Project 9

General:

From 2024, Europe Work and Social Economy (Europe WSE) will mobilize resources for social inclusion through local partnerships. This partnership focuses on the guidance of non-professional people and job seekers with complex problems in Flanders. The partnership will help the target group to be heard/seen, from their context, to fully participate in society within their challenges.

For this purpose, a sustainable local partnership has been established, combining the necessary expertise to implement a broad and diversified activation policy with all local actors within the Vilvoorde, Zaventem, Machelen and Grimbergen region: all relevant local authorities, VDAB, Emino, AIF+, Arktos , CAW and JobRoad. JobRoad will take on the matchmaking actions in this project, in order to include job seekers in a matchmaking action in a final step to increase their chances of finding work.

How does a matchmaking campaign work?

The matchmaking actions follow the three-phase model developed by JobRoad:

1. Kickstart – the companies

Companies that are looking for employees and declare that they are open to the target group, inform the trajectory counsellors of (ex)integrators during the kickstart meeting about the corporate culture and their relevant vacancies. These companies are committed to meeting candidates from the target group, who are presented by JobRoad, without the requirement of a CV (‘blind hiring’).

2. Screening & Matching – the candidates

Candidates are registered by trajectory counsellors on the screening & matching day, organized by JobRoad. On that day, the candidates are screened for their motivation, learning ability, relevant experience, competencies and talent for basic communication. They are matched by JobRoad to participating companies and vacancies.

3. Project week – the introduction

During the project week, JobRoad accompanies the selected candidates to the participating companies. Through the exploration of the working environment, they are presented with all information about the vacancies. Later that day, the candidates meet individually with the company’s HR manager.

For candidates who are not retained after the project week, opportunities within the network of JobRoad companies (ambassador companies) will be further explored.).

The personal approach via the JobRoad model transcends the barriers of language, mobility and competence(s). These aspects often make easy access to the regular labour market difficult for this target group. The project model appears to be an efficient lever to help them find a job, allowing them to fully participate in society again.