A profile on Rachid Zarhouni
Many professionals who have certifications or higher education degrees outside of the United States are faced with the challenge of not being recognized or qualified for jobs in the states. In order to sustain a living, they are forced either to recertify themselves or change careers in order to quickly obtain a job. Many choose to do the latter in order to make a living.
Rachid Zarhouni is a Moroccan immigrant currently working at Waltham Properties. He arrived in the United States (U.S.) with his wife and kids through a lottery system in Morocco. Despite holding a Master’s degree in climatology from his home country, Zarhouni was unable to make use of the degree in the U.S. To make a living and provide for his family that emigrated with him, he had to endure a job training program to specialize in something different from his education.
Knowing that he had to explore a different career path, Zarhouni initially looked into pursuing a career in computer science. “So actually, I fix computers, I fix phones, and I’m handy,” he said. However, pursuing computer science would take three years of being a full-time student. With a family to provide for, it was not an ideal option for him.
After consulting with the Asian American Civic Association (AACA) to explore his options, he found that the Building Energy Efficient Maintenance Skills (BEEMS) program suited him. After learning more about what a career in computer science looked like, he realized it was not the kind of job he wanted. “Maybe if I did computer science, I’m not going to be as happy as now,” said Zarhouni. Rather than sit around in front of a computer all day, he prefers to work with his hands. Moreover, the BEEMS program only required half-day attendance and would only take him six months to complete, which is far more manageable for the father of two.
Upon completing the program, he had a network of people who helped him get jobs here and there, until he landed his current position at Waltham Properties. He has been working at the company for almost two years now. He and his department/team are constantly kept busy even despite the pandemic, working on maintaining the hundreds of properties owned by the company. “Working here is like an academy, I am learning more, and one year is like five years,” said Zarhouni. “It’s like a family there, it’s a great community.” The pandemic has not affected their work at all because he said, “there is always something to fix.”
Though happy with his current job, Zarhouni hopes to one day start his own company. “But it’s difficult because labor is expensive,” he said. As he continues to learn at his job, he is happy to have come across the job training program he graduated from. Zarhouni said, “It has really changed my life a lot.”
