The Pilot/Testing will be conducted in 2 integrated stages, as follows:

1) 1st stage with 16 Job Brokers from the partner organisations; 2 from each. It is anticipated that these JB professionals are involved in the matching of learners/job-seekers to employment opportunities. The delivery methodology will be a combination of blended learning including two 2-day Train the Trainers sessions in Berlin and Larissa, together with a 2 months distance learning programme using an eLearning Platform. The 1st session in Berlin is to review the Curriculum Programme & learning materials and the 2nd in Larissa is to review the results from the online programme and assess the preliminary results/feedback from the Working Groups

During the testing of the materials the group of JBs will not only cover a wide range of practical skills but will work towards developing the following for each participating individual: (i) Training Needs Analysis and (ii) Learning Action Plan.   During the piloting and testing of the Curriculum Programme, evaluation of this process will be essential in order to capture (i) learning and change, and (ii) improvements to be made

Selection and planning with regards the cohort of Job Brokers, will be important in the success of this Pilot and to ensuring that the feedback and experience is valid and relevant. Partners will be required to ensure that all those participating in the pilot have practical and real life experience of the Job Brokering role. It is recognised that not all JBs will have equal or the same experience of working with both ends of the Job Brokerage journey and some will have more direct experience of working with Employers, whilst others will currently work more predominantly in the education end of the journey. These differences are anticipated and important in helping us to gauge the right mix and focus of materials. However, we will require partners to identify, prior to the delivery of the Pilot, the context in which their candidates for the pilot are working, as this will affect the focus of the sessions. Feedback/Validation and Review from this process will be instrumental in fine tuning the training materials before the testing begin with the Working Groups

2) The 2nd Stage includes Testing/Piloting the learning materials with a Working Group. Eight Working Groups will be set up; one in each country. The Working Groups will consist of Job Counsellors from both public and private agencies, JBs from VET providers and Career Counsellors (IAG practitioners).

The JBs participating in the initial Testing (via the Train the Trainers and distance learning sessions) will then run 3 sessions (across 3 months) within each Working Group. It is anticipated that each Working Group will have circa 8 participants . These groups will test/review the learning materials that have been produced. Each partner organisation is responsible for the translation of relevant learning materials to make the testing/piloting easier. The Working Groups’ sessions will be participative and interactive and feedback will be sought at every stage, with the results being fed back into the further design and finessing of the material.

During the two stages of the Testing process, a programme of on-going support and development for Job Brokers will be designed and embedded into the programme. This will include a series of on line support sessions designed to complement and consolidate the learning which has taken place during the Pilot Programme. It is not intended that these sessions will be stand alone training courses and we anticipate that largely they will be informed by feedback from the participating JBs as they :

i. reflect on the content and activity of the Pilot or  ii. put into practise the learning from the Pilot and experience and highlight further areas where support/training is necessary or preferable.

As these sessions are intended to be tailored to the needs of the active JBs it is not possible at this stage to determine the exact content or number of sessions which would be required but we are able to confirm that there would be a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 5 sessions, delivered either between the Pilot and the Review Sessions or in fact after the Review Sessions and up to the end of the Programme, if so required.  These sessions will normally be hosted in English.

Highlights from the Testing/Pilot Sessions will be also captured and produced as an audio-visual tool to support the Resource Pack which will form part of the ongoing Professional Development of participating Job Brokers but also be available to new and existing JBs as a resource material available for their own skills assessment and professional development.

The results from the Working Groups’ sessions will then be fedback to the partner (MMC) leading the Testing phase, which in turn will coordinate with DIMITRA the adjustments required to the Learning Materials and the overall Curriculum Programme.