Where to Find Jobs for Low English Proficiency (LEP) Clients?

This was one of the questions generated in a recent webinar discussing innovative Program Models. Jobs for LEP clients is one of the toughest questions we all face. Sadly, I don’t think there are easy answers or some magic bullet that none of us have discovered yet. I think it takes strategic thinking beyond just identifying employers. One of my previous posts talked about short term or contract jobs to help build skills, for example.

Here are some types of jobs or strategic ideas we’ve been trying:

1. Hotels continue to be the best employers for LEP clients. They offer stability, diversity and training. Over the past year or so, the hotel business in Austin has been very slow. We have continued to stay in touch and provide interpretation and support for former clients working in hotels. It’s paid off now that things are picking up a little. The hotels appreciated our continued partnership and are responding by giving us placement opportunities as they have a few new positions open up. We’ve also been trying to reach out to smaller hotels. That has also worked sometimes, but in other cases the salary, hiring practices or unwillingness to try “new” languages continues to be a barrier.

2. Look for an Industry with “Churn”. A large new employer can have a ripple effect. For example, a very high end hotel is opening in December. We’re trying to place clients there, but are also hoping that other hotels will have openings to replace employees who get a salary increase by moving to the new place. I have mixed feelings about benefiting from immigration enforcement. But, whenever there’s a raid or crackdown on undocumented workers, we usually see jobs become available.

3. Janitorial Companies are a new strategy I’ve been trying. Large janitorial franchises sometimes have regional support offices that could help you contact multiple franchisees at once. I got the idea and found our first contact from a friend who works in a government office building and noticed the janitor uniforms and gave me a contact. We are also working with the service that cleans our own building.

4. Restaurants often seem willing to hire clients for back of the house positions, especially dishwashers. Sometimes, we have good luck with a new restaurant that’s hiring a whole crew. Other times, new restaurants don’t want to risk initial success by making “risky” hiring decisions. It often seems to depend on the hiring or kitchen managers. If they are open to the idea or can be convinced to give it a try, it often works. I haven’t seen any other given for success.

5. Fast Food restaurants work sometimes. It seems to depend on whether or not the have separate back of the house positions or if every employee is expected to have direct client contact. Again, it often depends on finding the right people. We’ve had a couple of successes with multi-outlet franchises that have some kind of regional structure. Little mom and pop local places have sometimes worked, too.

6. Subcontractors to Construction Projects. The Austin Samsung plant is renovating and building an expansion facility. Construction jobs have really been hit by the economy and continue to be extremely competitive. But, we found a couple of sub-contractors doing construction cleaning or other support services who have been great to work with. A few special clients with strong skills got higher level jobs through that whole system of sub-contracts.

7. Religious institutions and ethnic community groups can be great resources, although they can also be somewhat naïve about empowerment and self-sufficiency principles. For example, an informal network of Muslim contacts (former employees, sympathetic clergy and lay leaders) often gives us leads about childcare or tutoring where languages are often seen as a plus rather than a barrier. There was already a professional community from the subcontinent that has become a very strong support for the Nepali refugee community, including internships and on-the-job training opportunities.

8. Don’t be afraid to try to charm your way into a job. Sometimes we all get really negative and wait around for some employer to state that they’ll hire an LEP client. That doesn’t happen often. It’s a hard sell. It’s discouraging for clients and for us when we go to apply and get shut down. But, sometimes, with the right manager, a client who puts their best foot forward and the passion and sales pitch of an Employment Specialist or Job Developer, we get luck and nothing feels better.

9. Look for “the right person”. Several of these ideas mention the importance of finding the right person – someone who is willing to give a client a chance. I’ve had some success looking for those people and then finding out how they can help. I talk to people at world music shows, my returned Peace Corps network, foreign films and ethnic restaurants. If people are interested in international things, I think they’re more likely to be willing to think about hiring a client.

I’m a little worried that you will all scoff at the lack of anything you haven’t already thought of in my list. It would be really great to get ideas from others. For example, we have thought about targeting temporary worker programs and try to convince employers to include our clients. I see lots of landscaping and construction jobs advertised. We haven’t had much luck yet. Any advice out there?