Importance of Volunteers in Job Development

I recently attended a dinner for LIRS affiliate volunteers of the year. I was an inspiring night and really highlighted the importance of volunteers in successful resettlement programs. They play no bigger role than the one the play in job development. Volunteers can and should be utilized in pre-employment classes as teachers, in job development by providing transportation to and from interviews, and as community members networking with colleagues to strengthen ties to employers and job openings. Finding retired business men and women to help job coach clients can be extremely beneficial to refugees' success in the workplace. Mainly, volunteers being a set of skills and expertise to the employment service arena that job developers may not necessarily have. The more individuals we have supporting our clients the faster they can integrate and become self-sufficient. Go to: www.volunteermatch.org to find connect your needs to a volunteer looking to support a great cause like ours!

Harry Says...

I wanted to introduce you to Harry Crawford. He’s the Employment Program Manager at Caritas – my boss. He has more than 25 years of experience in workforce development. And, he’s very wise. Lots of times in meetings with outside agencies, I have to laugh because everyone ends up taking notes while Harry explains something we all need to understand. Two pieces of his wisdom are counterintuitive, but they always guide us through difficult aspects of working with clients, so I wanted to share them with you.

Some Clients Have to Hit the Wall: Sometimes, no matter what you do, clients have a hard time reconciling themselves to taking the first available, entry level job. When we’re feeling stress and worry about their family’s financial stability, Harry reminds us that some clients have to face a crisis before they can internalize the need to start in a job that they may feel is beneath them. When they run out of options and money, they are forced to accept the realities of US work culture and that’s the best thing for them in the long term.

Finding a Job is a Numbers Game: The more job leads we have, the more referrals we make. The more referrals we make, the more placements we can count. Clients often get really frustrated and discouraged by applying for lots of jobs and never even getting a response. Practice strengthens their skills and, eventually, if they apply enough places, someone will call and they’ll get a job.

Using LMI to Promote Refugee Workers

In tune with local labor market trends, the Idaho Office of Refugee Resettlement and the Idaho Department of Labor sponsored a forum on hiring refugees in healthcare. Across the state, most healthcare occupations -- including Registered Nurses and Nursing Aides -- are projected to grow by at least 6% in the coming year. Forum participants learned about the strong talent pool of potential employees while also gaining more understanding about the supports that local refugee employment services can bring to their recruitment and retention efforts.



Boise State Public Radio produced a nice story about the event that highlights three refugees who are contributing their skills and talents to Boise's healthcare industry. Listen here.

Request for Advice about Public Speaking and Community Outreach

My job description includes raising community awareness. There was discussion in last month’s Program Models webinar that touched on the role of Job Developer as more appropriate when focused on employers rather than skill building. There was mention of a joint effort to raise awareness through public speaking engagements and stronger outreach to business and community groups. Our development office advised me to target associations (like restaurants, small artisan food producers, hotels). I have spoken at the local hotel HR professionals association and it was very useful.

I’m just beginning to collect ideas on this topic to plan how I can do more in this direction. I don’t have much to say about it and could really use some advice. What groups showed the best response? How to you target your presentation? What kind of follow-up helps make the most of public outreach? Do you make a specific ask or just brief about refugees and employment services?

I really hope others can give me some good ideas and advice. Thanks.

It’s now been almost a year since Caritas of Austin was able to initiate my position as full time Job Developer. With this blog, I want to share what we’re learning and strengthen our efforts by learning from others.

Recertification program to start in San Diego

RefugeeWorks in beginning its pilot project in San Diego this month. We are partnering with the Welcome Back Center of San Diego to help 30 refugees become recertified in their careers as medical personnel or engineers. In this project, participants will receive vocational ESL, extensive case management, and recertification classes. Once participants complete the course they will receive help with obtaining a job in their respective fields. Welcome Back is creating partnerships with local businesses to ensure job prospects once the the participant is ready to look for employment.

We are excited to get this underway and look forward to sharing our success stories and lessons learned.

Are there other recertification programs going on in your area? RefugeeWorks would like to know.

Thanks,
Jonathan

Part Two: Starting a Job Club

We were all excited about job club when we first got it started. (For details of our start-up thought processes, refer to Part One posted on September 21). We thought through all the details and believe it can achieve multiple objectives. Personally, I was happy to have more direct client contact and a chance to facilitate training. The staff of the public Library where we meet has been supportive and I’ve had no problem preparing enough fresh job leads and other useful materials for each meeting time. (Look for more details about some of those materials in Part Three.)

Despite these great plans, it’s gotten off to a rough start. I’ve had lots of reading time in the library. A total of 9 clients have attended, despite more numerous referrals. We knew it might take some time to build, but after 2 months, we met to reevaluate and decide what changes to make. We have weekly program meetings and spent a good portion of one of those talking about changes.

What strikes me as I reviewed this before posting is how interconnected job development is with everything else about employment services. It takes team work and an adjustment in the way we all work. Here are the changes we decided to implement:

1. I will stay a whole hour in case someone shows up toward the end of the published time. A couple of times, clients came after I had left. We thought reliability and consistency would encourage clients to come back.
2. The Employment Specialists will pay more attention to referrals to be sure that all eligible clients know about the opportunity.
3. The most important decision was to include attendance in our compliance criteria for receiving Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA). Clients are required to attend once a week if they have been referred and to call their Employment Specialist in advance if they cannot attend. Failure to comply will feed into our already-established sanction process.
   

Since these changes, attendance has definitely picked up. We now help an average of 9 clients per week – some of them repeat attendees. The feedback clients give their Employment Specialists has been positive. We have talked about a variety of topics, including how to read want ads, when to schedule cold calls, how to attach resumes to email and how to complete on-line applications.

I have developed several additional handouts based on questions and requests from clients. In the third and final post about Starting a Job Club, I’ll focus on some of them in case others could use some of those materials.

It would be great to hear from others who are doing something similar in their Employment Programs.

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?

Investing in Lower-Wage Workers Pays Off According to New National Report

A new report from the Insight Center for Community and Economic Development analyzes the benefits of investing in lower-skill workers. Titled "From Hidden Costs to High Returns: Unlocking the Potential of the Lower-Wage Workforce," the report includes data from interviews with nearly five dozen American companies. From the report --

... employer after employer described deliberate, sometimes multifaceted efforts to train lower-wage workers, develop skills, build loyalty and quality-consciousness, and create opportunity for wage increases. In every case, without exception, the companies recommended these same efforts to other employers — often citing measurable business benefits and bottom-line returns as evidence that these ideas are not just altruistic, but fundamentals of sound personnel management.

You can download the full report here.

How Does a Job Developer Fit into an Employment Program?

Recently, I’ve had a chance to talk to others about job development in the broader context of refugee employment programs. I’m new to blogging, so I did a bit of research into formats and techniques. One of them is a stream of consciousness post that is said to be more emotional and immediate. I’m going to try a bit of spontaneous posting – mostly because my thoughts are still unformed about this whole topic. Consider yourselves warned!

Last week, I had a great phone call with Jacqueline Hernandez, with Lutheran Family Services in Colorado. She’s also a Job Developer on a fairly new team. We talked about how to solidify new employers into repeat customers and all kinds of issues we see in our new roles. I’m still thinking over everything we talked about. It seems to me that adding a job developer can really change the dynamic of employment services and requires that Employment Specialists and the Job Developer communicate and work together to best use newly identified job opportunities.

This Thursday (09/30), Jaci and I are both going to participate in the RefugeeWorks Innovative Program Delivery Models Webinar where we’ll also talk about different organizational models for employment programs. The times are 1:00-2:30 pm EST (10:00-11:30 am PST, 11:00-12:30 MST, 12:00-1:30 pm CST). Send an email to information @refugeeworks.org to register and get call in information.

Stay tuned for more when I figure out what I think about all of this. It’s been great to look above individual client success and think about the bigger picture. I hope some of you will join the Webinar or subsequent discussion here.

It’s now been almost a year since Caritas of Austin was able to initiate my position as full time Job Developer. With this blog, I want to share what we’re learning and strengthen our efforts by learning from others

Part One: Starting a Job Club

A couple of months ago, we started a bi-weekly job club to provide fresh leads and build skills for clients with enough English to follow job leads independently. We tried it with a temporary staffer for a few months a year and a half ago and wanted to see if we could improve it now that we have more permanent job development resources. No clients ever got a job from the initial attempt but we definitely saw improved job search skills among the clients who attended. I’m going to outline our initial plan and then follow up periodically as we see how it goes. It would be great to hear if and how others do this.

Why: I generate more leads on a daily basis that Employment Specialists can utilize and we hate to see them go to waste. We also wanted a venue for additional skill development for some of our clients with stronger English and work history. We also needed another way to monitor client activity levels for RCA and Match Grant compliance.

Where: When we started, we had just organized a very successful group screening interview at a chain restaurant. The atmosphere was very welcoming and friendly. As a result, we saw clients from different countries talking and interacting even with limited English. We wanted to replicate that energy, so decided to hold job club offsite - at the public library. The main branch is very close to our office so clients don’t even have to learn a new bus route to attend. We also thought this would help clients become comfortable with another great community resource.

When: Job Club is scheduled on Monday and Wednesday mornings from 10:30 – 11:30 and longer if we’re in the middle of something and need more time. Having it on Monday morning allows us to capitalize on a weekend’s worth of job announcements. The combination of both days gives clients enough concrete leads to keep them busy all week.

How: I made simple flyers with a map and distributed lots of copies to all of the Employment Specialists. We also publicize the resource by distributing flyers in our monthly Job Readiness Classes. I sit at a visible table on the third floor where people are allowed to talk quietly and talk to clients as they come in. We thought this would spread attendance out over the hour so people could get more personal attention or just listen in.

What: I compile fresh job leads the morning of the meetings, utilizing Craigslist, newspaper classifieds, several websites we check daily and quick cold calls to employers in our database. I include applications if applicable and sometimes prepare additional information like flyers for job fairs or instruction packets for major online employers like Walmart and Target. Sometimes I include articles or announcements about other resources. I try to have several fresh materials every day, including the “Caritas Hot Jobs List”, which I also distribute to the Employment Specialist in hard copy and electronically so they can also use it for other clients.

Coming up: In part two, I’ll share some of the details of how it’s working and what we’ve decided to tweak. We just finished meeting to discuss this, so I’ll share our ideas when I’ve compiled them and finalized a couple of points.

Strategies for a Down Economy: Part Time or Short Term Work

We’ve been having some luck building client resumes, confidence and skills while helping them earn some money with part time and short term work. It requires multiple placements before a client is earning enough to cover basic expenses, so it’s more work for us. But, we see a lot more of this type of position than full time jobs. If we can get clients started along this path early enough while they still may have some financial assistance from RCA or Match Grant, we believe it will help them achieve self-sufficiency in this touch economic climate.

For example,
· We placed an African client in a six week gig at a local private school polishing the floors and preparing classrooms for the school year. We helped him leverage that new skill into a part-time evening janitorial job. He already knew how to do floors and now he’s learned vacuuming, trash collection, bathroom cleaning and other basic skills. With two US jobs on his resume, we’ve just applied for a full time lobby attendant job at a hotel. We don’t know the result, yet, but he has definitely gotten an interview and we think he’s competitive because he has some specific skills and local work experience that he didn’t have 3 months ago.

· One client helped two members of a senior citizen support organization with light housekeeping and companionship as a PRN home health aid. Later, he was able to get a competitive position in an in-house CNA training program at a very high end nursing home, in part because of the related experience on his resume.

· We’ve placed a couple of clients in part-time work at late night food carts or as on-call banquet workers for a staffing agency. The hours aren’t perfect and the clients have to really be proactive to get hours. But, they are gaining skills and experience, as well as local references. We’re in the process of watching for full time positions they might be able to get with that local experience on their resumes.

Even when this strategy hasn’t worked perfectly, it definitely builds client confidence and understanding of the soft skills expected in our work culture. It would be great to hear about other strategies for building client competitiveness in this economy. Feel free to share your experiences here.

It’s now been nine months since Caritas of Austin was able to initiate my position as full time Job Developer. With this blog, I want to share what we’re learning and strengthen our efforts by learning from others.

Getting Repeat Hires from New Employer Contacts

It’s now been a few months since my initial article in the print newsletter kicked off efforts to share what we’re learning and learn from all of you as Caritas of Austin initiates a full time Job Developer position. I’ve been saving up this rant to vent my frustrations and seek some advice from others. This issue is really where I could use some help and I think it could provide the context to generate some diverse perspective and strategies.

I felt really good about several new employers I targeted and convinced to hire a client. My lofty plan was to send a great first candidate, wow them with our support services and seal the relationship for future placements. That reads well, but the reality has been different. It seems like we only get one shot. If the first client we place doesn’t work out for some reason, we don’t get another chance. Here are examples:

*** I worked for months to develop placements at a large, locally owned, city contractor that sorts recycled plastics and turns them into pellets that they then sell as a raw material. We placed an English speaking African client. The overnight crew was all Spanish speaking and at least a foot shorter than the 6.6 ft. Congolese. Everyone was visible in the open warehouse and they said he needed to work faster, watch how others behaved and mimic them. They fired him despite our efforts to provide an interpreter and coaching. Now they won’t even return my calls.

*** A casual Japanese café was poised to franchise and we thought it would be a great partnership. They hired two part-time people and were happy with them, but they quickly got jobs with more stable hours. Now, the owner won’t respond to my calls, but I always see ads for hiring as they expand.

*** A small private motel hired a client, but she accepted a better offer at the same time. They’ve never even been willing to interview another client since then.

*** We got four people hired in the kitchen at a start-up high end cinema that advertised on Craigslist. We provided all kinds of support, but all four clients quit and stated various reasons. The employer perceived that they just didn’t like the hard work. We haven’t been able to place anyone else there.

I strongly believe that our clients are the best marketing for refugee employment. But, these false starts have left me feeling really discouraged. I’d really appreciate suggestions and comments from the experiences of others out there.

Seattle ETI Photos

Here are some of our favorite pictures from the Seattle Employment Training Institute held last month!

San Diego's Refugee Brain Gain

Voice of San Diego

Zina Jassim and her husband Basman Kraidi, both from Iraq, speak with
prospective employers at the International Night of Networking.

The sixth floor conference room at the City Heights Center was redolent of falafel and baklava and Indian flatbread Wednesday evening, as well as abuzz with chatter -- listen closely.

Homing in on the conversation of Mohammad Khajehpour, you would have heard, in cautious but steady English, this: "I would like to get into the workforce. I had to leave Iran to save my son from arrest because he converted to Christianity. I am a chemist."

Or this from Zina Jassim: "I am an architect, but I will take any entry-level job."

Or this: "I was a victim of the U.N. bombing in Baghdad. I was working as a communications engineer. I woke up five days later in a hospital in Germany."

Ibrahim Matee still bears the scar from the wound inflicted on the day he was whisked from Iraq to Germany to save his life, never to return to his country. It runs from the back of his neck, along his left jaw line to the front of his chin, and evokes, he said, final memories of the torn country he left behind.

Read More

RefugeeWorks Hosts First Employment Training Institute of 2010

RefugeeWorks hosted its first Employment Training Institute of the year from April 6-8 at the Chase Park Plaza hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. Nearly 60 people attended from various resettlement agencies - most of them working as job developers and employment specialists.

The conference utilized multiple formats, including speaker sessions, focus groups, and open discussions. Some of the topics covered included Labor Market Tools, Building Partnerships, Integrating into the Business World, Managing Expectations, and Social Networking.

One highlight of the conference was and networking event hosted by the International Institute of St. Louis. Conference attendees were greeted by President Anna Crosslin and her staff, and some participated in tours of the International Institute.

Perhaps the most important thing that happened wasn't in any one session, but in individual participants getting to meet each other. One participant wrote, "It is easy to feel like you exist on an island as a job developer. By attending this training, I was able to gain perspective..."

RefugeeWorks would like to thank the International Institute of St. Louis, Chase Park Plaza, our teaching faculty, and all of the participants for helping to make this a great Employment Training Institute!

Welcome to the Blog!

Welcome to the RefugeeWorks blog! We hope that this blog will be of assistance to both job developers and employers as we continue to look for ways to connect newly arrived refugees with employment opportunities in the United States! Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter!