50 Futures for employers

Work experience can really benefit people with a limited work history by helping them to develop practical, on-the-job skills.

It can also bring big benefits to your company and the local economy. These include:

• increasing the profile of your business
• discovering local talent which will help your business to prosper in the future
• giving you the opportunity to test someone's abilities before hiring them
• giving your existing staff the chance to develop supervisory skills
• supporting your local community by helping residents to gain skills and experience which could lead to future employment

To provide a 50 Futures placement, you and your business must:

• be able to provide a meaningful placement which will allow the candidate to develop new and existing skills
• provide a job description which lists the duties the candidate will be expected to carry out, and skills they will develop
• sign an agreement, along with the candidate, which identifies the placement supervisor, start and end dates, and days and hours required
• give the candidate time to attend job interviews and any appointments required by the Jobcentre
• provide the candidate with a reference at the end of the placement
• be a safe working environment, with suitable insurance in place
• comply with all relevant employment and health and safety legislation

We are happy to work with you to make sure all of these requirements are in place before the placement starts.

The placement will last for a maximum of 8 weeks, with the candidate working a maximum of 30 hours per week.

The placement should offer real, practical work experience, which is representative of a paid job with your company. However, you should remember that some candidates will have little or no professional experience.

50 Futures placements are voluntary, so you'll need to be flexible if the candidate has childcare needs or other barriers to working. We'll discuss and agree this with both you and the candidate before the placement begins.

In most cases, the 50 Futures placement is both beneficial and rewarding, but if there are any issues, we'll work with you and the candidate to resolve them.

You are not required to offer the candidate a job at the end of their placement. However, you should carry out an exit interview with them, so you can give feedback on how the placement has gone.

For candidates who have performed well throughout the placement, we would expect you to provide them with a reference. We'd also encourage you to consider hiring them if a suitable job becomes available in the future. This can include an apprenticeship.

The placement must benefit both the business and the candidate. With this in mind, we try to find you the most suitable person by carrying out one-to-one interviews with all candidates.

You will also have the opportunity to interview the candidate before the placement is agreed. We recommend that the interview is kept quite informal, and focusses on the candidate's commitment and enthusiasm, rather than their work history.

If it's appropriate, we can put forward multiple candidates for you to choose between.

You can offer more than one placement at a time, as long as all candidates get a beneficial amount of support and experience.

Get in touch with us to find out more about 50 Futures and how your business can get involved.

You can call us on 07812 516416 or email 50futures@mcls.ac.uk.

If you're interested in offering a placement, please let us know:

• your business name
• a contact name
• a contact email address
• a contact phone number
• the number of employees:
  • 1 to 10
  • 11 to 50
  • 51 to 200
  • 201 to 250
  • 251+
• what job role you have available for a 50 Futures placement

We look forward to hearing from you!