Employment consultancy strives to help ex-convicts into work

Employment consultancy Inside Job are helping ex-convicts on their job hunt through promoting the benefits of recruitment to businesses.

Unemployment is a major factor in the rate of crime and imprisonment, both of which can have a damaging impact on communities.

It has been found that employment reduces the likelihood of reoffending by 50 per cent, yet only 17 per cent of people manage to find a job within a year of leaving prison.

Inside Job is an employment consultancy looking to help people who have served a prison sentence into employment and is part of registered charity, Beating Time.

Inside Job finds jobs for people while they are serving their sentences.

It is different from other recruitment services in prison in several ways:

1) Inside Job trains people serving sentences to recruit the best candidates for jobs

2) Inside Job takes employers into prison, one at a time, to interview candidates for jobs on release

3) Inside Job offers bespoke support to all candidates as they finish their sentence and post-release.

Inside Job has grown from an original idea of serving prisoner, Jonathan Floyd, on a business start-up pilot in 2019. Jonathan is now co-director of Inside Job and the in-community team comprises co-director, Bally Nijjar, employment consultant, Shelley Ballard and CEO, Heather Phillips.

Bally Nijjar said: “I want employers to understand the huge benefits our candidates bring to their teams as hard working, resilient and loyal people who want to repay the trust others place in them. ”

To date, Inside Job has helped over 200 candidates in 4 prisons and partnered with 48 employers who have helped placed 70 people into jobs in the community.

Kimberly McGinty, CSR manager at VGC Group testified to the support of Inside Job 's in getting some of their clients into work on civil engineering projects.

She said: “Thank you Inside Job for getting some of your lads into work. Bally has been brilliant - we really appreciate the lengths he goes to and the support he extends to clients. Our other site managers want to use this route, so good news travels fast! ”

Beating Time will be hosting an Inside Job 'Meet The Governors ' information and networking event on 23 February. The event will be an opportunity to bring together local Midlands prison governors and employers who together are working to improve employment opportunities for prison leavers.

Places are limited, however if you would like to register your interest in future networking events, or if you have any enquiries about employing and working with prison leavers, please contact Bally Nijjar at ballynijjar@beatingtime.org

For more information, visit www.beatingtime.org