The UK’s first online Jobs Board specifically for ex-Offenders!

PROSPER4Grouplaunches https://www.Prosper4Jobs.co.uk

The UK’s first online Jobs Board specifically for ex-Offenders!

Q1.       Have you recently been released from a custodial sentence, or are about to be?

Q2.       Have you ever had to “tick the box “on a job application form if you have a criminal record?

Q3.       Have you ever registered for Job Seekers Allowance or other benefits?

If you answered YES to any of the above questions, before being eligible to receive any state benefits you will have most likely been asked to register on the Government’s jobsite “Universal JobMatch”. And the likelihood is that, even if you have applied for dozens of jobs, you will never have received a reply, nor been invited to an interview, let alone have been offered employment.

Well, now you have an alternative. Prosper 4 has been working with dozens of nationals and regional employers, who DO consider ex-offenders for employment.  www.Prosper4jobs.co.uk has been launched and, of the hundreds and soon to be thousands of jobs that you see posted online, ex-offenders will be eligible to apply for each one of them!

Prosper has been working over the last 3 years across the country with HM Prisons and their partners, including the National Careers Service, matching candidates’ skills and commitment and identifying work opportunities with supportive employers. This includes people eligible for daily release, (Release on Temporary License, or “ROTL”) as they approach the end of their sentence, plus those recently released and under the supervision of Probation or Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs).

If you seriously want to get back into employment, and are determined not to get drawn into the spiral of re-offending, then this portal is for you.  At the end of this article is information on how you can apply online, or if you are still in custody and have no internet access, how your family, partner or close friends can apply on your behalf –  all they need is a valid email address for you.

All candidate registrations are free.

ABOUT https://www.Prosper4jobs.co.uk

The portal is unique – a digital Jobs Board for ex-offenders.This is the first time that the knowledge, experience, skills, and commitment to work of this diverse labour pool can be brought together, openly, and connect with employers offering genuine and sustainable jobs.

  • It enables enlightened, progressive, and supportive employers to offer jobs to people who have an ex-offender background. Candidates can apply for jobs in a transparent way, and demonstrate their commitment not to re-offend
  • The Digital Jobs Board has been established by Prosper4 Group to enhance its existing employment services in the Rehabilitation sector, using modern digital processes to bring together ex-offenders seeking work and those companies seeking workers.
  • We are collaborating with our partners in five pilot areas: Leeds, Leicester, London, Teesside and Northern Ireland. They include Prisons, National Probation Service, Community Rehabilitation Companies, Chambers of Commerce and Charities. 
  • Supportive employers working with us are from all sectors include national companies Mitie, Whitbread Group, Timpson’s, Greggs, Halford, Willmott Dixon, Bounceback, plus local businesses of all sizes across the country.
  • We acknowledge the excellent support from “Outside Place” plus its supportive Employers and Partners providing guidance and advice for job hunters.
  • All CVs can be uploaded with secure access for all ex-offenders.
  • Organisations can advertise their vacancies free of charge!

 

The Bigger Picture

The National Audit Office recently published that Reoffending costs the Government up to £ 13 Billion per annum, or an average of £200K per person, when the costs of Legal Aid, Courts, Probation and Police time plus social benefits costs are added to the cost of incarceration.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-reoffending-and-rehabilitation/2010-to-2015-government-policy-reoffending-and-rehabilitation##

Prosper has a range of initiatives in which Companies, Employer Associations, the Ministry of Justice, Department of Work and Pensions, Community Rehabilitation Companies, National Probation Service and all their partners can contribute to the reduction in the costs of Re-offending, through www.Prosper4Jobs.co.uk.

These incentives maximise the opportunities of sustainable employment post-release & realising the ultimate benefits to all.

Contact:

James.Thomas@prosper4.com          

Michael.Corrigan@prosper4.com.

FAQs

  1. How do I post my CV?
  2. First, get a basic CV so that you have your details available
  3. Go to https://www.Prosper4jobs.co.ukor cut + paste this URL into your computer search engine
  • Click on (Top right) Candidate Sign-in
  1. Complete the simple template
  2. Upload your CV from either your computer or a memory stick.
  3. Next time you can login with your email & password to amend your CV or apply for jobs.

 

  1. How do I apply if I don’t have access to the internet or an email address?
  2. Your partner, sibling, son, daughter or friend, in fact anyone that you trust, and who has a valid email account, can upload your profile with your consent.
  3. As soon as you have access to the internet, you can amend the login details and be in control over your account and job applications.

 

  1. What if I don’t have a C.V. prepared?
  2. By the time you read this article, the website will have a “C.V. Builder” template installed.
  3. Until then, contact Prosper, and we will help you prepare a C.V. You will need to sign a waiver authoring us to use your personal information only for this activity and for employment purposes.

  

Notes for Editors

If you require further information or would like to schedule an interview with Michael Corrigan (07825 395706) or James Thomas (07801 166833), call their mobiles, or please call 0203 021 4780.  A picture of the Site is attached, and additional photographs of Michael, James and Prosper are available on request. 

  1. Prosper 4 Groupwas set up in 2014 and comprises social enterprises delivering services to find employment for ex-offenders. They help people to get jobs or to set up self-employment businesses.  The work undertaken by Prosper includes support for prisoners inside prisons, as well as on release in the community.  Prosper works with individual prisons, councils, charities and corporate businesses to find employment for people.  Prosper works to place people into employment, and is working in Yorkshire, Teesside, Leicester, London, and Northern Ireland.
  2. Michael Corrigan– Michael is an ex-offender and co-founder of Prosper. He spent over a year in Brixton and Belmarsh prisons serving a fraud offence, being released in 2013.  Michael’s passion is to change the way in which work and employment opportunities are provided to offenders, in order to support resettlement.  Quality outcomes are the key drivers for Michael: he wants to change the accepted norm of mundane and minimal standards in the justice sector; and he wants to ensure positive outcomes result from his work. In a previous project run by Michael and James in Brixton prison over 200 men found work – many developing careers as a result.  The jobs were with mainstream major companies, with real salaries, real work and real responsibilities.  It is that which led to the formation of Prosper: being able to implement, sustainably, employment services for offenders and ex-offenders in the real world.
  3. James Thomas – James is an independent professionally qualified consultant, with over 30 years’ recruitment company experience to the U.K. and international oil and gas industry. In 1986 and 2001, he established 2 staffing companies and substantially grew each for 10 years, before successfully exiting both with trade sales. In 2001, he co-developed and launched a high technology online recruitment and job-posting portal encompassing a global all-discipline industry consultant / contractor network database. He currently consults to clients in:
  • International “start-up” and growth business plan preparation
  • Recruitment marketing strategy
  • Project Manpower planning and operational management
  • Staffing processes review and analysis
  • Retained executive search
  • International business development and sales

Between May and August 2013, while serving a custodial sentence under the guidance of Governor Ed Tullett’s regime, James assisted Michael Corrigan in the development of the recruitment project established in H.M.P Brixton.  The prime aim of the project was to get serving prisoners into work while under ROTL (Release on Temporary Licence) and encompassed matching available skills-sets to participating Companies’ requirements   The project was a recognised success, over 200 men successfully secured work – many developing careers as a result. 

Prosper 4 Jobs Portal: https://www.prosper4jobs.co.uk/

November, 2017