Be the First Yes: training for employers hiring care leaversBe the employer who says yes first.

Story. Marley, 19, has kept a part-time job going through two moves and a college course, has managed her own money since she was 18 and looks after her younger brother at weekends. Her CV shows two schools in one year, no work reference and a gap. On paper she looks like a risk.

Theory. Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun’s research on post-traumatic growth (1996) shows that people who come through hard experiences often build real strengths, such as persistence and knowing what matters to them. We set out who care leavers are, the support they are entitled to up to 25, including a personal adviser, and why the signals employers screen on can filter those strengths out.

Action. Post-Traumatic Growth. Tables take Marley’s CV and write down what each gap shows she can do, then look at the screening criteria in one of their own adverts and mark any a care leaver could fail for reasons that have nothing to do with the job. Pairs then practise a short interview with Marley’s CV in front of them, asking questions that bring out what she can do rather than what is missing, and swap roles.

By the end of this part people can name strengths in a care leaver’s history that a standard CV hides, and identify which of their own screening criteria might screen those applicants out.

You leave with A one-page brief on care-experienced talent to share with your leadership team.

Story. Marley applies. The online form asks for two references and five years of addresses. The interview is across town at 9am, and the bus fare is money she won’t have until Friday. She doesn’t turn up, and the employer marks her down as not interested.

Theory. Mark Granovetter’s study The Strength of Weak Ties (1973) found that people often hear about jobs through acquaintances, a neighbour or a friend of a parent, rather than close friends. Young people who grew up in care often have fewer of those links, and fewer people to check a form or lend a fare. Recruitment quietly relies on that network, and nobody notices until someone without it applies.

Action. A recruitment route map. Teams walk Marley’s application along a timeline from advert to first payday and mark every point where a family usually fills the gap. Then they map their own process the same way and mark where an applicant like Marley would fall out. Tables compare their maps, agree the drop-out points that matter most in their own process and note who in the organisation owns each one.

By the end of this part people can map their own recruitment process from advert to first payday and mark the points where a care leaver is most likely to drop out, with the reason at each one.

You leave with A map of your own recruitment with the drop-out points marked.

Story. Marley gets the job. In her second week she is late twice. Her phone has been cut off and she is sofa surfing after losing her room. Her manager is about to give her a written warning.

Theory. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1943): it is hard to focus on work when a safe place to sleep, food and the fare to get in are not sorted. Marley’s lateness is a housing problem before it is a conduct problem. We also cover how the care leaver apprenticeship bursary and employer payment work, and how a personal adviser can help an employer when things go wrong.

Action. Separating Reason from Behaviour and Language that Cares. Tables rewrite one of their own adverts in clear, everyday language, with a named contact and a guaranteed interview offer. They then plan Marley’s first month, covering travel, ID, uniform, the gap before first pay and a workplace buddy, and script what her manager says on the morning she is late instead of the warning. Pairs then practise that conversation, one as the manager and one as Marley, and swap roles.

By the end of this part people can rewrite an advert so a young person can finish the application without help, and plan a first month that does not assume family support, including the first conversation when a problem shows up.

You leave with A rewritten advert and a first-month checklist for new starters.

Story. Kyra, 21, did a week’s work experience at a firm that told her “we’d love to have you back”. Nobody called. Six months later she still wonders what she did wrong.

Theory. Peter Gollwitzer’s research on implementation intentions (1999) shows that a plan saying exactly who will do what, and when, is more likely to happen than a good intention. We link each plan to the council’s local offer for care leavers and the employer charter in the Care Leaver Covenant, so young people actually hear about the opportunity.

Action. Each organisation writes its 90-day pledge. Every commitment gets a named owner, a date and a first step, and a line on who in the council’s leaving care team will hear about it. Tables read each other’s pledges and point out anything that sounds like Kyra’s firm: kind words and no follow-up. Each organisation tightens its pledge in response and reads its first step out to the room.

By the end of this part people can write a dated pledge with named owners, and say how their opportunities will reach care leavers through the local offer.

You leave with A written pledge with named owners and dates, and the contacts to get your opportunities in front of care leavers.