What Word Best Captures YOUR Motivation for Our Work?

November 16, 2014 by Leave a Comment
what motivates you CloudAdd your voice to our poll already answered by 46 of your peers from 15 states.

What motivates you or makes you feel proud of the work we do?

Text 919385 and your one word answer to 22333.

We’ll feature an expanded word cloud with your input in a follow-up blog post next week.

Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be sharing highlights of what we learned together at Higher’s 2 Day Refugee Employment Workshop held at our LIRS headquarters offices on November 10-11, 2014.

Filed Under: Reader Questions, Service Providers Tagged With: , ,

Reader Question: How Do You Use iDevices?

October 28, 2014 by 1 Comment
Kelly Rice at higheradvantage.org

Kelly has a B.S in Finance from Virginia Tech; worked at Wells Fargo for 8 years and joined the IC as Employment Program Manager in May 2013

How do you use an iPad or tablet in your work?

Kelly Rice, Employment Program Manager with the International Center of Kentucky just got an iPad and wants to hear about useful tools and apps others are using on their handheld devi, especially related to job development.

Please comment on this post to share your great ideas with Kelly and the network.

Here are 3 examples Higher has already heard from employers and colleagues to start the discussion.

  1. An employer uses iBurmese ($2.99 app) for basic communication and connection with her employees. It’s also helped her line supervisors become more comfortable communicating despite the language gap.
  2. A couple of job developers use Siri, the voice of iPhone, to record quick notes when they’re driving around canvassing employers. Others snap pics of business cards so they don’t get lost.
  3. Kelly already uses google docs so she can access her employer database in real time.
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Reader Question: How to Streamline Employment Verification Documentation?

July 27, 2014 by 1 Comment

Becca Miller has worked at Catholic Charities MRS in Louisville, Kentucky as an employment specialist for the past two years.

Employment verification documentation is often difficult to obtain.

Requiring clients to provide paycheck stubs or a verification form completed by their employer works when they are still receiving financial assistance and active case management. You can brainstorm mutually acceptable solutions with employer partners. Collaboration with resettlement colleagues can improve your success rate.

Sometimes nothing works. Here’s a new barrier and a question from Becca Miller, Employment Specialist with Catholic Charities in Louisville, KY.

More employers are using TheWorkNumber.com for employment verification, which requires payment so we are often unable to verify employment. Does anyone have successful experience navigating TheWorkNumber? Are there other solutions we could think about?

Contribute your experience and solutions by commenting on this post or by sending an email to [email protected].

 

 

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Reader Question: What about MOUs with Employers?

July 2, 2014 by 1 Comment
Ellie McDermott

Ellie McDermott, Employment Manager with World Relief - Seattle, has worked in refugee employment since 2010.

Signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with an employment partner could be a great opportunity to establish expectations up front for both partners. Sometimes issues arise with employers and, in retrospect, stronger clarification of roles and processes could have helped.

World Relief - Seattle (WRS) is working to establish an exciting new employment partnership with the Kent School District (KSD). KSD has initiated the idea of an MOU. At the same time, WRS has worked through a bit of confusion with another employment partner where an MOU might have been helpful.

What should an MOU look like? What kinds of services or commitments have worked well to include? What processes have worked best for others when developing the agreement? Anyone have an example they’d be willing to share? Please post a comment or get in touch by email.

Filed Under: Employer Partnerships, Reader Questions Tagged With: , ,

Reader Question: Anyone Worked with Syrians Already?

May 14, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Katy Holmes

Katy has a Master’s degree from the University of Kentucky’s Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce. She recently spent a summer working in Syrian refugee camps in Turkey.

Katy Holmes is an LIRS intern who will compile some advance information about working with Syrians as we all begin to wonder when/if we’ll resettle that population in the coming years.

Around 30 Syrians have already been resettled. More, including many students already in the US, have been granted asylum. Katy will contribute what she learns as it relates to Employment, so stay tuned to the blog.

Meanwhile, if any of you have worked with Syrians and are willing to talk to Katy about that experience, leave a comment on the blog or shoot her an email at [email protected].

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Reader Question: Any Fresh Advice about Organizing an Employer Forum?

April 16, 2014 by 4 Comments
Kelly Rice

“Kelly has a B.S in Finance from Virginia Tech; worked at Wells Fargo for 8 years and joined the IC as Employment Program Manager in May 2013

Organizing an employer meeting is a very common idea with many possible variations. This type of event can be intimidating, labor intensive and can strengthen your employer connections.

The most successful and increasingly common approach now is collaborative and, if possible, includes leadership from employers and/or government partners to lend contacts and credibility.

Kelly Rice, Employment Program Manager with the International Center of Bowling Green, KY is looking for fresh ideas and experience from the field as she begins to plan her next employer outreach event.

There was a similar event in Bowling Green a couple of years ago. That success inspired the Refugee Employment Coalition and a Fall 2013 employer forum in Kent, WA. The energy and anticipation generated from the Bowling Green event two years ago has subsided and a lot has changed. Kelly is drawing on contacts and lessons learned from that event, which is great. She wants to offer something new and different to bring in new employers and keep experienced ones interested and motivated.

Kelly’s hoping for specifics about logistics and organizing details, as well as innovative topics, speakers or resources to include at her event.

Reply in a comment to this post if you have experience and advice to share about organizing an Employer Forum.

 

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Reader Question: What if the Job is a Scam?

April 7, 2014 by 1 Comment
Christopher Rhodes

Chris has a MPA from USC, served in the US Peace Corps in Georgia and taught ESL at ORT College before joining IRIS in January, 2013.

As employment professionals, what is our ultimate responsibility when clients accept a job that proves to be a scam?

If a client asks for advice before accepting a job offer, what can we tell them? Are there techniques you have tried to verify the legitimacy of an employer, on-line opportunity or job offer with an unfamiliar company?

Christopher Rhodes is a Job Developer for the Refugee Employment Program (REP) and Cultural Orientation Coordinator in the R&P Program with Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Service (IRIS) in Los Angeles. He often faces this situation and wants advice from others in the field.

Here’s a bit of context. A high percentage of the refugee client base in LA are family reunifications from Iran and Iraq. Strong family and community networks offer trusted job search advice and computer access. Many clients live with their families throughout the LA area and public transportation can be difficult. As a result, independent job search is common and Chris is seeking guidance and information on how to know whether an employer can be trusted.

If you are willing to share your agency’s approach and your experience verifying job offers and advising clients accordingly, please put it in a comment on this post or send it to [email protected]. Thanks.

 

 

 

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Reader Question: How Do You Gather Client Feedback?

March 23, 2014 by 2 Comments

The Refugee Employment Coalition in Seattle, WA is considering ways to gather client feedback and would like to know what other agencies do to evaluate their services from the client perspective.

Stephen Johnson, WR Seattle says, “some ideas at our meeting were to have regularly scheduled exit interviews, forms/dropbox for program participants to use, and using randomized survey instruments. Each method had various challenges and benefits, so we would like to have other examples from around the country”.

If you are willing to share your agency’s approach and your experience gathering client feedback, please put it in a comment on this post or send it to [email protected]. Thanks.

 

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Response to a Reader About Retention Rate Statistics

October 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment

A post on October 9 provided a list of questions to help you generate new employer ideas, including this one:

“What are unemployment and retention rates in key industries in your area?”

Matt Gruel, Employment Coordinator with World Relief Tri Cities in Richland, WA (pictured at left) is the first reader to ask a question about a blog post. Matt asked,

“How do I go about finding out the unemployment and (especially) retention rates in key industries in my area? I’m hesitant to ask one of my employers directly since I think it’s something they wouldn’t want outsiders to know.”

Here are answers from a number of sources:

Employer Advice

First, we checked with a few employers who have hired refugees and partnered with refugee employment programs. Erica Wolff, Director of Human Resources, Training, Safety & Security at the Intercontinental Stephen F. Austin hotel says,

“I don’t think it is a problem at all to ask for turnover information if it is used as a measuring tool for placement services.”

Other employers agree and add that this is very common information to track for management purposes. If an employer has dedicated HR staff, they are most likely to have the information. It might be broken out by a few key positions or by hourly/salaried staff. Even if specific figures are unavailable, asking an employer directly might yield other valuable information or other sources for the data.

Higher’s Webinar Archive

In May 2013, we hosted a webinar about how to use statistics and data in job development. It includes specific instructions for using Occupational Employment Statistics to target growth industries. You can review slides on our website.

Where Else to Look for Information:

  • Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey. http://www.bls.gov/jlt/
  • Trade associations or other industry groups. (e.g. Hotel HR Associations, Unions, Chambers of Commerce)
  • County, City and State Government. (e.g. Workforce Development Offices, Research and Planning Departments, Business Support Units trying to attract industry and investment)
  • Business Journals and Newspapers.

It’s great to get proof that Higher’s blog is being read. We want to avoid spouting advice that isn’t useful, just for the sake of making a blog post. So, thanks, Matt, for reading and for keeping us honest.

Filed Under: Job Retention Support, Reader Questions Tagged With: , , , ,

More on Drug Tests and “False Positives” from a Reader

October 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Homer-Simpson-wingnuts-dohI’m so excited that someone wrote a comment on a post - and it’s a very useful one with more tips and specifics from the experience of Brian Bollinger, ED of Friends of Refugees and former Director of Employment Services at World Relief, both in Atlanta, GA. THANKS BRIAN!:

A-tripla, the main medication Refugees with HIV are prescribed as a retroviral, very often shows up positive as THC. Thousands of drug testing sites do not have that on their list of prescriptions, often because it would be illegal for the drug testing manufacturer to force an HIV positive person to self identify. Self identification almost invariably results in rejection if the job relates to the food industry. That is illegal discrimination, but it is nearly impossible to prove that was the reason for rejection. Incidentally, it’s a big legal gray area that is a Catch-22, either voluntarily violate your right to privacy or voluntarily forfeit the opportunity to ever get a job (either because you have HIV or because they presume you use drugs).

Ever since the travel ban on HIV-positive Refugees was lifted, we have seen more and more of this happen, and that isn’t likely to change. Getting out in front of it is critical and can include such techniques as bringing in printed articles listing the medication from well-reputed medical resources, or being ready and able to go the long distance with immediate paperwork, follow-up blood tests and such when they fail the first test.

And, just because it makes me laugh, the graphic for a little comic relief!

Filed Under: Reader Questions Tagged With: , ,
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