Following the Testing/Piloting of the Curriculum Programme the project will embark into its formal Validation and Accreditation.  Working towards the design of an EQF approved Accreditation for Job Brokers is the key to the long term aim of the programme as there are currently no standardised qualifications for this role and in most EU countries and organisations a person can operate as a Job Broker without any specific qualification or license.

It is envisaged that Job Brokers will have put into practise much of what was covered during the Curriculum Programme following the Pilot/Testing,  - throughout this time, as a result of the embedded evaluation ( via questionnaires, on line feedback and peer to peer communication, blogs and chat rooms), feedback on the practical application of the teachings of the Curriculum Programme will have been collected and Job Brokers will now be in a better position to provide comprehensive, relevant and 'live' feedback on which aspects of the Curriculum Programme have been most beneficial, which aspects require further development and possibly which aspects need further explanation.

The methodology for this IO includes, the delivery of a 1 day review and validation session at the Transnational meeting in Rome. In this meeting the partnership needs to discuss and agree the most appropriate route to the Validation & Accreditation approach from the following options: a) validation and accreditation of the 5 Training Modules or some of them; b) Validation of the JBs’ professional practice and c) Exploring a formal qualification looking at the certification of an assessed unit of competency.  The outcome of the Pilot/Testing phase will help the Partnership to decide which of the options to go for.

This IO is to be carried out with representatives from the original Pilot Group of Job Brokers (at least 8 of the original Job Brokers), to incorporate, review and agree any changes to the training programme and materials (as a result of feedback received in the interim) and to finalise and review the content of the Training Pilot along with the practical application of the skills covered.  During this session it will be possible for the group to revisit any areas they now feel they wish to focus more specifically on and there will also be the opportunity for one-to-one sessions with individual Job Brokers and trainers and also discussion groups focusing on key topics .

ABIF will lead this IO based on its credentials in the validation and accreditation of curriculum programmes, aligned to EQF. The partner will consider the appropriate form of certification at the European level for the modular programme. Abif is licensed to award qualifications itself, and will coordinate the process whereby, at the European level, we will undertake a technical competency map of the learning outcomes against the European Qualifications Framework, at the appropriate levels (provisionally levels 5 and 6) and, where appropriate, considered for ECTS.  It will also assess considerations of the ECVET common procedure to recognise learning outcomes achieved in formal and non-formal settings.