# Living in SA



## karencj1 (Apr 4, 2009)

I am trying to get info on what it is like living in SA if you are from the United States? How is the job market for Americans?


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## Halo (May 8, 2008)

karencj1 said:


> I am trying to get info on what it is like living in SA if you are from the United States? How is the job market for Americans?


It matters not where you come from although having ANY accent makes you more of a target.


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## Klebe (Dec 29, 2008)

karencj1 said:


> I am trying to get info on what it is like living in SA if you are from the United States? How is the job market for Americans?


We currently have a huge influx of American and UK job applicants in the financial sector due to the worldwide recession. IMHO employers have the luxury of cherry picking, so unless you're excellent you'll find it difficult to get a position.

I get the impression that the entertainment and hospitality industries are still a viable options for foreigners, but this is not based on first hand knowledge. 

Living in SA is worse than living in fully developed first world countries, but better than India or China which are at a similar stage of development - economically and/or socially. Cost of living is very high, but housing and schooling is cheap. You cannot get by without a car (very expensive comparatively), but petrol is cheap. People are mostly friendly and interested, with large vibrant expat communities in most of the major cities. Crime is a problem, as you'd expect in a country with high unemployment, so you'll have to become more aware of your personal safety when moving here. Climate is wonderful, but if you're not an outdoors kind of person, you'll find the lack of reliable telecommunication services disappointing. Great eateries and open air markets, lovely weekend getaways, overall good standard of hygiene in public places are some of the pleasantries I enjoy about living here. 

Good luck finding a job


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## karencj1 (Apr 4, 2009)

*Reply*

Thanks for the information.




Klebe said:


> We currently have a huge influx of American and UK job applicants in the financial sector due to the worldwide recession. IMHO employers have the luxury of cherry picking, so unless you're excellent you'll find it difficult to get a position.
> 
> I get the impression that the entertainment and hospitality industries are still a viable options for foreigners, but this is not based on first hand knowledge.
> 
> ...


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## Americano (Mar 3, 2009)

I've been here nearly 20 years (originally from the US east coast) and other than a cursory 'Where are you from?', or a chide about 'wader' versus 'wah-tuh', have never had any hassles about my accent and it certainly would NOT make one more (or less, for that matter) as a 'target' than anyone else. There are loads of different accents all around SA, in parts of Joburg's eastern suburbs you'll hear more British or Greek or Portuguese accents than South African ones! There are around 16,000 Americans who live here permanantlly. As an American, you'll find a sense of familiarity regarding many SA cities, e.g. sprawling suburbia, but with a subtle dose of British flavour and a heavy dose of African flavour. My take is that it's kind of like if Kenya, England and southern California put into a blender. The job market is not particularly different just because you're American (any more, or less, than if you were British or German, or a skilled migrant from elsewhere).


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## karencj1 (Apr 4, 2009)

Thanks for the information. I am currently living in Michigan and I tried of the winter. What type of employment industry is in heavy demand there? Is the job market slow or is it growing? Had you visited SA before you decided to relocated?





Americano said:


> I've been here nearly 20 years (originally from the US east coast) and other than a cursory 'Where are you from?', or a chide about 'wader' versus 'wah-tuh', have never had any hassles about my accent and it certainly would NOT make one more (or less, for that matter) as a 'target' than anyone else. There are loads of different accents all around SA, in parts of Joburg's eastern suburbs you'll hear more British or Greek or Portuguese accents than South African ones! There are around 16,000 Americans who live here permanantlly. As an American, you'll find a sense of familiarity regarding many SA cities, e.g. sprawling suburbia, but with a subtle dose of British flavour and a heavy dose of African flavour. My take is that it's kind of like if Kenya, England and southern California put into a blender. The job market is not particularly different just because you're American (any more, or less, than if you were British or German, or a skilled migrant from elsewhere).


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## Americano (Mar 3, 2009)

Yes, I had (twice) visited SA, first time for a month, second time for 4 months - along with a few other options I was considering. Any top-end skills would pretty much be in demand here. My take is personal (dinner party stuff and opinion, as opposed to 'cold, hard' facts), so I'm afraid you'd have to do more 'real' research but from what I've seen and heard I think there's a shortage of medical, engineering, architectural and town-planning (and related) skills. Medically, the urban areas (Joburg, Cape Town, Durban, etc) would be oversaturated, rural areas and smaller towns (Nelspruit, Kimberley, Garden Route) not so. The SA government contracted hundreds of Cuban doctors years back to fill rural posts - many have since emigrated here and have set up private practices in smaller cities (places the size of Grand Rapids and smaller). 

Looking ahead, I think anything in the construction, real estate, mobile phone technologies and tourism industries would have quite a good run in the longer-term future. Also, many of the creative industries (film, advertising, etc) here are also booming as a lot of international and pan-African work is being done here (e.g. the Pringles TV ads in the US are made here although not flighted here; so that scene with the college students jumping around the 'Ivy League' campus is actually the University of Cape Town). You'd really need to visit a country you're considering moving to - it's not like moving inter-state (which I'm sure you know!). I found the paperwork was a bit of a challenge (and that's an understatement) so you'd need a really good immigration lawyer, like Cape Town's Gary Eisenberg & Associates, if keen. In the end, for me, it was very much worth it. 

And, not to put you off, but if it's only the weather (and I know, having lived in upstate New York for many years!), why not the sunbelt? Florida, Georgia (where I've also lived - and hated), California, Texas, etc? From my annual US holiday experiences, the Carolinas are very pleasant, if a bit slow - but very nice along the coast. I'll be honest: you'd need far more 'oomph' to stick it out in SA besides the desire for good weather. You'd also need an entrepreneurial streak, the desire to make a difference in the world, a sense of connection with humanity, lateral thinking, passion and zest etc. For 'pure suburban' commuter types (work-eat-sleep-buy-stuff - repeat), it can be a challenge, especially Jo'burg. It's a pretty lusty country, so probably better suited for quirkier, spirited types. All of the Americans who I've met here who are really content and settled have a few things in common: most run their own businesses (as do I) and, very interestingly, most are first-generation Americans whose parents settled in the US from elsewhere so they tend to have a strong sense of 'otherness' than simply 'American' (like one friend in Cape Town whose parents are Russian-born - although she grew up on the US west coast, she's very plugged in to her Russian culture too). And now that I think it through, I'm realising that's the one thing they all have in common. Every single American I know here, who's been here more than 10 years and feels settled, has 'foreign' parents. Myself included. I actually can't think of one who doesn't share that heritage trait, with the exception of an art gallery owner. Strange!


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