot.

Four months in this mode almost drove me crazy. It is difficult not only physically, but also mentally. And this despite the fact that in America in such positions you are not treated as a servant.

In cleaning, I received $ 13 per hour, sometimes even a tip. At the restaurant - $ 11 per hour. Nothing much happens in Orlins, and the only money left to spend was rent - $ 125 a week - and food. She put off the rest.

I managed to save up for a trip to California, a new MacBook, gifts for parents and a lot of other little things for friends. She brought about $ 2500 and invested it in buying a car. In my opinion, it is quite normal for a student from Voronezh. This trip was more for experience than money. But the internship paid off 7 times. I was satisfied.

The biggest fear was that I was a stranger to everyone and everyone around was strangers. I went alone and made all the social connections on the spot. There were no big problems, but this is not America's merit, but the good people who surrounded me.

Many students after graduating from the "Work and Travel" program at the end of September remain in America and are looking for ways to legalize. It’s hard not to be tempted to take this risky but alluring step. At first, you are elated: everyone around is smiling, outside the window everything is as in the picture and repeats the images of your favorite films. But you need to understand that the life of an immigrant is very hard and you can live for many years as an illegal immigrant before you become a full citizen who can freely move around the world and find that very best life.

Help in a restaurant and buy an electric guitar

  • Posted by Artem (tip for herring burger with strawberry cream)
  • Job: washing dishes and cooking, sometimes strange dishes
  • I managed to save up: ~ $ 1800
  • What else was enough for: a laptop, an electric guitar, a semi-professional camera, a suit from Guess
  • When: 2007

In May 2007 he went to New Jersey, Ocean City. Fell in love with Tigerlilly Italian restaurant: he was in the house opposite the ocean, there was an open area, there was a huge black piano and it was so cozy that I went to them and said to the chef Lana: “Hi, my name is Tim, I like it place. May I wash your dishes? "

And first I washed the dishes. Two weeks later, I was told that I didn't look much like a dishwasher and was asked if I could slice cucumbers and make a salad. Then they were entrusted to decorate desserts, then to make breakfasts. And at the end of the summer, I baked a huge piece of tenderloin in the oven.

Once I made a hamburger with herring and strawberry cream on a special order of a visitor - it was appreciated, and it was the first tip in the history of the restaurant, given specially to the chef - $ 2.

The hardest part of this job was not getting into the refrigerator with cheeses and seafood and not staying there.

Once we begged an old Cadillac with square headlights from a friend - we asked for two months, we planned a grand breakaway with races in the city at night. And so they gave us the keys, we invited all the girls we knew, and bought in the store. My friend starts the car, we slowly pull out of the parking lot and the police pull over us. Everyone is taken out of the car and fined $ 400 because we didn't turn on the headlights. The owner of the car ran out of the hotel next to where he worked as an administrator and took the keys from us.

If you don't go to Niagara, don't buy clothes and don't keep two crates of beer at home all the time, then you can make good money.

Bulgarians worked with me, who came for the third year and took home for $ 5000. And my friend worked three jobs and brought almost $ 10. But basically, when a student is given good money, he naturally lets it go. Therefore, you need to clearly plan your budget. For example, transfer the main part of earnings to an account without the right to withdraw.

I worked 10 hours a day and made $ 9 an hour. Brought home a cool $ 1200 HP laptop, a $ 600 Fender Stratocaster electric guitar, a Canon semi-pro camera, $ 1800 cash, $ 300 tax refund, ripped paint stained jeans and a Guess suit — I was the prettiest in college. It is unrealistic for a student to earn so much in Russia over the summer.

Making sandwiches, working as a hostess and saving nothing

  • Author: Anna (gave in to shopaholism)
  • Job: Diner Chef, Restaurant Hostess
  • I saved up: $ 0
  • What else was enough for: clothing, cosmetics and entertainment in the USA
  • When: 2008

I really wanted to travel, visit America and earn extra money, of course. In the provinces in 2008, $ 2000 a month seemed like a cosmically large amount of money that could buy anything at all.

To participate in the program, you had to pay dues, buy tickets and stock up on pocket money for the first time. Agents helped with the search for work, but in fact they had to look for work on the spot - they paid little for a job found from Russia.

It turned out to be easier to find than I thought: if you walk around the city for a day, then you come across two or three places ready to take on a trial period with training. Of course, this was work in the service and trade sectors: restaurants, cafes, hotels. Not a bad job - America has a different attitude towards it. Americans themselves, who work in offices during the day, come to work in a restaurant a couple of evenings a week to pay off their mortgages faster.

In a few evenings, you can earn half of your office salary from tips.

Before leaving, I worked in a travel agency and got used to office work a little. And here I had to work on a shift schedule: from 14 to 23 on weekdays and from 6 to 14 on weekends. I was making sandwiches at a small refueling diner in Maryland. They paid $ 7,5 an hour after taxes.

At first glance, it’s not that difficult, even interesting: you cook different sandwiches, communicate with people. But a week later, it became clear that the main job was to peel vegetables, wash dishes and floors, carry heavy boxes of chicken and potatoes, and then deep-fry it all - in a huge amount of hot oil. Sometimes oil splashed on hands, face and eyes, even burns remained.

On the subject: Tourists from 23 countries will have to pay a $ 15 deposit to enter the United States

Nothing supernatural happened, they paid on time: they gave out a paycheck once a week, and paid extra for overtime. Although there were very few of them, given the long shifts.

Then I moved to Washington and got a job as a hostess in a gay and lesbian restaurant. The contingent there was very strange: funny boys, rude men who hated women and immediately at the entrance they informed me about it with obscene words. There was one gay guy among the staff who somehow thought I was biased towards him because of his sexuality. Apparently, he considered all Russians to be homophobes.

Once, a week after training, I worked on his shift. I needed to distribute the guests evenly across the tables so that all the waiters could earn a tip. But it so happened that over the evening I did not put anyone with this guy - out of ignorance I deprived the person of his earnings and made an enemy.

Another case was related to translation difficulties. I knew English well, but sometimes I could not understand what African Americans were saying because of the way they pronounce some sounds and words. One day a guy came up to me and began to say something. I didn't understand anything, but I diligently smiled and nodded, pretending to be an interested interlocutor. Suddenly an American waiter passing by stops and drives this guy away from me. Asks: "Did you understand what he told you?" In short, I nodded and smiled in response to a very obscene proposal.

We didn’t manage to earn much. On average, it came out about $ 2000 per month. Most of this money went to pay for the room where my girlfriend and I lived, food, entertainment, clothes and cosmetics. When you are a student who lived with your parents, always with a full refrigerator and payment for everything, then you simply do not know what real life is. And here it was necessary to manage everything myself.

At first, I tried to set aside some of the money for travel, but after moving to Washington, spending increased, and then I did not know how to save at all. From the variety of everything - food, clothing, cosmetics, entertainment - my head was spinning. I could spend $ 500 a day shopping at Victoria's Secret, Zara, Sephora.

Because of bouts of shopaholism, I returned to Russia without a penny, but with valuable experience I don’t spend money like that now.

If I were a student now, I certainly would not have gone to work abroad. In financial terms, this is completely unprofitable. In fact, you are plowing, you see nothing but the way to work and home, there are no family and friends nearby. Household expenses eat up most of the salary. And you can work as a waiter, courier or seller in any city in Russia. Now many shops, decent coffee shops and restaurants have opened - the attitude towards this work has changed. And there is plenty of other work. And there is no need to spend money on tickets and incomprehensible fees to agents.

To practice the language, it is better to choose language courses abroad, which you will earn in Russia, and travel is cheaper and more interesting using couchsurfing.

Help the cook and pay for university studies

  • Author: Anonymous (failed to protect rights)
  • Job: cook assistant
  • I managed to save up: 400 rubles ($ 000)

I decided to leave in order to earn money over the summer - more precisely, from mid-May to the end of September - to pay for tuition and living. As a result, I saved up 400 rubles. Traveled to East Hampton, worked as an assistant cook.

The hardest part was working on my feet 10 hours 6 days a week. You could sit down only at breakfast and dinner, the rest of the time you could not sit or even lean on your elbows.

Once a heavy tray fell on my leg. There was a suspicion of a fracture or crack. I had to go to the hospital, lost one and a half working days and spent money on the road. Doctor's examination and X-ray - $ 900 - paid by the employer. And he didn't compensate the money for the trip and the day spent - he took advantage of the fact that I was in a foreign country and it is very difficult for me to defend my rights.

Sell ​​soda and travel a little

  • Author: Anastasia (wanted to cry because of the American accent)
  • Job: Cashier
  • I managed to save: enough to recoup participation in the program
  • What else was enough for: travel
  • When: 2012

It was in 2012. I was sure that I knew the language well. But after talking with the first employee who met at the airport, it became clear that I did not understand the accent - I had to ask again and wanted to cry.

She was looking for a job herself, found in the coastal city of Ocean Beach. But when I arrived in New York, it turned out that I was no longer expected there. Traveled to Atlantic City, New Jersey. A friend of mine lived and worked there, who eventually gave me shelter. Atlantic City is a casino city on the Atlantic coast. There is a lot of work there, but since the season was already in full swing, the search took three to four days.

I was looking for it simply: I walked along the coast and looked into all the shops, cafes, restaurants, hotels.

Since I came to the United States on a J1 visa, which made it possible to work in the country for a specified period, employers had no questions about legality. At another establishment, the manager agreed to take me. Everything is official, with salary credited to the card and taxes deducted. It was necessary to quickly make an SSN - Social Security Number - and issue a card at a local bank. It took another week. And so I sign a contract.

At my main job, my position was called "cashier", the salary was $ 8 per hour. She worked under the contract 40 hours a week. Usually it came out about 35, and on holidays - up to 50 hours. The weekly schedule was posted every Sunday. The shifts were from 8 to 16 or from 16 to 24.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York.

Tipping has always been a nice bonus of such work. Nevertheless, this culture is developed in the USA, tips are left not only in cafes and restaurants.

I worked in a small seaside cafe with a couple of tables, more take-away-oriented. Main assortment: pizza, hot dogs, French fries, milkshakes, coffee and drinks.

At first I worked in the street area of ​​a cafe. She sold carbonated drinks, bagels, popcorn and various nuts - in honey, chocolate. If she opened a shift, she had to equip a point, arrange everything beautifully and follow in the process so that everything was enough. If it was closing the shift, then the point had to be completely assembled and brought into the cafe building. The work is not difficult, but at first there were problems with understanding different accents, a couple of times they stole a drink from me. And it was incredibly hot. But all the tips to me personally.

I got a regular customer: an American woman of about 50, who was very interested in Russian culture. Every morning she bought a bottle of water from me, and then we talked with her for ten minutes. Once, on another very hot day, to her sighs about how hot it was, I answered: "Yes, probably 35 degrees." She looked at me in surprise, but I could not understand what was so surprising to her. She was the first to guess that I mean degrees Celsius, and she was used to the Fahrenheit system: a little 30 degrees Fahrenheit is 1 Celsius. They laughed.

After a month and a half, I was transferred to work inside the cafe. There were air conditioners, but you had to fry potatoes, cook hot dogs and make sure that there was always fresh pizza: 6 hours after it was made, it was thrown away. On the street I worked alone and when there were no buyers, it became boring. Inside, there was always someone and something to talk about. But the tip at the end of the day was shared by everyone.

I worked there for three months. I didn't have a goal to earn as much as possible. I wanted to justify the costs of the program and travel a little. It succeeded. I gave the money that I brought home to my parents - they partially paid for the program for me. I don’t remember the exact numbers, but approximately at my main job, I received $ 1200 per month on the card, minus taxes about 20%, that is, $ 1000. Tipping an average of $ 6 per day. On holidays - Labor Day, Independence Day - it went up to $ 30. There was also a second job, where they paid $ 190-200 a month. The result was $ 1300-1400.

The money for America, of course, is not huge, but the experience is great. Someone earned and left everything there. Someone put everything together and returned home with a good income.

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