By Poliana de Oliveira*
Growing up as an immigrant child is funny. Especially in the US where t here are tons of us. You are raised at home with a set of principles that aren’t necessarily those of the country you live in and so you think it’s funny when people at school have different upbringings than yourself. You go home and your mother is horrified by the Americanos, and their upbringings. And then when you get a little older and have to choose a profession, your parents who work in blue collar (or no collar for that matter) jobs, want you to work somewhere where you can make money and excel financially. And of course, do something that’s considered honorable where they come from so your family “back home,” can be proud of you as well.
My parents are from a town in Minas Gerais, a state in Brazil, where there aren’t too many career choices available, so you’re well employed if you major in Law and get a comfortable government job or if you’re some sort of doctor. The town I grew up in in Connecticut, in the United States wasn’t very different, except there were the few people here and there who worked high paying jobs in big business in New York City.
Going to college in and of itself was a big step for me in my family since neither of my parents had a chance to attend themselves. But you can imagine my family’s confusion when I told them I was majoring in International Relations. I’ve always enjoyed studying sociology and different cultures and how this influences politics and the economy… which in other words means I’m pretty ecletic in my interests and didn’t know what else to major in at the time. My internships in college ranged from working at NGO’s, to think tanks, to medium-sized international services companies. I’ve also been really interested in technology and the internet, working with this a little in some of my internships, but had never considered it as a career choice (I’m foreshadowing here…).
Since I majored in IR though, and certain circumstances made my post-grad life choices make me lean towards moving to Brazil, I figured working anywhere in Brazil would automatically be IR for me since it was sooo “international.” My parents, still stuck on the “making money, but being happy with what you do,” deal, were convinced I’d find some job in international trade in some multinational, right?
First of all – NOT in my hometown. Which was tough. I have a huge family here and would love to be close to them geographically, but any major city is at least a 5 hour drive away and I’m a sucker for big cities… So I decided on São Paulo where an aunt of mine lives so I’d not only be in the biggest of cities in Brazil, I’d also be at least close to someone in the family. After a number of interviews and networking, I found myself in an online advertising agency working in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) where the oldest person in the agency is probably 40, if that. Nada a ver, right?
Needless to say, I have grown to love my job and realized I have a true passion for technology, communications and the internet. Yet, I still find myself being challenged by my family everyday because of this career choice. First of all, I didn’t start off with the best of salaries – which only makes sense because I didn’t know anything about SEO when I started. So at least once a month, during a phone call from my parents who have no contact with the internet at work and are both starting to get on e-mails and looking things up online, asking me what it is I do really, and have I started to look for something else that’s in “my major,” and pays better. The whole working in your field thing is SO Brazilian.
Then I go to my hometown and have to explain to EVERYONE in my family, most of whom don’t even have contact with computers, that I “provide consulting services to websites to be optimized for search engine ranking positions.” Showing them the article I recently published on SEO is yet another adventure. So imagine their blank stares followed by a, “Why don’t you try for a government job where you’re guaranteed job security?” After this I usually just take a deep breath and say, “Well, I’m in a pretty new field and it’s growing more and more each year, so I think I’ll pass for now.” This response is generally accepted, and I just tell my grandmothers they can tell people I work in publicity.
Dealing with cross generational differences in career decisions can be difficult. Add cross cultural to that equation, and the difficulty becomes even greater. But, since I’ve always had to deal with the cultural part, the career part is a piece of cake compared to what I had to deal with growing up. Plus, think on the bright side of things, if your family has no idea what it is you do for a living, there’s no giving their two cents on how to do it!
*Polyana de Oliveira is Brazilian, but raised in Connecticut, USA. After 19 years and graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree from Providence College in Global Business and Relations she relocated back to Brazil to find herself in São Paulo, SP. She is currently working as an SEO Analyst at Media Contacts Brazil and teaches private English classes to fellow coworkers. In her spare time, Polyana enjoys weekend trips to the beach, writing for her blogs (Disseram que Eu Voltei Americanizada and São Paulo City), going out dancing with friends and especially exploring all of São Paulo’s gastronomical wonders. You can follow her on Twitter @_polyana.
