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50 Futures for employers
Are you a Middlesbrough business who is interested in supporting people to gain employment? Then providing a work experience placement through Middlesbrough Council’s 50 Futures programme is an excellent way to achieve this.
What are the benefits of offering a 50 Futures placement?
Work experience is extremely beneficial for people with a limited work history as it allows them to develop practical on-the-job skills. It can also be hugely beneficial to your company and the local economy. Benefits include:
- Increasing the profile of your business.
- Identifying local talent that will help your business to prosper in the future.
- Supporting your local community by helping to strengthen the economic, social and individual mobility of Middlesbrough residents.
- Allowing you to determine the ability of an individual before you make any recruitment decisions.
- Provides the opportunity for existing staff to develop supervisory skills.
What criteria must your business meet in order to be able to provide a placement?
- To be able to provide a meaningful work experience that will allow the candidate to develop existing and new skills.
- To provide a safe working environment and have in place suitable insurance.
- Your business must comply with relevant legislation.
- Allow the candidate to attend job interviews and any appointments that the job centre deems necessary.
- To provide a suitable job description which identifies key duties the individual will be required to undertake and skills they are likely to develop.
- Before a placement begins an agreement must be completed between yourself and the participant identifying the placement supervisor, start and end dates, days and hours required. (maximum of 30 hours per week)
- At the end of the placement a reference will be made available upon request.
50 Futures is happy to work with you to ensure all this is in place before the placement starts.
How does the placement work?
The aim of the placement is to provide a practical work experience that is representative of a paid job role, while been aware that some candidates will have little professional experience. The placement will last for a maximum of 8 weeks, where the candidate will work for a maximum of 30 hours per week.
The placements are undertaken on a voluntary basis and as such some flexibility should be offered towards childcare or other barriers. This would be discussed and agreed before starting on a placement. For the vast majority of placement providers and candidates the placement is both beneficial and rewarding. In the event of issues arising such as an unauthorised absence then please inform the 50 Futures team.
What happens at the end of the placement?
As an employer you are not obligated to employ an individual at the end of the placement. An exit interview should be provided to allow you to provide feedback on how the placement has gone. For candidates that have remained committed throughout the placement it would be expected that you would provide a reference.
It is encouraged that if you have a candidate that has performed well that you would consider recruiting them for a relevant role if a vacancy should become available, this includes any apprenticeship opportunities.
What is the process for selecting candidates?
It is essential that the placement is mutually beneficial for both the placement provider and the participant. With this in mind we endeavour to select a suitable person for a placement through a 1-to-1 appointment with all candidates. In addition, the placement provider will interview the individual before an agreement is put in place. We recommend an informal interview approach in order to assess the commitment and enthusiasm of the candidate. When appropriate, we can send multiple people forward for a role.
Can we have more than one person on a placement at the same time?
As long as the placement will provide a meaningful experience for each person undertaking a placement, then this is allowed.
How do I register my interest in accepting someone onto a placement?
Please complete the online form by selecting the button below and a member of the team will contact with you to discuss the process further – We look forward to hearing from you.