Is there anyone out there with some experience with cultures of Ethiopia

[grannylib]

and of Somalia?
I am an HR professional, and I need some advice as to how to best deal with immigrants seeking jobs. There seem to be some patterns of behavior that I don't know how to deal with; I don't know if the issues are 1) cultural; 2) poor advice/coaching from well-meaning morons; 3) simple misunderstanding; or 4) who knows???

The language barriers are one thing; I'm learning to cope with that (although I would love a better suggestion for the question on our interview form, "What is your greatest strength?" I have switched to, "Tell me what you are really good at," although that's not perfect either. To the first question, I invariably get answers such as, "I very strong!" or "I lift anything you tell me!" To the second, it seems that most applicants are reluctant to answer at all, and if I am reduced to giving them some examples, ie punctuality, attendance, following directions, etc., I get immediate "Yes! Yes! I am very good at that!")

What I really am concerned about is that it seems as though many of the Somalis and Ethiopians that I deal with have either no clue about job searching, or they've been getting and following bad advice. For example: I'd be willing to bet that someone at the Workforce Center or Community Assistance for Refugees is assisting some of them in the application process, and telling them to "follow up" on applications. "Following up" seems to mean, "Call every day, or even several times a day, and stop in personally at least every day or so to DEMAND an interview, to DEMAND a drug test, to DEMAND a job, and maybe, if you are a big enough nuisance, they'll hire you just to make you quit bugging them every 2.46 seconds." I have actually taken my # out of the phone book, and take different routes home at night, because I have been stalked and called at home by applicants who had my name, because they always want business cards to turn in to the County to "prove" they've been looking for work. Many seem very cavalier about time, and miss appointments without calling, and then call a week later to reschedule and become angry when told that missing an interview pretty much guarantees that they will not be considered for a job. Is that a cultural barrier???

If anyone has any clues or can guide me to a good place to educate myself on cultural issues such as these, I would really appreciate it!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. Can you find an immigrant who has been here a while?

I tutored the women of an extended Somali family in Portland, and they were getting a lot of help from a man who had come to the States from Somalia as a student about ten years before.

If you can find someone like that...

[grannylib]

2. That's a thought - I have talked to some of our employees who have

been with us for a while, but they really had no clue either to some of the behavior in question.
I do NOT want to discriminate against anyone, not only because it's illegal but it's wrong and I like sleeping at night...
but it's really getting to be burdensome, and the info I've found on the web really doesn't address any job-related issues other than that of allowing hijab and prayer...both of which we do...

[spindrifter]

3. You did not

say where you are, but apparently you have a fairly substantial number of Ethiopians and Somalis. I would check to see if there is a community center or for the Ethiopians, are they using a local church for their own services? If so, you might contact the center, church or mosque for the Somalis and see if there is anyone who might clue you in on the cultural issues.
We have large communities of N. Africans, but I must say, I have not dealt with any as job applicants.