Ask what they did before they came here
A great many people doing low-paid work were engineers, doctors or teachers somewhere their qualifications do not count.
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Why it lands
Credential recognition is a real and brutal barrier, and the result is people driving cabs or cleaning offices who ran hospital departments. Nobody asks, because the job in front of them is assumed to be the whole story. Asking what they did before is often the first time in years anyone has treated them as someone with a history, and occasionally it surfaces something you can actually help with.
How
Ask it as genuine curiosity rather than pity, and take the answer seriously. If there is a route to requalifying, help find it. Do not respond with how terrible it is, which makes them manage your feelings about their life.
Answer if you want. It changes which ideas are shown first.
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