Google Shopping Still Looking for Fluent Speakers in French, German, Japanese, Portuguese or British English in Pittsburgh for $25/hour Product Specialist/Market Research Contract

Google Shopping (www.google.com/shopping) is looking for candidates with fluency in French, German, Japanese, Portuguese and British English for product specialist/market research positions in Pittsburgh to work on a contract basis for $25 per hour.

Successful applicants will be working with Product and Engineering teams in a fast-paced environment. You will work to enhance the online shopping experience by performing in-depth research, analyzing product specification data, and generating category-specific feature lists for products using highly technical internal tools and processes.

Specifically, hirees will be working with key word searches and writing rules to parse text for meaningful product attributes, researching products and matching features, and writing texts for user-facing materials. A background in Linguistics, Science or Computer Science is desired. Will be working on proprietary tools. Must be able to read, write and speak French, German, Japanese, Portuguese or British English.

The candidate should have a Bachelor's degree with a strong academic record. Master’s degree a plus.
Duration: 12-month contract
Pay Rate: $25 hour
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

If you are interested or know somebody who might be, please contact Jeanne Sharpe at jeanne.sharpe@anzuglobal.com and tell her you saw this GlobalPittsburgh posting.  READ FULL ARTICLE

GlobalPittsburgh to Represent Region's Educational Opportunities at International Forum in Washington, D.C.

GlobalPittsburgh will represent the Greater Pittsburgh Region's educational opportunities and quality of life for international students at the fifth annual EducationUSA Forum in Washington D.C. from June 23-25, 2014. 

Thomas Buell, Jr., Director of GlobalPittsburgh's Study Pittsburgh Initiative, will participate in two sessions on regional educational consortia, and also meet with EducationUSA advisers from around the world to increase awareness of the many higher education assets in the region.

The Study Pittsburgh Initiative was developed by the GlobalPittsburgh Education Partnership (GPEP), a growing consortium of 17 colleges, universities and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs in the Greater Pittsburgh Region to augment international student recruitment and outreach efforts, and to foster global talent retention through welcoming and connecting activities, programs and networking events.

EducationUSA is the U.S. Department of State-supported network of hundreds of advising centers around the world. Each year, EducationUSA advisers provide millions of international students with accurate, comprehensive, and current information about how to apply to U.S. colleges and universities. 

The EducationUSA Forum will bring together 550 university representatives with over 60 EducationUSA regional educational experts and advisers from around the world to discuss strategies for helping international students to study in the United States, and promoting U.S. Study abroad.   

Workshop sessions presented by international education experts, U.S. higher education representatives, and government officials present unique and valuable information on recruiting international students and supporting diversity in international education.

As the premiere study destination for international students, the U.S. education sector represents the fifth largest U.S. services export, and added nearly $25 billion to the U.S. economy in the most recent academic year. 
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Senator Ferlo Introduces Bill Creating State Office of New Americans to Serve Immigrant & Refugee Community

State Senator Jim Ferlo (D-Highland Park) announced the introduction of new legislation that would create a state Office of New Americans to serve as a liaison between the Commonwealth and Pennsylvania’s immigrant community.

"Immigrants provide an important source of energy, innovation, and entrepreneurial activity and I believe that Pennsylvania can do more to be competitive in attracting and keeping this pool of talent," Ferlo said in a press release. "Immigrants face many challenges when they move to a new country, and many of those challenges can be addressed through coordination between state government, local immigrant assistance organizations, and the immigrants themselves."

Ferlo noted that Pennsylvania ranked 42nd among the 50 United States in population growth from April 2010 to July 2013, and that in 2012 Pennsylvania’s immigrants comprised 6 percent of the Commonwealth’s population. Despite slow population growth, Pennsylvania’s increase in residents has a strong immigrant component, and these individuals and families need services that the Commonwealth can provide in order to assist in their transition.

"Nearly 800,000 immigrants live within our borders," Ferlo said. "Immigrants are a vital part of not only our Commonwealth’s history, but also its future. These individuals fill skilled positions throughout our economy. When looking ahead, finding a way to assimilate and welcome immigrants into Pennsylvania’s social and cultural foundation will bring untold benefits."

The proposed legislation will create the Office of New Americans under the Department of Community and Economic Development. The office's role would be to provide internal coordination of services that commonly affect the lives of immigrants, to promote the state abroad to attract skilled workers, and once here, to help integrate immigrants into their local communities.

Ferlo’s bill requests an appropriation of $200,000 for four full-time staff members who will be responsible for the operation and services provided by the Office of New Americans.

"Senator Ferlo’s vision for Pennsylvania recognizes that immigrants bring significant economic and social benefits to our Commonwealth," said Peter Gonzales, President and CEO of the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians. "Equally important, his proposal recognizes that lifelong Pennsylvanians also benefit when newcomers are effectively incorporated into our communities."

The legislation will also create the Advisory Board to the Office of New Americans that will provide advice to the Governor and the office on how to best attract, retain, and integrate immigrants. The office will be composed of key department secretaries, or their designees, and individuals from several non-governmental sectors with expertise on immigration policy. The Board will be composed of 20 members appointed by the Governor.

"The proposed legislation creating an Office for New Americans in Pennsylvania is critical to growing a diverse workforce and an economically competitive region and state," said Melanie Harrington, President and CEO of Vibrant Pittsburgh.

"We provide a broad array of new arrival services to immigrants, internationals, and other diverse individuals through our Welcome Center and this important legislation will provide us with a partner and champion at the state level helping to increase the talent pool, strengthen the social and cultural environment of the region, and ensure our future economic prosperity.

Ferlo made the announcement in conjunction with the Global Great Lakes Convening held in Pittsburgh today. The event attracted representatives of more than 20 cities and organizations in the upper midwest and northeast regions working on immigration-related economic development issues.

A complete and detailed list of the responsibilities of the Office of New Americans is available in the Senator’s co-sponsorship memo. Click here to download the co-sponsorship memo. Once introduced, the bill will await referral to the appropriate Senate committee. READ FULL ARTICLE

City of Asylum/Pittsburgh to Present World Premiere of New Musical by Czech Performance Group

Pittsburgh-based City of Asylum (COA) will present the world premiere of LOST/FOUND: Finding Refuge in Pittsburgh, an original work by the directors of the Prague-based theatrical collective Archa Theatre and Allstar Refugee Band, artists-in-residence at City of Asylum during June, who have been working with local refugee communities.

Performances will take place on June 28 and 29 in open-air spaces near the Alphabet City™ Tent, COA’s pop-up event space at 318 Sampsonia Way; performances begin at 6 p.m. and the event will culminate in an 8 p.m. concert by the Allstar Refugee Band.  Both the play and the concert are free, but reservations are recommended and may be made online at cityofasylumpittsburgh.org/events.

LOST/FOUND: Finding Refuge in Pittsburgh is the work of Jana Svobodová, artistic director of the Archa Theatre, along with director Phillippe Schenker, based on stories gathered from within Pittsburgh’s refugee communities. Original music is by Michael Romanyshyn and the Allstar Refugee Band.  Members of Pittsburgh’s refugee communities, as well as actors, musicians, and performers from the wider community, will also participate in the event.

The project is part of the collective’s Community-based Artist Residency at City of Asylum, a program that embeds international artists, writers, and musicians in the community to create an original project that tells the community’s story in a unique way.  A number of residencies are planned for 2014 and 2015.  The program is underwritten by generous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, ARTPlace America, and The Trust for Mutual Understanding.

The LOST/FOUND project commenced in February with a two-week story-gathering phase in which Svoboda, Schenker, and Romanyshyn worked directly with individuals from war-torn areas such as Iraq, Congo, and Bhutan, identified with the assistance of area resettlement agencies. During the month of June, the full 10-member collective is in residency, rehearsing and refining the production. As part of the residency, the Allstar Refugee Band will appear at the annual U.N. World Refugee Day celebration, to be held on Friday, June 20 at Pittsburgh’s Market Square.

About Archa Theatre/Allstar Refugee Band
A collective of musicians and actors from Prague, a number of whom are refugees from Kurdistan, China, and other countries, Archa Theatre and the Allstar Refugee Band explore ways to resolve social problems through music and theater. Their work in European refugee camps and minority communities includes the acclaimed “Dance through the Fence” (2008) and “Jesters, Spies, and Presidents” (2010). This is their first appearance in the U.S.A.

“With this project Archa Theatre has crossed the boundary of pure artistic theatre towards social and documentary drama. It is a worthwhile and important theatrical enterprise.”—Vladimír Hulec, Reflex/exonline

“The likeable purpose of the authors was to give freedom to disparate acting
temperaments and talents, which created a chemical ‘supra-theatrical’ fusion, which at times crackles and sizzles in fascinating ways.” — Jiří Peňás, Lidové noviny

About City of Asylum
Founded in 2004, City of Asylum is a model for arts-based community development, bringing writers, readers and neighbors together through global literature and cultural exchange. Located on Sampsonia Way in Pittsburgh’s Northside, City of Asylum’s campus of redeveloped houses serve both as homes for exiled writers and as public artworks.  It has presented more than 250 authors and musicians from 42 countries in free readings and concerts. Sampsonia Way, the publishing arm of City of Asylum, specializes in banned books in translation and anthologies of contemporary writing from countries where free speech is under threat; sampsoniaway.org, its online journal of free speech, literature, and justice provides  a virtual home for persecuted writers and serves a growing global audience online.
A full schedule of events is online at cityofasylumpittsburgh.org/events.


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Ten Reasons Why the U.S. Should Welcome Immigrants - Silicon India

A version of this article appeared on the website Silicon India. You can read the full post at http://www.siliconindia.com/immigration/viewpoint/10-reasons-why-us-should-welcome-immigrants-vid-75.html/1

Ten Reasons Why the U.S. Should Welcome Immigrants

1. They Boost the Economy

Immigrants generate revenue which works as a direct fiscal benefit for the country. George Borjas, the nation's leading immigration economist, estimates that the presence of immigrant workers makes the U.S. economy an estimated 11 percent larger ($1.6 trillion) each year.

2. Entrepreneurial By Nature

Immigrants are 30 percent more likely to start their own business venture than non-immigrants, according to a study conducted by Small Business Administration. This creates jobs that complement those of native-born workers. Immigrant-owned businesses employ an estimated 4.7 million people, said a survey by the Fiscal Policy Institute, and these small businesses generated more than $776 billion annually.

3. Immigrants Create Job Opportunities

Immigrants create jobs for native-born workers because they tend to have different levels of education, work in different occupations, specialize in different tasks. Economist Giovanni Peri says that “immigrants expand the U.S. economy’s productive capacity, stimulate investment, and promote specialization that in the long run boosts productivity,”

4. Immigrants are Innovative

Immigrants are synonymous with innovation and they are responsible for several start ups in the U.S. They have started 25 percent of public U.S. companies that were backed by venture capital investors, according to the National Venture Capital Association. This list includes Google, eBay, Yahoo!, Sun Microsystems, and Intel.

5. Deportation is Expensive for the Government

Expelling immigrants from the country would cost the government $2.6 trillion since it costs the government $8,000 to deport each person, says CNBC. So it becomes essential for the government to plan the deportation wisely and include only convicts with repeated criminal records.

6. Immigrants Pay Into Social Security

Immigration reform would help boost Social Security because a higher number of legal workers would mean more people contributing payroll taxes to its trust fund. An analysis by the Social Security administration reported that undocumented workers contribute to $15 billion to social security.

7. Immigrants Create Demand for Local Consumer Goods.

The Immigration Policy Center estimates that the purchasing power of Latinos and Asians, many of whom are immigrants, alone will reach $1.5 trillion and $775 billion, respectively, by 2015.

8. Immigrants More Likely to be High-Skilled Scientists and Engineers.

Immigrants represent slightly fewer than 14 percent of the resident working population holding a bachelor’s degree or a higher degree, but among this group they represent 29 percent of scientists, according to the National Survey of College Graduates. They also represent 50 percent of PhDs working in math and computer science occupations, and 57 percent of PhDs working in engineering occupations.

9. Immigrants Boost Tourism and Culture in America

Immigrants also add to tourism and help in cultural growth of the country. Travel and tourism represent the largest service-export industry in the U.S. China, Brazil, and India alone represent approximately 40 percent of the world’s population and by 2017 the number of travelers from those countries is expected to increase by 259 percent, 83 percent, and 47 percent respectively stated reports by the White House.

10) Immigrants Create Their Own Jobs

According the U.S. Department of Labor, 7.5 percent of the foreign born are self-employed compared to 6.6 percent among the native-born.

Source: Silicon India

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Google Pittsburgh Seeking Japanese Speaker for Product Specialist Contract Position - Pay $25 per hour

Product Specialist (Japanese) with Google Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Recruiters for Google Pittsburgh are looking for people with fluency in Japanese. The candidate should have a Bachelor's degree with a strong academic record. Master’s degree a plus. Must have native or near-native proficiency of Japanese or with N1 reading certification with strong reading skills. Advanced computer and Internet skills and natural comfort with technology. Does not require ability to program or develop software. Intellectual curiosity, along with excellent research and independent problem solving skills. Candidate will be working with online shopping application doing research, fact finding and interfacing with customers worldwide. Please contact Eva Light at eva.light@anzuglobal.com.

This is a full-time (40 hrs) contract position for 6-12 months and pays $25.00 per hour.  READ FULL ARTICLE

GlobalPittsburgh Volunteer Sees International Side of Pittsburgh, Learns Valuable Office Skills & Etiquette

Kevin Tang is a recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, having studied Ecology & Evolution and Urban Studies. He spent the past semester working as a volunteer with GlobalPittsburgh. He wrote this account of his experience.

Like many undergraduates, I had no clue as to what I wanted to do after I graduate, and, to be honest, I still don’t know. Throughout my undergraduate career, I had participated in a variety of fields, including scientific research and volunteering with local schools, hospitals, and nonprofits. Given my lax senior year, I began to look for interesting volunteer and work opportunities to better utilize my free time.

Kevin Tang

In my search for such an opportunity, I came across GlobalPittsburgh. I had participated in something similar to their GlobalPittsburghCONNECT program at school. However, what I found interesting was the International Leaders Program. I had not seen anything like it in Pittsburgh and thought it would be a neat opportunity to be a part of. The application process was fairly straightforward and I was accepted. While I had applied for an internship position, other jobs interfered with working times, so I offered to remain a volunteer instead.

Honestly, it was a bit strange to work in an office setting; I had always been data crunching, conducting experiments, or moving about. Now I sit at a computer, send e-mails, and answer phone calls to help develop programs for international visitors. Not that I minded; it was refreshing and relaxing to send out e-mails and wait for responses along with compiling and organizing data for GlobalPittsburgh.

While that consisted of a major part of my time, I was also occupied with opportunities more unique to GlobalPittsburgh. Matchmaking international visitors with homestay hosts and researching foundations that could potentially provide grants allowed me to see the gears and cogs of GlobalPittsburgh. While these things may seem small, being able to see everything come into fruition felt pretty fulfilling.

However, the feeling of dread came when the phone began to ring. While Cathy Shader, a fellow volunteer, or Yiqun Sun, an intern, were usually at the front desk with me to handle them, there were several moments when I had to answer. I rarely ever make phone calls, and if I did, it was to someone I knew well. Maybe it’s a generational thing since texting came about. But when I was alone at the desk and the phone rang, it was truly an awkward experience, at least in the beginning. While greeting was usually not an issue, what followed was usually stutters and “Uhh.” But the more calls that I made, the more confident I became, and eventually I felt I had become pretty competent. Additionally, people are more forgiving and patient than one might think, so do not be intimidated by the phone if you are like me.

Word of advice to others my age: practice your phone skills. Phone calls are the quickest and most direct form of long-distance contact, meaning they are still relevant even as technology advances. You will never know when you will need it, whether it is for work or a phone interview. In fact, I had several successful interviews over the phone as I applied for jobs and programs for after I graduate.

Overall, I felt my time with GlobalPittsburgh was great opportunity in understanding how a globally- and nationally-oriented nonprofit organization operated and gaining skills in an office setting. The amount of knowledge and time the staff (Gail Shrott, Tom Buell, and Nadya Kessler) invested in researching and compiling resources and interacting with organization members was truly admirable. I only regret that I dedicated more time to working at GlobalPittsburgh to better understand how the organization operates and to see parts of the program while they are in progress.

If anyone is looking to gain experience in a globally-connected organization at the local level, whether it be as a volunteer or intern, look no further than GlobalPittsburgh.

Kevin Tang will be working at Phipps Conservatory as a Horticulture Intern during the summer and will participate with PULSE, a program dedicated to cultivating a community of young servant leaders to transform Pittsburgh by partnering with local nonprofits and living with other participants, during the 2014-2015 year.

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