Recruitment and Progression officer in Peterlee

Company Description

About Catch22

A forward looking social business, Catch22 has more than 200 years’ experience of providing public services that help people turn their lives around. We work with troubled and vulnerable people, helping them to steer clear of crime or substance misuse, do the best they can in education or employment and play a full part in their family or community. Our vision is a strong society where everyone has a good place to live, a purpose and good people around them, no matter what their background.

Catch22 College

Our Catch22 College is the collective name for 7 sites we have across the country delivering academic and vocational training programmes for young people aged 14+ who, for whatever reason, are not suited to a mainstream college setting. Our College Site, like all our other College sites, provides learners with a highly supportive environment where they have access to opportunities to build up their confidence and self-belief, and to gain new skills and experiences that will help them to achieve their goals in life. We exist to help our learners find their future.

Job Description

Our Recruitment and Progression Officer will play a leading role in recruiting learners onto the programme and supporting them throughout, conducting monthly reviews and sourcing work placements in the local area. To do this our Recruitment and Progression Officer will develop strong links with local (sometimes national) employers to create work placement and employment opportunities. They will also work closely with colleagues in the team to ensure our learners are matched to the right placements or employment opportunities, and that they receive the support they need to succeed in them.

Main Duties & Accountabilities

• Recruit learners onto the Study Programme
• Engaging with Local Authorities, NEET teams, schools, colleges and referring agencies to forge links and recruit learners.
• Being responsible for recruiting the target number of learners for all Vocational based programmes.
• Being the first point of contact for the learner and successfully recruiting them onto the programme.
• Completing initial interviews, ensuring all eligibility checks are completed, and uploading enrolment forms.
• Support learners through their programme.
• Conducting regular 1-2-1 progress reviews with the learners, identifying career progression and work placement choices.
• Liaising with teaching staff and attending weekly meetings with the lead tutor to discuss progress and create a bespoke learner journey that includes completing Individual Learner Plans (ILPs).
• Carrying out home visits when necessary to maintain attendance.
• Networking with other agencies, parents and carers involved in supporting individual learners.
• Supporting learners on their work experience placements – helping to keep them motivated and engaged in the placement and ensuring they get the maximum possible benefit from it.
• Working with our learners to match them to the right placement, preparing them for it, and then supporting them through it with site visits and regular check-in sessions to review their progress.
• Supporting the placement providers – helping them to understand the role they need to play in supporting each student’s development whilst on their placement.

Contributing to the overall success of the Catch22 College:

• Share our vision and values – they will help us to create a culture of trust and respect between all staff and all learners, where learners are treated as young adults who need some support to prepare for independence and for the world of work.
• Be flexible and ready to get stuck in! – The Catch22 College team is small, but aspires to be the best. For this reason, every member of the team must be committed to working collaboratively and flexibly, sometimes covering each other or going the extra mile to have the best possible impact for our learners.

Organisational Relationships

Reporting directly to the Catch22 College Lead teacher. Work in close collaboration with the rest of the College team, currently comprising a Lead teacher, Teacher, Teaching Assistant and Administrator.

Qualifications Person Specification

• At least a Level 2 Qualification in English and Maths.
• Full driving licence and the use of a car for work purposes.
• Experience working in an education or vocational training setting, or demonstrable knowledge of the challenges of working in such a setting.
• Good practical knowledge of common ICT software packages, especially MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc.).
• Able to engage, inspire and motivate young people to be at their best.
• Strong communication and engagement skills. Able to form strong connections with professionals and other partners and to motivate them to work collaboratively in the best interests of our learners.
• Proven experience of engaging with appropriate stakeholders for recruitment and progressions.
• Willingness to travel quite frequently within the local area, and occasionally further afield, sometimes with overnight stays.
• Willingness to work additional hours from time to time when there is a need to ‘get the job done’.

Additional Information

This role is subject to an enhanced DBS check. Frequent travel within the local area is a feature of this role, and occasionally further afield, sometimes with overnight stays. Therefore you must have a full driving licence and the use of a car for work purposes.

At Catch22 we value equality, diversity and inclusion. We are wholeheartedly committed to the principle of equality of opportunity, both as an employer and as a provider of services. Diversity and Inclusion is part of what we do every day, working to deliver our vision to build a strong society where everyone has good people around them, a purpose, and a good place to live. Catch22 is committed to rigorous safeguarding and safer recruitment practices; ensuring that every individual within the organisation has been safely and appropriately checked.

Please note, we will conduct an online search as part of our due diligence checks for successful candidate(s). This will involve a search of all publicly available information online and in social media.

Catch22’s Commitment to Ban the Box

Catch22 is proud to have “Banned the Box”. This means that we do not ask for candidates to disclose criminal convictions at the application stage. Instead, we invite disclosures at interview stage, and encourage them at the offer stage.