Empowering Migrants for Employment EME

follow-up-tool

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Best practices

A follow-up tool to support progress after Culturally sensitive care ambassador training

#tool #skillsrecognition #empowerment

The good practice in a nutshell

After the training, participants are guided for six months in finding a suitable job or additional training in the care sector. During this follow-up, participants further explore their skills and talents, and they discover their dream job. 

EVA bxl developed a visual tool to facilitate this process. The participants and job coach / teacher fill in this form together. This yields a clear picture of the participant’s current situation and his or her dream situation. Then, participants can figure out the next step in their professional career, taking into account their personal life, skills, and motivation.

A picture is worth a thousand words. By visualising abstract ideas, we make the invisible visible and the intangible tangible. It transcends the language barrier. Visual thinking gives clarity to abstract concepts and makes it easier to understand and remember complex ideas. It also provides a better overview of a huge amount of information, which might otherwise result in data overload. Applying visual thinking may have the following results: increased participation and engagement; fast communication; better insight; and group memories and shared vision, orientation, and action.

Developer or user

EVA bxl, Belgium

Target group

Job-seekers with a migration background

Why it is needed

A visually appealing tool is recommended because it transcends the language barrier. It provides structure to complex concepts, and it stimulates creativity. It supports both the participants and the job coach or teacher.

Resources

The method requires:

  • a follow-up tool
  • a job coach or teacher

Expected outcomes

  • Participants get a better overview of their path in their professional and personal life.
  • The training helps the participant to build a positive self-image.
  • It helps the participants to reflect on existing competencies and interests and on what they would like to develop further.
  • It helps the participant to plan the next steps on his or her professional path.

‘Do’s and ‘don’t’s

  • This is a process: the document’s content may change.
  • The job coach should ask questions of the participant while filling in the document so that the participant starts the reflection process.

Applicability

The follow-up tool is transferable to other contexts and/or target groups. You only have to make some minor language adjustments. In general, visual thinking is applicable to every context.

Quotes from the other project partners

‘This could be used in a project that we have in Sweden called “establishment women”, where they work with migrant women who are very far from the labour market and only have A- or B- in the Swedish language. It can also be used by the subcontractors of the unemployment office. We think this method is especially good to use with people who don’t know the language very well.’ (Municipality of Piteå, Sweden)

Additional information