Basic idea

A “Job Broker” is a professional who works in publicly-funded VET and labour market programmes that are aimed at unemployed, and typically disadvantaged, job seekers. This is a newly-emerging occupational role that extends beyond, for instance, employment counsellors in that it involves direct and sustained engagement with employers to achieve the required outcomes (initial and sustained job placements). It differs from the work of private employment agencies in that it is concerned with the provision of in-depth support to unemployed job-seeking clients who are being supported in publicly-funded active labour market, social inclusion and VET programmes.

There is presently no work-based professional certificate for Job Brokers. Some who presently find themselves in a Job Broker role may be qualified in related areas (IAG, job counselling, teaching and training, youth work, HR) or may be completely unqualified. This project aims to fill that gap.

Previous project

The new project CQJB is based on the project "Competency and learning development for Job Brokers in the EU", which was carried out from 09.2015 - 08.2018 within the framework of the EU programme ERASMUS + Key Action 2, Strategic Partnerships with the following project activities: Development of a job profile for the Job Broker and a curriculum for its training.

The project specific objectives are to:

1. Design, register, pilot and sustain a new European Professional Certificate for Job Brokers
2. Accredit a brand-new European qualification and assessment process
3. Establish a transnational licensing entity and trademark, with national licensed operators, to offer and quality assure the qualification, promoting labour market mobility by fully incorporating the use of European occupation-mapping and job-matching mechanisms (EURES and ESCO).

Results and products

CQJB will create a new Job Broker qualification, the European Professional Cer-tificate for Job Brokers, aligned to EQF Level 6 and operated under conformity to ISO 17024 (Certification of Persons) and ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) requirements. It will detail an Occupational Profile specified and required competences for Knowledge, Skills and Competencies to a standard required for this accreditation, accompanied by a new Training Curriculum and assessment procedures, with an accompanying Trainers Guide.

Target Groups

Professionals working in a variety of contexts (Public Employment Services (PES), Job Counselling, VET organisations, Careers, VET ‘aftercare’, information, advice and guidance and employer outreach services) as an intermediary, ‘bro-kering’ (identifying, matching – and, importantly, sustaining) jobs between the ultimate beneficiaries - young and unemployed people on publicly-funded VET and PES programmes, and the employers that are the source of jobs.

Impact

CQJB addresses the new challenges, both in terms of current European labour market conditions and in the administration and management of PESs that are impacting upon, and therefore changing, the traditional roles of employment counsellor or job matching services. By beginning the process of developing a transnational professional qualification to provide a ‘license to practice’ for Job Brokers, aligned to EQF and certificated via ISO and ECTS, common competen-cies can be recognised and validated, and a new, validated infrastructure of pro-fessionals can begin to be developed to support the objectives of EURES and ESCO.

Project duration: 01.10.2018 to 30.09.2020

Our European partners are:

• DIMITRA (Greece) - Vocational training institution
• RINOVA (England) - Vocational training institution
• ACTA - Aristotle Certification (Greece) - Certification Agency
• abif (Austria) - Research Institute
• MMC (Cyprus) - Vocational training institution
• VMST (Iceland) - Employment Agency Iceland
• Folkuniversitetet (Sweden) - University
• Camara de Comercio, Industria y Servicios de Zaragoza (Spain) - Chamber of Commerce and Industry