Job Matching and Brokering

Job brokerage activities match people's skills and experience to vacancies - thereby acting as a bridge to support unemployed clients into sustained employment by working closely with clients and employers. It can be an effective way to tackle worklessness because:

• Clients receive personalised advice from a job broker who can advise and prepare them for the recruitment process - i.e. the application and interview process - and what the job entails.
• Strong, long-term relationships with employers can be developed that bring about repeat business.

Effective job brokerage services have the following characteristics:

• Embedded in and have a full understanding of the local labour market.
• Provide a wide range of tailored supports to clients through one-to-one personalised support from committed and high quality staff.
• Work in partnership with other agencies to source additional specialist services for clients.
• Have an employer-focussed approach that includes:

-  Getting out and developing strong links with employers through specialist employer engagement staff.
- Setting out to the employer what the benefits are from recruiting through the job broker as opposed to other recruitment mechanisms. The benefits might include lower recruitment costs, good quality candidates, access to a more diverse workforce, access to an aftercare service, and improved retention rates.-  Understanding the needs and expectations of employers. Specialist employer engagement staff with expertise in the specific industries of employers assists in this process.
- Encouraging employers to modify their recruitment practices so that they are prepared to take on unemployed (and potentially higher risk) candidates. A strong relationship where the employer trusts the judgement of the job broker assists in this process. 
- Preparing candidates appropriately for the job opportunities based on the recruitment needs and expectations of employers.
- Developing an effective and accurate job matching process to ensure that employers' expectation are met.

• Provide an aftercare service for both the recruit and employer to sustain the job outcome. The aftercare service should be sufficiently flexible to provide light-touch to intensive support depending on the individual client and employer.

Specific consideration is needed around how job brokerage can support clients further from the labour market into employment. Key elements include:

• Ensuring that individuals are only referred to job brokers when they are fully job ready. If they are not job ready, further employability activities are required.
• Assessing clients not only for their initial job readiness but also their likelihood of sustaining a particular job over the longer-term. Such a risk/sustainability assessment helps to anticipate future barriers to sustaining employment and indicate the level of aftercare required.
• A wide range of jobs need to be secured that meet the diverse needs of clients. Different job types, contract hours/shift patterns and locations are needed that are attractive and practical for the pipeline's clients. This will include:

- Jobs that are compatible with childcare/school hours for lone parents.
- Jobs and workplaces that cater to individuals with a disability or health problem.

Due to the employer interface, a further critical aspect is that job brokerage must operate in a similar way to commercial employment/recruitment agencies - i.e. professional and meeting the employers' needs.

Providers of job brokerage support include:

• Jobcentre Plus Personal Advisers
• Work Programme providers
• Recruitment Agencies