Issues and Challenges in the Recruitment and Selection of ...

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and longer term aspirations with the need to generate income. This can bea particularly acute issue for those who have incurred debts as a result ofimmigrating to Ireland, a feature noted by a number of interviewees to beparticularly prevalent among the Chinese and some other Asian communities.On the other hand, some immigrants, including refugees and EU citizens whohave lived here in excess of two years, may be eligible for social welfare at theinitial point of their job search, so can take more time to look for the best possiblejob. The need to find work quickly can also be driven by factors other thanfinancial: refugees for example are under specific pressure to secure employmentif they wish to apply for citizenship. Similarly for students taking undergraduatecourses in specified areas there are also time pressures: they must findappropriate work within a six month period following graduation to entitle themto a Green Card.The general view amongst those consulted, however, is that regardless of theirlong term aspirations, immigrants are likely to take whatever work they canfind and develop their advancement strategy subsequent to this. As a result ofthis, under-employment is a very frequent part of the immigrant labour marketexperience. For some of the immigrants and the peer organisations that wereinterviewed, there is nothing particularly amiss about this, it is just a normal partof the process of ‘finding ones feet’ in a new country. For these, underemploymentwas perceived to be a problem only if it coincides with segmentation in thelabour market and / or if those affected cannot find more appropriate work ina reasonable period of time. The NESC has previously highlighted the lack ofinformation on this issue in Ireland, which results in a significant gap in ourknowledge of the wellbeing and degree of integration of immigrants over time.However, as is discussed later, some immigrants have been able to develop andimplement personal strategies and mechanisms to overcome these barriers andto secure their advancement in employment.2.2 Decision Making and Job SearchAlthough there is economic pressure on immigrants to find work quickly, thereis still a decision making process regarding what companies to apply to or inwhat sector to look for work. Among the factors influencing decision makingare the English language skills of the immigrants themselves. This issue isdiscussed again in looking at barriers to employment below, but it also features indecision making: if language skills are not proficient, this alone will steer peopletowards jobs where language competence is not an issue. Some service providersexpress the view that those without English can survive in the workplace ifthey are working amongst their own language groups. However, if they becomeunemployed they are in a very vulnerable situation and some may also be at risk28Issues and Challenges in the Recruitment and Selection of Immigrant Workers in Ireland
of exploitation by members of their own language groups. Even those with goodlanguage skills may not have the necessary business or technical vocabulary towork in the Irish context and this can be instrumental in directing them awayfrom employment at the level they would otherwise be qualified for.An additional factor in deciding what jobs to apply for, which also acts as abarrier to employment, is the difficulties some immigrants face having theirqualifications recognised by the appropriate professional bodies. This has ledto delays in the past although interviewees note that there appears to havebeen some improvement in this situation recently. The qualification recognitionprocess can also lead to requirements to work under supervision in Irelandfor a probationary period – a factor which can impede employment for someprofessionals, particularly in the health area.It also appears from the consultation with immigrant workers, that decisionmaking with regard to what jobs to apply for is frequently informed by anassessment of employers which is based, rightly or wrongly, on the signals thatcompanies or organisations send out. Immigrants can be very sensitive to signals,even unintentional signals, sent by prospective employers. For example, if animmigrant has a negative experience of a company or agency that they perceiveto be related to their immigrant status, they may be reluctant to apply to thatagency for employment. Similarly if a company or organisation is seen to haveno foreign workers, it can be interpreted as a negative sign by immigrants. Moregenerally, even if nothing is known about the company, immigrant workers mayperceive that their applications are not welcome for certain jobs: a number offocus group participants for example, expressed the view that more effort isneeded to be made in ensuring that immigrants realize that their applications arewelcome.Immigrants will also frequently have access to information from workers alreadyemployed in specific companies. These personal networks can be a route torecruitment but they can also play a role in decisions not to apply to certaincompanies, if for example, they are considered to be poor or abusive employers.One Asian community has formalised this process and its Irish consulate hasdrawn up a black list of employers which it recommends its citizens should notapply to.A further factor that can have a negative impact on decision making is thatof poverty and welfare traps, particularly on the part of those entitled to rentallowances. The cost of childcare was also noted here and both these factorscontributed to raising the level of earnings required to compensate for theadditional costs incurred by taking up employment. This is a particular issue forpeople with refugee status.29
Page 2: 2Issues and Challenges in the Recru
Page 7: Chapter 1Exploring the Recruitment
Page 10 and 11: persecution. Economic migrants enco
Page 12 and 13: • The third group is the so-calle
Page 14 and 15: • Green Cards, which have replace
Page 16 and 17: Employment Services (LES) although
Page 18 and 19: Unemployment is not the only issue
Page 20 and 21: Overall, both official statistics a
Page 22 and 23: issues from the perspective of thes
Page 24 and 25: and facilitate integration and, equ
Page 26 and 27: Chapter 2Looking for work in Irelan
Page 30 and 31: In terms of public sector 6 employm
Page 32 and 33: immigrant communities have come to
Page 34 and 35: on courses they do not want to do a
Page 36 and 37: 2.6.1 Communication issuesAmong the
Page 38 and 39: • There was also the view that Ir
Page 40 and 41: • Freedom of movement for the cit
Page 42 and 43: • what they see as the reluctance
Page 44 and 45: are employed. By the end of the sec
Page 46 and 47: large organisations are more likely
Page 48 and 49: other occupations such as youth wor
Page 50 and 51: at 24 per cent (and just 22 per cen
Page 52 and 53: Other mechanisms to recruit foreign
Page 54 and 55: In large volume recruitment campaig
Page 56 and 57: Innovation in the use of testsIrish
Page 58 and 59: 3.2.7 VettingThe vetting of candida
Page 60 and 61: that considered foreign workers to
Page 62 and 63: Chapter 4Conclusions and Discussion
Page 64 and 65: of recruitment should be more integ
Page 66 and 67: Table 4.1:Divergent views of Employ
Page 68 and 69: Perceive written andlanguage based
Page 70 and 71: as either a basis for determining e
Page 72 and 73: It is reasonable to assume that in
Page 74 and 75: Of more specific relevance to the c
Page 76 and 77: public sector employers) as well as
Page 78 and 79:
BibliographyBarrett, A and Y McCart
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O’Connell, P and F McGinnity (200
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Public Appointments ServiceChapter
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