The former dockyards district of Molenbeek Saint Jean in Anderlecht, is characterised by high levels of unemployment, particularly youth unemployment, which is at 40% of the young population. The problem seems to stem from school age as 30% of school leavers over the age of 18 have been educationally behind since primary school. This is especially true of the boys.
Young job-seekers in Anderlecht are often not well prepared to enter the job market due to lack of information, inadequate preparation and a lack of practical experience.
The companies have split into two groups:
Group 1 - Exchange of Knowledge
Companies: Accenture, Heidelbergcement, Microsoft, Belgacom and Linklaters.
The first group created an "exchange of knowledge" network for students, teachers and volunteers. The volunteers worked with teenagers from a deprived school in Brussels and have developed a database and website to teach project management and job ready skills.
Phase 1 - 6 workshops
The main activity was on 6th May 2011, when 24 volunteers coached 30 students about job skills in a series of workshops on the following subjects:
- Write CV and covering letter
- Interviewing and handling stress
- Internet and social networking
- References
- Project Management
- Discovering my competences/skills
Phase 2 - Developing the young people’s network by:
- Organising mentors who are assigned to each of the young people and commit to advising the students over a term
- Building a website to ensure links between the mentors and the students
Phase 3 – Knowledge exchange event
The young people will present what they have learned at a knowledge exchange event planned for November around the following themes:
- Valuing the skills of young people
- Informal information exchange regarding a variety of skills
- Self confidence and how it has improved
- Doing better than you thought you could
This pilot project is set up in collaboration with Solidarité Savoirs, a youth organization which supports youngsters in Molenbeek and a school called L'institut des Ursulines.
Group 2 - Maks
Companies: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Infrabel, Microsoft and APCO
The second group have organized a series of employability days to help youngsters, aged between 18 and 25, in vocational education or unemployed youth to discover their competences and strengthen their profile in a very interactive way.
One to one workshops were held to support young people with CV writing, interview techniques, new media training and included an insight into specific job roles with the help of corporate volunteers. These workshops were offered to 90 youngsters involving 80 volunteers.
This project is organized with the help of MAKS, an organization working with unemployed people in Anderlecht.
To find out how your company can get involved in this project please contact Jenny Todd
