Pioneering Candidate Acquisition Project Seeks New Partner Agencies from All Sectors

A pioneering new partnership that assists unemployed individuals to get back to work with the help of commercial recruitment agencies is being piloted with EQUAL funding from the European Social Fund.

ProspectUs (a major recruitment consultancy specialising in the not for profit sector) is providing a vehicle for candidates referred by the voluntary sector (St Mungoís and Connection St Martinís) to access work opportunities via commercial recruitment agencies.

The Dual-Facing Work Advisors Project has now been fully operational since October 2005. Its unique approach combines the expertise of the voluntary sector in delivering job coaching and employment advice with the commercial acumen of a recruitment consultancy. Candidates are coached by professional employment advisers to assist them to become job-ready. They are then referred to ProspectUs where they undertake a full candidate registration process, which assesses their job goals, training gaps and salary expectations. At this stage their CV is reviewed and references are checked. Successful candidates are marketed out to the partner-agency group or taken on to PropsectUsí own books according to their particular job choices.

Current partner agencies/ employers to the project include:

Forties People
Chamberlain Beaumont
Nichols Employment Agency
Driver Hire London North
Lismore Recruitment Consultants
ProspectUs (Temp and Perm Divisions)
Street Shine

Following a recent increase in the number of referrals to the project, ProspectUs are now seeking new partner agencies who will be able to benefit from this unique pilot service (currently free of charge) which will provide them with fully referenced, work ready candidates.

Partner agencies and employers also have the opportunity to advertise their vacancies for free (in the form of a vacancy summary which is distributed monthly to the candidate pool). Candidates who have been referred to the project have come from a diverse range on employment backgrounds including: driving, warehousing, retail, administration, finance, HR, care work, construction, domestic and sales.

The Dual-Facing Work-Advisors Project has provided a fantastic opportunity for our jobseekers to fully realise their potential in the labour market. It has helped people to identify clear and realistic job goals, which they are able to pursue via the employment agency route. Although, the project is in the pilot phase, a number of candidates have already secured employment and we anticipate that this trend will continue over the coming year.

Bill Williams, Workspace Programme Manager, Connection St Martins

If you are an employment agency seeking candidates and would like to become an official project partner please contact Louise Woodcock: louise.woodcock@prospect-us.co.uk or tel: 0207 813 0101 for further info.