Youth Employment Specialist

**Youth Employment Specialist**

**Position Description**

This full-time role is an exciting addition to Lifewise’s Youth Housing team and is an integral part of our Youth Housing Programme. The role is community-based and focuses on supporting the needs of vulnerable and at risk young people into employment through education and training while working directly with the local businesses in creating job opportunities or path ways to employment.

The Youth Employment Specialist provides strengths based support services and activities by working collaboratively with young people identifying their needs, transferable skills, and finding practical solutions that will assist them into employment.

**WHO YOU REPORT TO**

You report to the Youth Housing Service Leader.

**WHAT YOU’RE RESPONSIBLE FOR**
- Building tools that will educate and train the programme participants to get jobs, i.e. knowledge about latest trends like Applicant Tracking System (ATS) or virtual interviews via Microsoft Teams/Zoom, signing up to recruitment sites, creating CVs and drafting cover letters, dressing for interviews, responding to both phone and in-person interview questions, referees and police checks, completing employment-related paper work, the on-boarding process, etc.
- Educating the rangatahi about the basic information about employment i.e. workplace health and safety, work hours, meal breaks, minimum wage, employee discipline, employee / employer rights and obligations, etc.
- Teaching rangatahi ways to overcome challenges and obstacles in gaining and maintaining employment and motivating them to keep going.
- Collaborating with the Youth Development Workers in doing a realistic assessment of the programme participants’ level of readiness for employment
- Co-creating and co-designing with the Youth Development Workers a service supporting pathways into employment
- Creating a range of perpetual internships for programme participants and working closely with engaged employers to support the success of these internships.
- Developing positive and effective working relationships with the programme participants
- Working alongside the Youth Development Workers in providing wrap around and on-going support and guidance to the programme participants before, during, and after initial job placement.
- Actively facilitating employment and internship opportunities, developing a pipeline of suitable work based placements for rangatahi.
- Growing connections and maintaining relationships with stakeholders / employers to benefit the programme participants.
- Negotiating employment contracts and verifying contract terms and conditions with employers on behalf of the programme participants
- Participating in meetings, conferences, workshops and events that will help promote the programme participants
**WHAT SKILLS & EXPERIENCE YOU NEED**
- Experience in recruitment and placement including a working knowledge of employment legislation specifically related to employment contracts and codes of conduct (i.e. In-house or Agency Recruiter, Outplacement Specialist, or Employment Broker)
- Proven ability to market benefits (individual and program related), build and cultivate relationships with businesses and community partners
- Experience working across community and business sectors with an understanding of how to support high needs individuals transitioning into employment.
- Adaptive communication and interpersonal skills (i.e. ability to connect with youth on their terms as well as business leaders)
- Experience working with young people who present challenging behaviours is highly desirable
- Ability to work cross culturally, (knowledge of West and/or South Auckland Communities is desirable).
- New Zealand driver's license (current and full) is essential