# Stereotypic occupations for Americans in other countries? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 19, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypic-occupations-for-americans-in-other-countries/676733 "2013-12-19T16:33:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypic-occupations-for-americans-in-other-countries/676733/1 "2013-12-19T16:33:07Z")
In the US there are certain occupations that seem to attract people of certain nationalities (or at least that is the stereotype). For instance, if I imagine a nail technician, mini-mart owner, dry-cleaner, or taxi driver I tend to imagine a stereotypical person. Does this happen in other countries with American expats? ---
**Author:** ![Cerealbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Cerealbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerealbox)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypic-occupations-for-americans-in-other-countries/676733/2 "2013-12-19T16:42:03Z")
Professional eating contest ‘athlete.’ ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypic-occupations-for-americans-in-other-countries/676733/3 "2013-12-19T16:45:37Z")
English teacher is probably a common one. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypic-occupations-for-americans-in-other-countries/676733/4 "2013-12-19T16:55:55Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > English teacher is probably a common one. Heh. My nephew worked (with zero experience or education) as an English teacher in China. Then he got thrown out of the country. Seems his sketchy-as-hell employer had gotten my nephew a tourist visa instead of a work visa, and it had expired. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypic-occupations-for-americans-in-other-countries/676733/5 "2013-12-19T17:27:34Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > English teacher is probably a common one. That’s what I came on to say. Most of the folks I know who’ve done long stints overseas were either military or engineers. Ironic, since we import so many engineers to the US, but hey. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypic-occupations-for-americans-in-other-countries/676733/6 "2013-12-19T17:42:32Z")
Military. I met perhaps a dozen Americans when I lived in the UK and all of them were military personnel or contractors, except my brother’s university flatmate. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypic-occupations-for-americans-in-other-countries/676733/7 "2013-12-19T18:17:47Z")
The majority of American expats here - myself included - are working for O&G companies. The rest are teachers as well as the people associated with the US embassy. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypic-occupations-for-americans-in-other-countries/676733/8 "2013-12-19T18:35:54Z")
I agree with military, although I used to work with a lot of Americans who were fund managers and other financial service professionals. One of them demanded that I petitioned the network team to allow audio streaming so that he could listen to Rush Limbaugh at his desk. My American/Canadian wife runs a voluntary project in the area surrounding Edinburgh. There are, er, not many Americans in her field. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypic-occupations-for-americans-in-other-countries/676733/9 "2013-12-19T20:22:37Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > English teacher is probably a common one. Another is tour guide for Americans visiting the foreign country, or owner/operator of an American-style restaurant or bar. In other words, something to take advantage of your American-ness. ---
**Author:** ![jrsone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jrsone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrsone)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypic-occupations-for-americans-in-other-countries/676733/10 "2013-12-19T21:07:22Z")
[Apparently it is English Teacher](http://blog.brokerfish.com/2012/04/18/13-best-paid-expat-jobs/) ---
**Author:** ![Cerealbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Cerealbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerealbox)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypic-occupations-for-americans-in-other-countries/676733/11 "2013-12-19T22:01:30Z")
> [@jrsone](#): > > [Apparently it is English Teacher](http://blog.brokerfish.com/2012/04/18/13-best-paid-expat-jobs/) That list doesn’t really hit the mark, in my opinion. Nail salon worker is one of the worst paid jobs in the US. That doesn’t make it any less associated with Asians. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypic-occupations-for-americans-in-other-countries/676733/12 "2013-12-20T04:18:08Z")
Millionaire. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypic-occupations-for-americans-in-other-countries/676733/13 "2013-12-20T05:21:53Z")
The military is for the US military, though, and many of them seem to live in their own bubble rather than in the host country: living in the base, shopping in the base, kids go to school in the base… don’t they get Islander Syndrome or something? The most common occupation for those working for local companies seems to be ESL; engineers and managers are often found in subsidiaries of American companies (a sore point for many locals when the location happens to have qualified people that companies from other countries are happy to hire); consultants are common in international projects when the mother company is American. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypic-occupations-for-americans-in-other-countries/676733/14 "2013-12-20T13:37:22Z")
The American ex-pats I know in the UK are all in white-collar jobs, but across various industries, from IT to financial services, to academia. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypic-occupations-for-americans-in-other-countries/676733/15 "2013-12-20T16:41:48Z")
Settler. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypic-occupations-for-americans-in-other-countries/676733/16 "2013-12-20T18:04:43Z")
Journalist. ---
**Author:** ![NiceGuyJack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/niceguyjack/32/3069_2.png) [@NiceGuyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NiceGuyJack)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereotypic-occupations-for-americans-in-other-countries/676733/17 "2013-12-20T23:52:30Z")
In Singapore, most Americans I know are business men, followed by English teachers. Then once in a while the US navy shows up and you have all these young sailors in civilian clothes in town roaming around.