Kickstart scheme
employability training
programme
How our Employability Training Programme will support all UK Businesses
Having placed more than 100 young people already in Kickstart Scheme roles, we know how crucial the Employability Training element of the Scheme is. It is at the heart of the Scheme’s long-term success and also the main reason why so many direct employer applications fail.
The government’s Kickstart Scheme is a fully-funded 6 month job placement for young people aged 16-24, who are currently claiming Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment. However, rather than the Scheme just being a 6 month work experience placement with the young person going back on to Universal Credit at the end, the government’s ultimate purpose of the Scheme is to ensure young people’s long-term employment prospects improve with additional skills training.
As a result, the Employability Training aspect of the Kickstart Scheme is critical. This ensures successful applicants not only get the experience of a role, but also receive comprehensive and practical employability skills training and support, putting them in a much stronger position for future employment opportunities. Businesses across the UK will benefit from candidates who have a greater set of soft skills in addition to any academic qualifications.
A DWP Pre-Approved Employability Training Programme
An inadequate Employability Training Programme is a major reason why many direct applications by employers to the Scheme get rejected. This is despite a significant amount of time and effort going in to developing a dedicated Kickstart training programme. As an authorised DWP Kickstart Gateway, our Employability Training Programme has been pre-approved by the DWP, ensuring any applications we submit on behalf of our clients are not rejected due to this reason.
Our Kickstart Training portal has several modules including:
- Communication Skills
- Team Working
- Time Management
- Confidence
- CV Writing
- Interviewing
- Job Searching
Our Employability Training Programme provides an engaging variety of content including videos, presentations, assessments, and quizzes. We enhance their chances of full-time employability through our interview practice and CV builder technologies, as well as offering guidance to help them identify the right career path.
The training consists of a combination of weekly and monthly sessions throughout the 6-month placement, and includes regular 1 to 1s with a qualified work coach after each session.
There is additional reading material and videos to digest for alternative topics such as women in business, career direction, and well- being etc to assist young people with gaining knowledge on relevant subjects.
Finally, in the event that the Kickstart placement does not lead to an offer of permanent employment from the Kickstarter’s employer, our training programme provides further in-depth support to help the young person find an alternative role. This includes helping them on how to effectively search for suitable roles on job boards, as well as how to use LinkedIn.
All businesses to benefit from the Kickstart Scheme
Recent graduates and college leavers have struggled to find roles in their preferred industry due to the pandemic. As well as a significant reduction in recruitment, a number of businesses have also withdrawn internships and apprenticeships, compounding the impact of the pandemic on young people. So the Kickstart Scheme provides a brilliant opportunity for young people to acquire work experience as well as the softer skills that can be lacking from academic qualifications.
From a business perspective, obviously the primary benefit of the Scheme is a fully-funded resource for 6 months. However, they also get the benefit of Kickstarters acquiring those soft skills which are so invaluable to an employer and which often require an employer to provide additional investment through external training courses. Soft skills such as time management, teamwork, positive attitude etc… are the foundation needed for young people to succeed in the workplace.
Finally, even those businesses who do not actively participate in the Kickstart Scheme will benefit. When recruiting in the future, the UK will have a suite of young people that will be better skilled and better experienced than ever before, avoiding a generation of people becoming reliant on state benefits.
The future is bright for the UK. There will be so much exciting, young, fresh talent to choose from as a direct result of the Employability Training being such an integral element of the Kickstart Scheme.
Exemplia Group is a DWP-approved Kickstart Gateway. For further information, give us a call on 020 3871 8132 or email info@exempliagroup.co.uk.