The service is on a “drop-in” basis, with no appointments necessary.  

Job search support

TEN’s services to workless people are delivered through a team of experienced and qualified Personal Jobsearch Advisors, all of which have been trained to a minimum of NVQ Level 3 in the provision of Information, Advice & Guidance (IAG) to Adults. TEN provides an integrated package to assist workless people to develop active and continuous job search strategies and to become more competitive in the labour market and to access relevant employment and training opportunities to prevent them moving into, or remove them from, long term worklessness.
The service allows for the development of individual Personal Development Plans identifying the best route for achieving the required skills level.  This results in a variety of routes taken by clients to re-enter employment.  Individuals are able choose the routes which best satisfy their training and employment needs and receive intensive individual guidance and counseling support alongside the structured development activities. We recognize that some people are a considerable distance from being “work-ready” and therefore there is no time limit to support available from TEN – individuals can access help for as long as their progression route into work requires.

The client journey into work

As stated above, clients will take a variety of routes to reach their employment goal. However, all clients will undergo a similar journey en-route employment, e.g.:

Awareness Raising - about our service and what we can offer;

Initial Contact - possibly through a third party referral; targeted marketing etc.
Assessment and a systematic diagnosis of barriers faced by the client;
Creation of a flexible Individual Development Plan;
Identification of appropriate support/support agencies;
Activities;
Review;
Further support/activities;
Take up employment/referral to other agency
Tracking.

Basic Skills, Literacy & Numeracy

TEN Personal Jobsearch Advisors are trained to be able to identify any basic skills need a client may have and where appropriate, will refer clients to specialist agencies for support. With reference to Literacy & Numeracy issues, clients identified as having a learning need are referred initially to our in-house informal training and mentoring provision (see below) and undergo assessment using Target Skills, the Basic Skills Agency ICT- based assessment tool. Where appropriate, referrals are then made to specialist support agencies.

Targeting of our services

TEN's activities will be funded from a "cocktail" of sources which allows TEN to provide a uniform service to workless people across the borough.  

Referrals to TEN services

 TEN receives referrals from partner agencies such as Jobcentre Plus, South Tyneside College, training providers, other IAG providers etc. together with Tyne & Wear partner organisations and local Community & Voluntary Sector organisations. Referrals will be predominantly made by telephone with no appointments necessary for clients. As a matter of good practice, TEN has developed and distributed client referral forms for use by partner agencies to be completed with some basic client information to accompany the client. The form can also be used to enable the agency to record referrals they have made to us. Within any constraints that may exist within the Data Protection Acts, TEN will share information, on request, of individual client progress in the form of an individual client activity report to partner referral agencies in order to facilitate their tracking of clients referred to TEN.

TEN Referrals to partner/external agencies

Where appropriate, TEN Personal Jobsearch Advisors will refer clients to external agencies. At all times, TEN IAG provision will deliver impartial advice to clients and all referrals will be made on the basis of what is in the client's best interest in terms of their progression into work.

Within any constraints that may exist within the Data Protection Acts, TEN will share information, on request, of individual client progress in the form of an individual client activity report to partner referral agencies in order to facilitate the agencies' tracking of clients referred to TEN.

All TEN clients' progress will be monitored at monthly intervals and, where appropriate, their Personal Development Plan and corresponding activities will be reviewed and amended to achieve optimum progress into employment. Clients entering new employment will be monitored and tracked at 4, 13 and 26 weekly intervals to ascertain client retention in employment. A Mentoring Support Service will be available to all clients and post- employment support will  provide mentoring support for up to 6 months after taking-up a job. Employers taking-on TEN clients as employees will be offered support through the TEN Jobsmart initiative.

Clients that have been referred to other agencies for support will be monitored and tracked at 4, 13 and 26 weekly intervals to ascertain the progress being made into employment. This tracking will be conducted by a dual track process, i.e. via contact with both the client and the destination referral agency. However, the optimum benefit from the dual track approach will be dependant upon the level of cooperation and capacity of destination referral agencies to provide information on client progress.

When referrals are made by us to other organisations, a copy of which will be given to the client, explaining why the referral has been made, who the contact person is, the time & date any appointment, etc. A third copy will be sent to the agency concerned for their records. All tracking activity and outcomes will be recorded on to the Hanlon Skills Register and the information will also therefore be accessible to our funding partners.

TEN ICT, informal training/mentoring and audio/ visual learning resources

The following resources will be available to clients at both TEN Jobsearch Advice Centres:

Computer based resources:

Target Skills - A Basic Skills Agency programme to assess an individual's Numeracy & Literacy competencies
Adult Directions - A sophisticated programme intended to assist people that are unsure of what type of career they want.
Careers on the Net - A list of over 450 website addresses related to careers and jobsearch.
Coursefinder -Search facility that provides information and details about vocational training courses across the North-east.
Internet Access & email facility for client use
Futures - Learndirect Futures is a self-managed Internet programme offering help with jobsearch skills, work and life skills.
Careers Information Database (CID 2007) - a very user-friendly computer programme with information in text, still pictures, sound and video sequences on a wide range of career choices, suitable for people of all ages. Internet links to various websites can be made direct from the programme.
Specialist Jobsearch Websites - a list of specialist jobsearch websites for particular craft skills, jobs abroad etc.
Jobsearch for Adults CD-ROM - advice and guidance on all aspects of job seeking, the programme includes video help and Internet links.
Occupations 2006/7 (CD-ROM) -This programme contains extensive information about most occupations currently available.
Benefits Guide -Information on Benefits available.
Word-processing - This facility is available to clients that wish to produce their own CV, job application letters etc.
Your Chance of Success - A programme intended mainly for younger clients providing information about various careers etc.
CV3 Processor - An easy -to-use programme where users can select from a range of templates to produce CV's etc. together with a supporting letter.

Audio/Visual resources - below is a small selection of audio visual resources available:

First Impressions Count (Video) - A video with a 100 practical do's and don'ts for successful job interviews. Includes preparing for tricky questions, personal presentation and basic body language.
Game for a Job (Video) - A video about writing job application letters, responding to job adverts by telephone and interview skills.
Interview Contrasts (Video) - A video about three job candidates whose good speculative job applications have got them to the interview stage, and contrasts their different performances at interview and why the successful candidate got the job.
The 70% Solution (Video) - This video provides usual advice on making job applications and job interviews.
Write Now (Video) - A video about writing job applications.

Library Resources - In addition to access to newspapers, periodicals & trade journals each centre will be equipped with over 30 library titles related to job search. For example:

Daily Telegraph Guide to working Abroad
Disability Rights handbook
30 Minutes Before a Job Interview
30 Minutes to Prepare a Job Application
101 Interview Questions
Successful interview Skills

Informal training/mentoring

TEN Jobsearch Advice Centres also deliver customised informal training and/or mentoring in job search related skills and activities. The table below is a loose framework of our non-accredited in-house training/mentoring provision which is revised and modified in accordance with current client demand:

3.2 Jobsmart

Jobsmart provides specific support for people wishing to take up employment. The initiative matches the skills and experience of clients from information held on our client database with vacancies identified through our network of employers across Tyne & Wear. The initiative is marketed to employers as a fully integrated FREE recruitment service, including sifting of CV's and application forms and pre-interview screening. The project actively promotes South Tyneside as a source of labour to employers across Tyne &Wear and has established an employer vacancy/skills matching infrastructure facility in the Borough that can also be used to support the skill needs of inward investors.