Universty degree translation?

[apk]

My Russian wife is now looking for work, she wants to find work in her academic field and I recall reading about this sort of thing a while back  on this board regarding this process. From what I remember, she will need to get her degree from Moscow University translated at first, and then send it to a service to ascertain the equivalant of a university here.
Does anyone know what service to send it to?
Thanks for any info..

She has met many woman from FSU that have no success in finding work, except for childcare and housekeeping..most of them have advanced degrees just as my wife does but the employers do not even acknowledge  them for their full potential. So most go to work for minimum wage jobs, very few actually find good salary positions with benefits. Some parts of the economy here in northern California is slow, some is still pretty busy so I suspect there is a problem for most FSU women to find good work.

Does anyone else have the same problems where they live?

[BubbaGump]

... in response to Universty degree translation?, posted by apk on Mar 14, 2002

Foreign degrees are of little value here unless they are in engineering, international business or marketing from a country where a company wants to do business.  Nursing degrees may be useful too since there is supposed to be a nursing shortage.  

It is very normal in engineering degree at least to want to see a foreigner with a degree from the USA because at least you can contact that university and know what value to put on that degree.  It's too much trouble for most companies to verify anything about a job applicant from overseas and then there are the language barriers when doing so.  A whole lot of foreigners lie on their resumes, especially from China.  So many people have the same name that they often claim to be somebody else with a better academic background.  

Good communication is an important part of most better jobs and if a person is lacking there you have to expect them to make it up in other areas.  Just think of the trouble you have interviewing a foreigner and trying to assess if they know anything.  In technical fields I see very few people working in the US with less than a masters degree.  Only a few foreign schools are known to hiring managers in the US as outstanding, like the Indian Institute of Technology, but who knows what the second best technical school in India is?  

Bottom line is she may be stuck in retail, the drive through window, or some other low paying job and you're going to have to put up with her complaining about it.  That's why I am looking for less ambitious women.

[John F]

... in response to Universty degree translation?, posted by apk on Mar 14, 2002

One of the company's you may be interested in is Joseph Silny Associates ..... http://www.jsilny.com/

You should not only get your wife's diploma translated and evaluated, but her college / university / institute transcript translated and evaluated as well.

My wife is currently enrolled in college working toward an associate of arts in dental hygiene.  She was a stomatologist (dental surgeon) in Ukraine.

It differs by state, but here in Florida a non-resident must pass the TOFEL exam before they will be permitted to enter college.  The school my wife is attending doesn't accept that but makes each foreign student take a mandatory english program before allowing them to pursue career courses.  They must take a mandatory placement test first, though and are placed according to their english proficiency.  This is reasonable .... imagine you're in school with a non-english speaking student who requires a lot of extra attention.  You would be the one impacted.

There has been much discussion about acceptence of our wive's credentials.  Although they are better educated than many of their American counterparts, consider this .....

Suppose you were arrested... would you want to be represented by a lawyer who was expert in Russian law but knew very little about American laws?  Would you want a Russian CPA who immigrated three months ago to prepare and submit your IRS tax return for you?

It takes time, but be patient.  

Good Luck!
John

[Patrick]

... in response to Universty degree translation?, posted by apk on Mar 14, 2002

There are many services that evaluate foreign degrees.  If your wife wishes to be a professional here, I'd suggest that she apply for a masters program in her field.  Whatever school she goes to may have a specific commany they wish her current degree to be evaluated by (or they may do it themselves).

A masters degree from an American university will give her a much better chance of landing a job as a professional with an American company.  I work with several Russian engineers and they all went to schools here for a masters degrees, even if they already had the equivalent from their own country.  It just carries more weight for someone when you see a degree from a school who's name you can pronounce.

Another thing going to school here will do for her is give her a chance to develop her English skills to a high level as she prepares for a career.  English is at least as important as the degree, but some immigrants igonore that aspect of preparation.

Some people may not like starting over again when they've already done the school work, but for someone to succeed here, it's what they have to do.  I know a doctor from Venezuela who studied for three years to pass the medical boards here before she could start a residency.  She was already a doctor in her country, but it took a tremendous effort for her to get a foot in the door here.

My wife was a C.P.A. in her country, but has only worked as a book keeper here.  She doesn't have a degree from an American university, and though she's taken 18 units of accounting classes here and had her degree evaluated as equivalent to a bachelor's degree with a 3.4 GPA, it doesn't impress the people doing the hiring.

[Mike]

... in response to Re: Universty degree translation?, posted by Patrick on Mar 14, 2002

My wife is going to get herself an MBA at Ohio State and the first thing she had to do is translate her diploma and transcript herself then have the Slovic department verify that it is a true translation and they stamped it and signed it, now she is having her mom get her University ( in Russia ) to give a document that states the credit hours for the classes she attended so OSU can decide if she has a Bachalors or a Masters in her field. The gentleman at the Slovic department said typically they assign a value of Bachalors degree even though she has a Masters in Russia.
So I would suggest that she have the Moscow University give her a transcript converted into credit hours, then she would be that much more ahead if she uses a degree service or decides to go to another school.
Mike

[apk]

... in response to yep! Same here., posted by Mike on Mar 15, 2002

My wife is having a little problem trying to find her class transcripts from Moscow university. We hope the school will be able to find her records and have them converted to western based credits.

[PrincetonLion]

... in response to yep! Same here., posted by Mike on Mar 15, 2002

I have a degree of Bauman's Moscow Technical School (University), and it was evaluated as Masters degree here... Maybe because of Honors degree ("the Red Diploma")?

[Mike]

... in response to Hmmm... My diploma was evaluated as Mast..., posted by PrincetonLion on Mar 15, 2002

I suspect having a Red Diploma would have much more benifits when dealing with this issue. For those that don't know a Red Diploma in Russia means not only do you have a degree but you also have brains coming out of your ears! (wink)
Mike