Employment Support Worker

Hours: 37 hours per week

Contract: Fixed term until 31st March 2025

Location: Sandwell

To work with young people aged (16-25) on a 1-1 basis to assess their support needs and identify barriers preventing them from accessing training, volunteering or employment opportunities.

Key responsibilities

To design and deliver employability skills training including job search CV writing, interview skills and work ethics.

• To provide continued support throughout the young person’s journey including longer term in-work support and to promote independence and confidence in the young person enabling them to undertake assigned meaningful work.
• Manage a caseload, providing ongoing support to young people both through 1-1 and group engagement.
• Provide financial literacy support through the completion of benefit checks, budgeting sheets, referrals where needed to more specialist services, for example health and wellbeing services and debt.
• Keep abreast of all training, volunteering and employment opportunities in order to support young people to make informed decisions around their future goals and aspirations
• Have regular contact (using a case work approach) with those you are supporting and take reasonable steps to reestablish contact if this is lost.
• To have a knowledge of safeguarding issues relating to young people.
• To ensure that casework records are maintained in accordance with the project’s policies and procedures.
• To evaluate the support provided to each young person pre and post intervention.

Learning, Development & Training

• Keep abreast of current research and national developments and how this may affect the young person
• Have a positive attitude towards self development
• Attend team meetings, supervision and training when required
• The nature of this post will require flexibility to meet the needs of young people, entailing some work outside normal office hours

Networking

To network and attend promotional events, raising awareness of the project and building partnership links with those organisations that play a role in the young person’s work journey.

• To develop close and effective working relationships with key agencies to identify the needs of young people and the barriers they face.
• To liaise with other agencies, especially training, volunteering, post 16 education, and employment, taking reasonable steps to ensure the young person makes use of such services and opportunities

Operational duties

• Further the aims of Citizens Advice Sandwell & Walsall and its activities by working within all agreed policies
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date written records of contact with the young person
• Be responsible for ensuring that all Child & Adult Protection Policies are adhered to and concerns are raised in accordance with these policies
• Provide monitoring information as required
• To ensure that CA Sandwell & Walsall’s Equal Opportunity policy and anti-discriminatory strategies are integrated into all aspects of case work
• The duties as outlined in this job description are not exhaustive and may change from time to time due to the changing nature of the working environment. You are expected to carry out all appropriate tasks necessary to meet the needs of the services or as may be requested by your line manager

Closing date: 19-04-24

Interview date: 26-04-24