Interview from our Iranian Correspondent
*Contributions from OWAE’s Iranian correspondent, K.F.
1 — How does having an American college education or education in general affect opportunities in Iran? Do they idealize American education over there? Do they value education? How does religion play a part in these opportunities?
Nowadays, an American education is rare in Iran. It would be great to have a degree from the US though; it is quite prestigious. But, there are no relations between the two countries, and it is quite difficult to get a student visa to come to the US.
Only few wealthy people, who usually have relatives in the US, sometimes manage to send their kids to American universities.
The youth dream is coming to the US for school or work since both education and career opportunities are expensive or rare in Iran. Young people, in general, have no clear understanding of America.
These days, most people would need a Masters degree, at a minimum, to make it into the job market. Of course, if your daddy is connected you will have a much easier to time to succeed.
As for religion, connection to the Islamic Republic opens doors: you would make it into good schools and will probably land a job with the government.
2 — What are the typical jobs available there for men and women our age 18-27? Expectations, salary, etc.
It depends: wealthy kids often work for their parents’ business, and stay in the family circle. Poor kids, like me, don’t have a lot of choice. They could join the government if they know how to brown-nose or work for private companies. Overall, the unemployment rate is quite high Iran but family ties minimize the unemployment or underemployment pains.
3 — What does it take to get a job there? Cover-letters? Test? Resume? Referral? Corruption? How hard or easy is it?
Cover letters and resumes are not that important.
Referrals and corruption (connection) are the most important factors in getting a job. It is very difficult to make it into the job market though. It takes lots of brown-nosing unless your daddy is connected.
4 — How has the global recession affected Iran? Or not? Contagion effect?
Iran is isolated from the global economy. But, its stock market was affected in 2008.
The decrease in global oil prices has also badly affected the national budget. About 80 percent of the government revenues come from the oil exports. Iran didn’t save much when a barrel of oil was 140 dollars. Now that the price of oil is about 80 dollars a barrel, the government is in trouble.
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