Matkaraportin laatija: Janne von Gerich

Osasto, pää- / sivuaineet:
Industrial Engineering and Management, Tuotantotekniikka

Hankintakanava:
For a long time already, I had wanted to go abroad, either to study or to work. I was considering going as an exchange student, when I was in high school, but I never seemed to find the right time to go. Last summer I finally decided that if I did not go the following summer, I would probably not go at all. So I decided that I was going to go abroad to work in the summer of 2003 and my first preference for the location was the United States.
I started planning the upcoming summer in December 2003 thinking that I was early and had plenty of time. My first place to start looking information was the Recruiting Services of our school and I got some tips on how to start planning the trip and what things to consider. Next, I started looking for information about different organizations specialized in helping students to find work in other countries. The one I ended up choosing was called Allianssi Youth Exchange, which offered a program called Work Experience USA. The program was organized by a U.S. organization called Camp Counselors USA and Allianssi was just their contact in Finland. The main reason I chose Allianssi over other organizations was that there were not that many that offered work specifically in the United States.

Work Experience USA offered two different options: the Independent option, which was a bit less expensive and in which you were yourself responsible for finding a job, and the Placement option, where the organization tried to find you the best possible job based on your preferences. Being busy with my studies, I thought I would take the easy way out and decided to go with Placement option. The price was €1500 and it included a round trip flight to New York. The deadline for the placement program was already in the beginning of January, so in reality I had not started planning my summer as early as I had thought which in part did not leave me as much time to consider other possibilities.
Most of the programs want you to commit to them completely, once you enroll. In practice, this is done by making the program fee nonrefundable. This was the case in Work Experience USA as well. The only exception was if the organization failed to offer me any kind of job. Then most of the program fee was refunded, but even in that case not all of it.

I made the mistake of not finding out as much as possible about the program before enrolling. A part of this was because Allianssi was involved in Work Experience USA for the first time, so they did not have all the information either. I did not find out until I had already paid the program fee, what kind of jobs I would have to be willing to accept to stay in the program. In other words, I had to include jobs I did not want in my preferences, or I could not be part of the program.
I did not hear anything for a long time and was beginning to get worried. Partly, because I was afraid they could not find a job and partly, because they might find something I would not like. Finally, in April, I got a job offer as a general summer help at the Yosemite National Park. The employees there lodged in housing with tent-ceilings, so I was not very thrilled. Further, the job did not seem to offer me any direct experience as far as my studies were concerned. I asked what happened if I turned the offer down and was told that I would be dropped to the end of the line as far as finding another job was concerned. I decided to risk it and turned down the job offer.
I contacted the organization a while later and asked about the possibility of finding another job. I was shocked when they told me they could not look for another job, because they had already found me a job and I turned it down. This was not what I was told before I turned down the job offer. They told me my only option was to switch to the Independent option, and lose the €350 placement fee, or drop out of the program, and lose the whole €1500 program fee. Naturally, I switched to the Independent option and started looking for a job. I was not particularly happy about this, since I had to study for all my exams and there was not that much time left to find a job.

I tried to use all my contacts or people I knew who knew people in the USA, but I could not find a job this way. Next, I applied through Finnish companies, who have branch offices in the USA, but no luck there either. I also sent my resume and a job application to several companies looking for work through the Internet, but I did not get very many replies. Partly this is understandable, since I was in Finland and the companies did not have the option to interview me personally. So, I ended up leaving to New York without a job, but I was confident I could find something, once I was there. I decided I would stay in New York, since going further would just cost me considerably more and would probably not increase my chances of finding a job that much.

Työ ja saamani opit:
Finding a Job

The employment situation in New York has been very bad ever since the terror strikes on September 11, 2001, so there was a lot of competition as far as finding a job was concerned. My main means for looking for a job were the Internet and the local newspapers. You have to be very careful, because there are a lot of scams out there. An example would be a company charging $20 for the phone call giving the address, where to send your resume. Also, there were a lot of programs were you were promised a good income, but you had to pay the program fee in advance. In the beginning, I was stupid enough to fall for a couple of frauds and lost some money in the process.

I replied to many employment ads by emailing my resume and a cover letter, but I got very few responses. I do not know, if my resume was not good enough or if I just got lost in the crowd. Many people here use professional help in composing their resumes, but I decided to get along on my own.
In about a week, I got a job in direct marketing. I knew that this job would not give me very valuable experience as far as my studies were concerned. I was happy, however, to have found something that would guarantee me at least some income. I continued looking for something else, something more closely related to my area of study, because in addition to the valuable experience of working in another country, I wanted to find a job that would teach me useful things I could use in my future profession.

Finally, about three weeks later, I was invited to an interview by a company I had applied for a job at. I was a bit surprised, because they told me that they were very impressed with my background and resume. The interview went well and I was told to give them a call back later during the week. When I called them back, I was invited to another interview. At the second interview, about a month after I had come to New York, I found out that I had gotten the job. I was happy because the job seemed to be something that I had been looking for.

Work

The company I worked for is called Empire Futures LLC and it is a licensed Commodity Trading Advisor and an Introducing Broker. The company specializes in trading futures and derivatives of futures products. It offers trading and hedging services as well as asset management services. Empire Futures is headquartered in New York and its main office is located in the financial district near Wall Street. The company is small, which gave me an excellent opportunity to have a notable effect on the operations of the company.
I worked very closely with the president of the company, Reuben L Sushman, who is also the owner of the company. I started with filing and other administrative tasks (answering the phones, for example) but once my boss was convinced I was doing a good job, he gave me more demanding tasks as well.
I was in charge of the accounts payable of the company, which was a mess when I got there, so it took quite a lot of work to sort out all the bills the company owed and that were due. In addition, the filing of the company was very disorganized when I started working there. There are strict rules about the documents a Commodity Trading Advisor must keep in file and how the files should be organized, so my first task was to make sure the company met those criteria.

I was responsible for the new accounts of the company, which included setting up the accounts, communicating with the clients and making sure everything was ok with the accounts with our clearing firm (since Empire Futures is an Introducing Broker, it clears its trades through a clearing firm). I also wrote trade tickets and placed actual trades with the clearing firm in the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. However, I did not decide the quantity or the commodity to be purchased, but in some occasion, I did have something to say as far as the price was concerned.

I did business development and was in charge of improving the marketing of the company. I also carried out a number of interesting projects. I researched different ways how the company could make its name better known and get new clients. I composed an analysis about the recent profits and losses the company had made in certain commodities. One project included composing a cost-benefit analysis on how the company could expand its operations to other types of securities as well. The analysis was submitted to a potential investor, who would make up his mind about offering funding for the project largely based on the analysis. I also analyzed different trading strategies on how the company could make profitable trades.
I planned improvements to the company website and implemented part of them. I also provided technical help with the information technology system of the company.

I reviewed the Disclosure Document of the company and made the necessary changes so that it would meet the legal requirements set by the National Futures Association (a Disclosure Document is something every Commodity Trading company has to compose before it can start to market its services to potential clients).
My boss went on vacation for a week in August and during that time, I was responsible for running the company from New York. Of course, I was in contact with my boss via telephone every day.
I also took the Series 3 exam in August, which is an exam every broker has to take in order to become licensed and be able to trade in futures and options. I spent quite a lot of my free time studying for the exam, but it was very interesting and it was definitely worth it. So now, if I choose to pursuit a career in trading futures and options, I have the qualifications and the license to do so.

My boss was very satisfied with my work and was sad to see me leave. The feeling was mutual.

Palkkaus ja verotus:
The job was supposed to be a part-time job at first, but since there was a lot of work to do, I suggested I would work full-time. My boss was very happy when he heard that I would work full time, although he could only pay me for my expenses. So in this sense, the job was a lot like an internship position. I agreed to this, because I decided that the experience was more important to me than salary at this point. The salary I ended up getting was barely enough to cover for the rent and living expenses. I got a traveling grant from HUT, but still the total cost of the summer was considerably more than the income I got during it.
The organization Camp Counselors USA offered a tax service, where they would take care of all the tax matters for a percentage of my potential future tax returns. This service is especially valuable in the United States, where filing taxes is very complicated.

Majoitus:
I was responsible for finding housing for myself and I wanted to have a place ready, once I got to New York. This, of course, included the fact that I would have to agree to take a place without seeing it first and trust the other person to keep it for me. The other person, on the other hand, would have to trust me to keep my word to take the place, and pay for it. The main source I used for looking for a place to live was called Craig's List and it was a website online where people could place different kinds of ads. Finding a place to live was not easy either, because most people were looking for somebody to stay longer than just for the summer. The prices people asked for a single room were very high and I was appalled that I would have to pay as much for a single room in New York than I would pay for an entire apartment in Helsinki. Anyway, I managed to find a room, while still in Finland, and I was able to arrange so I would not have pay any money, before arriving in New York. However, I had to promise to take the place and pay the rent and security deposit the first thing I got there.

The room and the apartment were not at all, what I had expected and basically, I would call the place a dump. It was quite a shock at first, but gradually, I adapted to living there. The room and apartment were not what the person renting it to me had promised. Anyway, being a man of my word, I paid one month's rent and the security deposit, totaling $1100. It had to be paid in cash and I was a bit worried traveling with that much money on me. The rent there was €550 a month. The room did not have a lot of stuff in it, only a bed, desk and to my surprise, a small TV, so I had to buy quite a few things. I knew in advance that I would have to spend a lot of money in the beginning, and not having a job did not make the situation easier. The apartment had a small bathroom, three small bedrooms and a small kitchen. It did not have a living room at all. The kitchen had a fridge and a stove, but no microwave. I ended up buying a used microwave and afterwards I can easily say that it was worth it. The apartment was located in the heart of Harlem in a bad neighborhood. There were very few white people living there, so I was quite concerned about my safety, especially in the beginning.
My roommate was very odd and he was very hard to understand. During my last week he broke into my room, made a mess and went through all my stuff, obviously looking for money. I had some money in the room and also my passport and plane tickets back to Finland, but luckily, he did not find them.

Matkajärjestelyt:
Allianssi was responsible for organizing my flight to New York as close to the date I had asked for as possible. They screwed up with the date at first and I had to move the day I was supposed to leave on twice. This was not very nice, but it gave me some more time to look for a job, while still in Finland, although I could not find a job during that time. I had an open return ticket, which meant that I could reserve my return flight myself to the time of my choice.

New York has quite a good subway system. Although it is old and there are often delays (I was late for work a couple of times because of subway delays), you can get from one place to another fairly easily with the subway. Using the subway is not very cheap, but not terribly expensive either. It costs about the same as you would pay for public transportation in Finland. I decided to purchase an unlimited metro card granting unlimited use of the subway as well as the local buses. There are a lot of buses, but I did not use them all that much, because they are very slow. The amount of traffic in the city is great, which makes moving around on the ground level slow.

Other arrangements

Working in the United States requires a valid visa and a working permit. Fortunately, Allianssi took care of the paperwork to get the visa and the working permit and all I had to do was fill all the applications (and there were very many of them). Applying for a visa costs €50 and that amount is not refunded, even if you would not get the visa.
I had one credit card before leaving and decided to get another one as well to make paying in the USA easier.
There were several arrangements to make, once in the USA, as well. First of all, I could not receive mail in the apartment, so I opened a postal box at a nearby postal office. I did not have a phone either and as the cell phone network is different in the USA, regular European cell phones do not work there. I bought both a cell phone and had a regular telephone installed to my room. Afterwards I would say that buying the cell phone was unnecessary. I had to pay a lot both for incoming and outgoing calls. This is because in the USA cell phones are sold with a plan for one year or longer. Often you get the phone free with a plan. Obviously, I could not take a plan because of my short stay, so my only alternative was to take a so-called prepaid phone. In prepaid you pay everything in advance and the rates are very high compared to a phone with a plan. With prepaid you also have to pay the full price for the phone. The regular telephone did not cost much and the rates on local calls were OK, but the installation was very expensive.

Vapaa-aika:
worked quite long days, so there was not that much free time left. Occasionally I went to the movies, or then just walked around the city. Times Square, the heart of New York, never sleeps and it is packed with people 24 hours a day. On the weekends, I went jogging to central park, which was really nice. In the evenings, I sometimes went to see the nightlife of the city and went to a bar or a club. I also spent some time in Internet Cafés. On my last night I went to see stand-up comedy with a friend of mine. It was fun, although I did not get all the jokes that dealt with nationalities unfamiliar to me.
My roommate was very remote and withdrawn and kept mostly to his room, so we actually did not do anything together. Fortunately, I got another roommate, although only three weeks before I left, and he was a really good person and we ended up doing a lot of fun stuff. I have never made such good friends with any one in such a short time and it was really a pity that I had chance to know him only for such a short time. We agreed to keep in touch and to see each other again some time in the future. Neither of us understood our other roommate and found him very strange. I actually felt bad leaving him alone with the third guy, and hoped that he could find another roommate as soon as possible.

Maan tapa:
The biggest difference in culture between the United States and Europe is that the culture of the United States is composed of numerous different subcultures. This is because the population consists of many different races. People living in Harlem, where I also stayed at, are mostly black people, so it was quite of a culture shock for me to move there. Another big difference is the great number of poor and homeless people. You can barely walk 100 meters without somebody asking you for money.

The customs in the United States are not that different from the customs in Europe, but of course, there are differences. American families are seldom home during the weekends. They leave the city for the weekend and try to get out of the commotion of the city. Many families also spend their weekends in Central Park having a picnic. If the weather is nice, Central park is crowded with people.

The business culture in the United States is very profit-oriented. The companies simply will not undertake any kind of actions, if there is not a chance of profit in sight. It is very common for companies not to pay anything for their summer interns, and there is still hard competition over the internship positions. All the students get, is credits for their studies, yet they seem to be pleased with that. Especially in the financial businesses, people work longer days on the average than in Europe, and the employers expect their employees to work very hard.
It is common for employers of the same company to do something together after the workday, usually go for a drink. I had a good time on several occasions with my boss also after the workday. He took me to see a New York Yankees' baseball game and we had very expensive seats. He also took me to US Open tennis tournament on two different occasions, and once to a polo game as an invited guest. I had not done any of those things before, so it was a lot of fun.

The young population is divided into two different categories as far as alcohol consumption is concerned. There are people, who simply cannot tolerate the idea of drinking alcohol, and people, who think that it is impossible to have a good time without alcohol in the picture.
Going to the movies is common, as is spending the night in a bar, maybe watching sports at the same time, or then just hanging out with friends. Especially in Harlem, it is very common for people to gather outside on the stairs of their houses in the evenings and just talk, or as the case often is, the talking very easily turns into shouting.

Muuta:
Conclusions and Things to Remember

There are a lot of arrangements to be made before going abroad and a considerable amount of time should be put into making them. There is nothing more disadvantageous for your future stay abroad than bad planning and preparation. It is good to remember that you are not alone with making the arrangements and a lot of places offer valuable advice. For example, the Recruiting Services of HUT is a good source of information.
Especially in New York, you have to be very careful, whom you trust. I learned this the hard way. There are a lot of freaks and odd people in the city, people that you have never seen in Finland. Additionally, because the difference in culture, you are also very easily misunderstood.

Going abroad usually is expensive and requires some savings, especially if you are going to a big city like New York. You should be prepared for this and especially if you do not have job before going, you should understand that you will be spending a lot of money before making any.

I can definitely say that for me the summer was an unbelievable experience and it was definitely worth going there. I definitely recommend taking some time to go abroad, and if a city is what you are looking for, you should definitely consider New York. In New York you will certainly find things to do and living in the city is an adventure itself. Especially as I was living deep in Harlem, every time I came home late in the night (the subway I took to get home stopped running at midnight), it was an adventure getting there. In the end, I am happy to say that I SURVIVED HARLEM.

« Takaisin