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Skills and Employability Participation ServicesAlternative Routes to Work
1) District Offer
The Skills and Employability Service has created a directory of training programmes that can support this cohort called the District Employability Offer, which can be found at www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/college-sixth-form-employment-and-training/help-for-young-people-who-arent-in-education-or-training. Within this function there is an interactive Google style map that allows young people, practitioners, parents and guardians to easily find Events, NEET programmes, Apprenticeships, Traineeships and employability programmes. The majority of these programmes are Entry level 3 – level 1 and many have start dates throughout the academic year.
EXCITING NEW CHANGES TO THE DISTRICT OFFER
From October there will be a new website called ReadytoWork Kent which will replace the district offer. The user journey will follow a similar format to Grads Kent with a simpler way of entering the core information, and a new style to interact with. This will also reflect across to the Training Providers side with a very intuitive user-friendly interface to add and edit courses/training. Each provider will have their own account which will allow them to create their own offers and manage their own applicants through the system.
2) Apprenticeships
The Skills and Employability Service have developed a new apprenticeship recruitment website for Kent. www.apprenticekent.com is designed to help employers recruit simply and easily, whilst giving young people the best chance of finding an apprenticeship. The website is split broadly into four categories – become an apprentice, employ an apprentice, train an apprentice and assist an applicant. The site has a messaging function built in, so all feedback, interview offers and recruitment can be done within the website, whilst the data collected will enable Skills and Employability to offer targeted support to those who need it.
KCC apprenticeships programme - lead officer Chris Homewood - [email protected]
Kent County Council has an ambitious goal to improve the skills and employment of the young people of Kent. And as a large employer it is important that KCC develops the range of work experience, graduate placements and apprenticeships we offer. The overarching aim is to make sure that there are a variety of entry points into KCC regardless of experience, qualifications or ability.
Kent County Council provides over 150 apprenticeships opportunities across a range of its directorates. In the last five years we have created 544 apprenticeship roles within the local authority.
We have integrated the apprenticeship recruitment process fully with our HR function and all apprenticeship vacancies are advertised through KCC’s online recruitment website http://www.kent.gov.uk/jobs/starting-your-career/be-an-apprentice where a log in can be created and saved for future reference and used with ease.
Kent employment programme - lead officer Karen Laponder - [email protected]
The Kent Employment Programme (KEP) was a highly successful project designed to move unemployed 16-24 year olds into apprenticeships. The target of 900 young people into work was exceeded and now KEP would like to build on this success and move into phase two.
The first cohort of young people eligible for the grant fund will be 16-18 year olds who are NEET, or 16-18 year olds who are at risk of becoming NEET. All vacancies are advertised with our partner’s i.e. Special Schools, Early Help Services, KSE and the Troubled Families team and our website http://www.apprenticeshipkent.com/
Phase two of our successful Kent Employment programme has supported young people into apprenticeship has achieved 76% of all starts being NEETS.
Assisted apprenticeship programme- lead officer Karen Laponder - [email protected]
The Assisted Apprenticeship (AA) programme has delivered many successful outcomes over the years that it has been running and is highly valued by both employers and young people. The programme is aimed at young people with high needs and is designed to offer additional support to both employers and the young people, enhancing their chances of sustaining employment.
Referrals to the project will be made by the Employment Development Officers from the targeted work currently being undertaken in Special Schools, Early Help Services, KSE and the Troubled Families team. Working across our service, we will link into the Tracking team to increase awareness of our project and support the young people with disabilities already in the system and who are seeking employment. We also work closely with our partners to promote the other roles we have available through the different programmes we run.
During the last two years we have had 14 Care leavers start apprenticeships in our Assisted Apprenticeships programme. Over the last two years we have had 74 starts across six cohorts in the programme and we have been able to offer 19% of all starts to our care leavers.
3) Work Experience
Work experience opportunities - lead officer Owen Bartholomew - [email protected]
We are one of the largest employers in Kent and we have a variety of different roles. Every year we receive over 400 requests for work experience, we have
many different types of placements in a number of departments, for examples see the list below:
care work countryside access information technology Kent Film Office Kent Scientific Services Kentish Stour Countryside Partnership libraries Medway Valley Countryside Partnership North West Kent Countryside Partnership satellite services - an insight into health and social care school financial services social care for older adults sports and leisure
We have a simple on line application form to complete using this link: http://www.kent.gov.uk/jobs/starting-your-career/work-experience. When they have submitted their application they will get an email to confirm it has been received. Once the application has been reviewed this will be sent to the relevant team offering the placement for a final decision. Once the decision has been made the young person will be contacted to make arrangements between both parties to start the work experience following the agreed process. Each manager and young person will be given a guide to record the progress they achieve during their placement.
4) Kent Supported Employment
If you have a disability, we can provide high quality support to help you prepare for, enter into and succeed in the world of work. To use our services you need to be referred to us by your care manager.
Once we've received the referral we will get in touch and arrange to meet you. We will talk about your work needs and expectations and decide if our service can meet your needs.
Preparing for work
To prepare you for the world of work we can help with:
Vocational profile - a person centred tool to help you make informed choices about the job you would like to do and see what your skills and aspirations are.
CV preparation - why CVs are important and the techniques employers use when shortlisting. We can help you create a new CV or update an existing one.
Application forms - different types of forms and how to answer certain types of questions.
Interview skills - many people find interviews daunting, we can help with what to expect and practice interviews.
Travel training - become more confident using public transport and learning new routes. Job coaches can also travel with you while you learn to be independent.
Benefit advice and guidance - how any benefits you receive will be affected if you work and do better off calculations.
Work experience and tasters - if you are new to work or want to change careers these can help you try a new role.
Job coaches
When you first start your job we can give you in work support to help you learn your new job. This could be things like:
creating task lists which you understand visual prompts to help you learn getting to know the work environment meeting your new team and colleagues understanding rules and responsibilities.
We can also provide job coaching if you are in danger of losing your job due to a disability or health condition. We can help by:
understanding the job role liaising with managers and HR to identify areas of concern negotiating flexible working conditions and reasonable adjustments in the
workplace (if appropriate) contacting Department of Work and Pensions about assessments and
adaptations.
Getting a referral
To get a referral: If you have a Kent County Council care manager, tell them you are interested
in entering the world of work and ask them to refer you to Kent Supported Employment.
If you don't have a care manager, contact our social services team and ask for an assessment.
