As we emerge from lockdown, as a business owner are you looking to expand your workforce? Would you like to use your business experience to help someone, 16 -24 years old get some valuable work experience? Did you think support schemes for such opportunities did not come down to firms at your level? They do, the latest Government Kickstart programme has been changed from the initial plan where the minimum number you could take on was thirty. Not something a small or medium-sized business could achieve without some co-operation, now you can take just one person.
You can decide when the six-month placement starts as long as it is by the end of this year, and the government will cover their salary at the National Minimum (or Living) Wage for twenty-five hours work each week, together with associated National Insurance contributions for the six months. If you as the employer want to pay them more, or for more hours that is your call. One important point to remember is that these posts are over and above your usual staff levels – not a replacement for someone on furlough or having been made redundant.
This scheme targets those 16 -24-year-olds, who are at risk of joining the long-term unemployed, tragic for those just starting their working life. Hence, the Government expects more from you than just taking someone on for six months. If it works out you could offer them a full-time post, but whatever, during the time they are with you there is an expectation you will help them in another way. Those employers on the scheme are required to spend time with the candidates, giving them advice and training on writing their CV, applying for jobs, and attending interviews.
This could be just what you are looking for from the side of doing what you can do to help the community you are in pull together and pull through after the economic effects of the pandemic and the Government restrictions set in place to fight it. You could be in an industry which is now in growth and by taking part in this scheme you could give an opportunity for someone to see how they can put what they have learnt in education to good use in the workplace, but also to realise that the workplace is somewhere they will continue to learn. One of the things they will learn is how to be smarter looking for a job, from their CV, or application form, to the interview when they land it.
The latter may be filling you with even more dread than applying to go onto the scheme itself, that is where AJ HR Solutions can help you. We have already guided a few companies through the process of applying to go on the scheme, but it is when it comes to the training we can come into our own. Recruiting new members of staff is something we have been helping our clients with for years, we have poured over countless CVs from candidates, sat in on interviews to help and guide the interviewer. We can use those skills to help coach the candidate you have on how to accentuate what they have to offer, to those who are selecting and interviewing them.
Now, if you would like to enter this scheme, we can help you both to go through the initial process, and then those candidates that you get to help them sell their skills and help them be a standout candidate for their dream job. Why not contact us today so together we can help kickstart someone’s career journey.