Demystifying Purple Beliefs, Is Naive to Compare a Kenyan Graduate to an American Graduate.

General
1

I enrolled for a prestigious course Civil Engineering in a local University, 2010 and graduated in December 2015 with an upper division.
My first a job as an irrigation engineer working for a Contractor in Mwea a project worth 200M, My gross salary was 30K, I worked there for two months
A friend I had met during attachment called me and informed me that the firm he was working for they needed a young engineer to be trained, I went for the interview luckily I got the Job Gross salary was 50K the problem in that job there was no formal contract, no pay slip, and no systems, most irritating thing was there was no defined time to close work, most of the time 80% I left the office at 8 pm,Boss was categorical clear there is nothing like overtime.

I worked there for two years come the year 2017, I was sacked for no reasons, simply because business was not doing well. I had enrolled for MSc at this time.
I stayed at home for a month jobless, I had written to a number of firms, fortunately, I went for an interview at around Nakumatt Prestige Ngong road, I got the job but the boss who was ignorant to discuss terms and conditions, I was given a workstation and work to start designing a dam, I wrote to the boss enquiring about salary, his response was we will discuss that when that time comes, That marked the last day I reported to that office.
After a few days I was seconded by a Parastatal in one of the projects they were doing, unfortunately the project had stalled, we ended up working for 7 months without any pay, I was supposed to be paid an allowance of 60K @ month, there was no salary, after seven months I left and joined another parastatal as an intern earning gross salary of 25K a month

I completed MSc was given two classes to be teaching as a part-time lecturer, Is over a year I haven’t been paid
I have been invited shortlisted 7 times for different jobs with different parastatals, 2 sent letters through my rural post address It took one year to receive the letters, (Why could they not write an SMS, Email or call me reasons well known to them.
I was number 1 & 2 in two different interviews, results leaked, I was dismissed on what they called regional balance while the other one they decided just not to give me the job.

The other one they called me asking why I have not turned up for the interview, I asked them How could I turn up yet I was not invited, they said they uploaded the names on their website, how could I know I took 6 months to upload the list.
In my organization as an intern they advertised for 40 positions, I went for aptitude passed, I was invited for an oral interview which I believe I Passed only for the successful candidates’ list to come out 24 successful candidates were not evening working for the organization yet the advert was internal. guys who even graduated last year got the jobs since they had godfathers.
Currently, I operate as a conductor in my Matatu playing Nairobi-Rongai –Kiserian Route with My BSc. Eng & MSc.

Conclusion,
In Kenya, competence and qualifications do not matter, what matter is whether you have a godfather.
Being number one in an interview does mean you will get the job
Hard work in Kenya is not important unless you are working hard to get the connections with godfathers, especially for a boy child chance of success are very low

Leta links za kukuja America I know a neighbor who is a millionaire my age mate, who studied Education only to come to USA and study computer science.
She is very mean with information on how he made it,I cant kiss her ass ndio anisaindie

2

you are still young don’t give up like mzee wa duka.

3

Do you have a professional certification ama ni ile ya graduate tu?

4

Sina my report is stuck at EBK office, Hoping b4 the year ends I will have

5

Make sure you met all the qualifications, without that cert you are just another half baked engineer. When you get it you can even practice in the whole of east Africa. Kama washakuita interview just be patient. Kuenda America will not solve your problems since you’ll have to start from scratch unless you just want to earn for the sake of it.

6

It’s quite unfortunate that you are grossly underemployed despite your stellar qualifications.

My advise is to look up and apply to HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). I know of many Nigerian students who have received full visa sponsorship and annual stipend for graduate engineering school. I also know 2 Kenyan ladies who received full scholarships in their undergrad. One of them was a C student in kcse, but she had good extracurricular activities in community service.

One of the Naijas who got into grad school for engineering (electrical) is a great friend who I can share his contacts kwa inbox. He got full sponsorship for MSc, PhD and post doc studies. His dream has always been to work in Wall Street though his friends went into oil and gas. My friend had his employer fill out his green card papers so he’s set.

HBCU’s are special institutions of higher learning that were started exclusively for people of African ancestry in the USA. Juu blacks wa huku hawapendi masomo sana especially hard sciences like engineering, recent African immigrants are the overwhelming majority in these schools. There are 80 HBCUs in America.

Howard University in Maryland would be a good place to start applying.

http://www.cea.howard.edu/graduate

7

But can you practice as an engineer in America without bsc from their universities?

8

Of course. But you must find a company that sponsors H1B visas. So if you’re searching on google, please include that. For example, “H1B visa sponsorship engineering jobs in the USA.”

9

Chances of getting placement by those companies that sponsor people are almost nil and if you do they’ll take you through a very tedious process such that it’s better to just apply for a bsc and start again, and most of those jobs are looking for software engineers which is not the same.

10

Please share contacts pale inbox, am very proactive

11

You will make it.You seem to be a hardworking,humble and patient fella.

12

You don’t have to start at the BSc level. Like I’m advising JMMohaa to start at grad school for engineering. He got a 2nd upper at university which means a GPA of 3-3.5. He would be considered a competitive applicant. If you have a Bachelors in eng (first or upper), please apply to Howard University or Florida A&M or any other HBCU as a gateway to better opportunities. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised because they love Africans from the continent.

I also can’t stress this enough. Every year the GC lotto opens in October, make sure you apply. If you have a serious girlfriend or wife, let her also ask apply and list you as her husband. You do the same for her to both double your chances of winning.

13

Ok

14

I hope you know how tedious and frustrating that process is, further more getting the certificate does not translate to a getting jobs,I know a good number of professional engineers who are still jobless and running bars and choma zone just to keep themselves busy.
For you to open a Consulting engineering firm,You need to have practiced engineering for at least 15 years

15

Take me through the process, after you get the degree at Howard, how do go about getting the certification to practice in America.

16

I don’t know about civil engineering, maybe it’s cause the Chinese have flooded the market. In that case it maybe be better to relocate if you don’t see a future in Kenya.

17

Once you get into the country, things have a way of working out. You get training to pass those certification exams while still in school. The profs and the department as a whole, are also helpful in job placement because they have industry ties.

18

Is your engineer husband doing this already ama ni porojo tu?

19

For every one person that succeed in what purple is advising you to do, thousands do not succeed. If it were that easy, then everybody could be there. As you wait to cross the border, do what mediocre has advised, you have enough education for employment already. You are not doing very bad financially also seeing you own a matatu. Going to states is all good, but remember you will need to spend atleast five years in college there before you can apply for those professional jobs. And you might end up coming back to start again. All the best

20

Nah, he’s not pursuing engineering anymore. We decided it’s best for him to start a career in the medical field.