Somali Youth and their lack of work ethic & Ambition

[Jubba_Man]

No, that's ridiculously skewed. They're nowhere near comparable. Back home exists a network of widescale nepotism as pretty much the fallback. Although university spots, frats, and company jobs can be secured through nepotism, it isn't so pervasive that the greater public is barred from access, not so much that you don't continually see rags to riches stories fueled by pure ambition and skill, not so much that isn't positively offset by the amount of quotas, and competitive high-stakes merits one has to their name in relation to X applicant.

An American corporation has three sets of employees or combinations thereof:

1) Those through contacts; nepotism, who you know, referrals, etc.
2) Those through merit and skill.
3)Those through fulfilling quotas for government moolah

And the lowend fillers, who even they are in competition with one another.

I can tell you're still a student who has yet to experience the harsh realities of the job market today. Why don't you go read the sobering statistics concerning large underemployment rates of college graduates, or the increasing worthlessness of a degree today without the appropriate connections and networking. Where do you think the saying "it's not what you know, it's who you know" came from? You think Somalis made that up?

Are there people who are so talented and exceptional that they will break through the barriers and employers will take note? Of course, but that is just as likely as back home as well. No one is going to pass up the 1 in 100,000 genius who can bring in millions in profits to employ their clansmen's illiterate son. That's universal. The reality is, most people, from all backgrounds, are generally mediocre and this is where connections and your family/college network trumps everything. No one goes to Harvard business school because of some secret business knowledge that isn't taught anywhere, rather they go to penetrate the dominant and insular networks that largely fraternize and hire from that inner circle.

 

[Yahya Liban-Lewis]

I can tell you're still a student who has yet to experience the harsh realities of the job market today. Why don't you go read the sobering statistics concerning large underemployment rates of college graduates, or the increasing worthlessness of a degree today without the appropriate connections and networking. Where do you think the saying "it's not what you know, it's who you know" came from? You think Somalis made that up?

Are there people who are so talented and exceptional that they will break through the barriers and employers will take note? Of course, but that is just as likely as back home as well. No one is going to pass up the 1 in 100,000 genius who can bring in millions in profits to employ their clansmen's illiterate son. That's universal. The reality is, most people, from all backgrounds, are generally mediocre and this is where connections and your family/college network trumps everything. No one goes to Harvard business school because of some secret business knowledge that isn't taught anywhere, rather they go to penetrate the dominant and insular networks that largely fraternize and hire from that inner circle.

Facts. The first real job I got out of university was through a Somali connection who was working in HR.

 

[VixR]

I can tell you're still a student who has yet to experience the harsh realities of the job market today. Why don't you go read the sobering statistics concerning large underemployment rates of college graduates, or the increasing worthlessness of a degree today without the appropriate connections and networking. Where do you think the saying "it's not what you know, it's who you know" came from? You think Somalis made that up?

Are there people who are so talented and exceptional that they will break through the barriers and employers will take note? Of course, but that is just as likely as back home as well. No one is going to pass up the 1 in 100,000 genius who can bring in millions in profits to employ their clansmen's illiterate son. That's universal. The reality is, most people, from all backgrounds, are generally mediocre and this is where connections and your family/college network trumps everything. No one goes to Harvard business school because of some secret business knowledge that isn't taught anywhere, rather they go to penetrate the dominant and insular networks that largely fraternize and hire from that inner circle.

No, I don't think Somalis made that up. "Its who you know.." is relevant through todays job market, and accounts for the existence of avenues like LinkedIn, but it's ridiculous to falsely misconstrue the networking now crucial to professionals as being akin to straight nepotism. And you're not going to conflate that with the significance of certain namebrand institutions over others either. All I said still applies.

We had a wing of the hospital that was so full of primarily Asians at my job for as far back as anyone could remember, that everyone started offhandedly started referring to the area as Guam

You would probably argue that bc one Asian told another Asian about great X job at X hospital of X wing, and referrals kept popping, and one of them eventually made it to higher administration thereby inducing even more Asian infusion, that this would be a prime example of nepotism. But this shit can happen literally anywhere. Its far from inferring it's the backbone of the society, nor of the administration as a whole. The corporation is always culling and attempting to attract skill nationwide, and indeed many still are a sea of basic backgrounds, the masses.

 

[Jubba_Man]

No, I don't think Somalis made that up. "Its who you know.." is relevant through todays job market, and accounts for the existence of avenues like LinkedIn, but it's ridiculous to falsely misconstrue the networking now crucial to professionals as being akin to straight nepotism. And you're not going to conflate that with the significance of certain namebrand institutions over others either. All I said still applies.

Really? Falsely? How difficult is it to get in the ivy leagues? Yet, how many let's say "underperforming" folk get in via a strong and powerful family connection, like Bush Jr? How many fields basically require you graduate from one of these schools to even be considered for a position? Again, you can cite the 0.01% of people who rise above all odds and grew up in abject poverty, but they are so insignificant that it is more than pointless to even bring them into this conversation.

We had a wing of the hospital that was so full of primarily Asians at my job for as far back as anyone could remember, that everyone started offhandedly started referring to the area as Guam

You would probably argue that bc one Asian told another Asian about great X job at X hospital of X wing, and referrals kept popping, and one of them eventually made it to higher administration thereby inducing even more Asian infusion, that this would be a prime example of nepotism.

Medicine is basically government, and salaries are standardized across the board. Secondly, Asians are heavily over-represented in medicine, so that is no unexpected in any way. What you should look at are the private associated industries, like pharmaceuticals and biotech which are equally over-represented with Asians on the supply-side. How diverse are these companies? What type of people dominate the board of directors and executive positions?

But this shit can happen literally anywhere. Its far from inferring it's the backbone of the society, nor of the administration as a whole. The corporation is always culling and attempting to attract skill nationwide, and indeed many still are a sea of basic backgrounds, the masses.

LOL. You're clearly living in the idealized bubble of the ivory tower. I'm just waiting for you to spit out the tired platitude of "the most qualified/the best will get the job". Here's a hint: For 99.999% of jobs, the difference between the "most talented" at a job and those competent enough to get it done is nowhere near as great as to expend resources on head hunters to find that individual. Rather, the hiring manager will just ask someone on the team if any of their friends or drinking buddies has anyone they could refer or they will even go to their country club and ask around if anyone has a son or daughter they would want to refer for a potential position. That is how the job market in the private sector works.