Overview:

Immigrant and refugee workers work hard, pay taxes, but their rights are routinely violated. They contribute significantly to the country's success, providing the work force that makes it possible for high technology, agriculture, service, and other sectors to thrive. Although some immigrant families are doing well, many newly arrived immigrants are relegated to low-wage jobs and experience disproportionate rates of poverty.

Migrants and migrant workers as well as members of their families are vulnerable to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. The technical qualifications, skills and expertise of migrants and migrant workers need to be valued, and their full and fair access to employment in both the public and private sector need to be ensured. The mission of this programme is to empower low-income immigrants and refugees in the UK through direct services, community education and training, leadership development and policy advocacy.

We believe that all people, regardless of legal status or nationality, are entitled to essential services, human dignity, basic rights and protection, and access to full participation in society.

Empowering refugees and migrants to make a difference to their lives by:

• Providing education and capacity building for refugees, asylum seekers, documented and undocumented migrant workers and migrants on their rights, responsibilities, and avenues for redress.
• Assisting immigrant communities in tapping their potential for leadership and achieving self-identified goals.
• Providing support, information, training and education to immigrant and refugee communities to enable them achieve full participation in society.
• Providing refugees and immigrants with opportunities to recognise and transfer their skills and qualifications, enabling them to better integrate into the U.K labour market, and to generally increase employability.
• The advancement of education in the areas of vocational training and employment.

To do this we:

• link with employers who are willing to provide work experience and job opportunities
• organise training courses for our clients to help them increase their employability.
• provide background material on the labour market, education and training
• help unemployed migrants to access job training and organise people placement into work experience.
• provide advice to clients on ways to have access to employment, education and training;
• assist skilled migrants and refugees of English and non-English speaking backgrounds in gaining employment, or self-employment, in their chosen occupation.
• provide information on jobs available, career choice, training, education, different opportunities and changes in the job market.
• organising pre-screening and identification of professionals from refugees and immigrants who are available for work.
• organise referral to personal & career development services.

Our Training and Employment Service helps refugee and immigrant professionals find the right training and employment opportunity in the UK. We aim to increase the opportunities available to refugees and immigrants to take part in work, in learning, and in society more generally.

A programme tailored to our client needs

1. Together you will identify your critical success factors - the things you enjoy doing and do well. A clear understanding of your needs, values and motivational factors is also essential to ensuring that your next position offers you the right fit in terms of role, organisational culture, your values and balance between your work and your home life.
2. A future employer will be interested in employing you only if he or she is convinced that you will deliver results. Your career advice coach will help you rigorously examine your achievements to identify the precise skills (leadership, motivational, organising, planning, creativity etc.) that you used to be successful. You will then be able to demonstrate these transferable skills to potential employers.
3. Having developed a thorough understanding of yourself and having documented your specific transferable skills, you will be in a position to start considering different career options that are both realistic and challenging. Most people have a limited view of the wide number of options available to them because they are only able to draw upon their own experience and that of their immediate circle. However, through assessment and insight from your career advice coach, you will be able to discover more options.
4. Moving toward employment: Together, you and your career advice coach, will ensure that your application (CV, approach and, crucially, the cover letter) gives you the best possible opportunity to reach the interview stage.
5. You and your career advice coach will work together on developing your interview skills. You will learn advanced interview techniques and the subtle differences between types of interview. You will learn how to gain control of the interview and build rapport. You will become adept at steering the interview towards your transferable skills.
6. We will give you as much support as is possible to enable you to make your job search effective.
7. We will listen, assess and recommend with you the best course of action to find the right job for you.
8. We will assess suitable jobs and future training needs and market your skills in the best possible way
9. We will help you to understand which work is appropriate to your needs.

• interviewing clients and advising on employment, training, educational and related issues, job search and action planning;
• working with clients via in-depth interviews by appointment, brief contact on a drop-in basis, over the telephone or by e-mail;
• referring clients to appropriate providers, eg for employment, education and training;
• designing and delivering careers education sessions, presentations, workshops, group sessions or short courses;
• collecting, updating and writing information on local opportunities, jobseeking skills and related issues;
• liaising with others such as employers, academic staff and other guidance professionals;
• undertaking outreach work to reach adults in the community;
• liaising with local networks of other helping agencies and providers of opportunities, and giving feedback on the needs of adult learners to the providers so that they may develop appropriate learning opportunities;
• carrying out research to ensure information and personal knowledge on careers, occupations, the labour market and opportunities for education, training and employment is up-to-date;
• maintaining details of interaction with clients, often computerised, and carrying out various administrative tasks.

• Basic and advanced skills training that lead to employment.
• Education advice and guidance.
• Employment preparation.
• Focused and customised professional development

• Access to employment in their area of professional expertise.
• Opportunities to complete their education and increase their vocational skills.
• Practical support in overcoming barriers to education and employment.
• English language programmes customised to meet specific particular needs.
• Opportunities to use their language skills.
• Information about jobs available.
• Training services that could increase employability

Our Clients can get help with:

• understanding what UK employers want
• understanding how to find a job in the UK
• reading job advertisements
• writing resumes
• writing applications (letters and forms)
• phoning and faxing employers
• using the internet to find a job
• practising for interviews
• finding work experience
• finding out about courses leading to employment
• helping you to enrol in an English course that you want.
• support with CV and covering letter

ASI organises courses to prepare you for work in the UK. The courses help you update your skills in your occupation, learn new skills, and become confident in using English in the workplace. They also help you understand how to get a job in the UK. The course develops job seeking and communication skills and provides information on the labour market and business opportunities. All courses offer flexible modules to meet the individual needs of the students and include:

• English as a foreign language for beginners and intermediate students
• computing skills including Internet search skills
• professional vocabulary development
• preparation for tests (e.g. Recruitment agency selection tests)
• IT skills development
• job search skills
• settlement requirements

Other courses include the following:

Customer Service:
Providing good customer service skills, Confidence building, Personal Development, Presentation and communication skills, Security, Methods of Payment, Refunds and complaints, Health and Safety, Consumer legislation, Dress code and personal hygiene, etc.

Basic Employability:
Support with reading, spelling, punctuation, listening, understanding, communicating, writing sentences, drafting letters, completing forms, receiving and sending information, basic keyboard skills, motivation and confidence building, using numbers, literacy & numeracy.

• Overseas students, who need our support regarding enrolment to UK University, training or other learning opportunities, should contact us with the description of their needs and requirements.
• We also work with colleges, language schools and other organisations that serve students to provide a broader service to our clients, and to encourage applications to UK educational institutions. ASI provides university and college advice for students worldwide who are considering studying abroad for an international education.
• We can help foreign students who wish to study in the UK to find a university, college or any training opportunity that meets their carrier needs and aspirations.
• We can help international students in identifying an appropriate, good and not expensive university or college for further education or for short-term training in the UK.
• We can help international students to find or part-time or vacation jobs.

If you need to enrol to any of the training courses, please feel to contact us at the address indicated or droip-in between 10:00 am - 4:30 pm Monday to Friday.

- IMMIGRANTS FACE JOB DISCRIMINATION IN EUROPE, SAYS ILO
http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/europe.htm

- Migrants in the UK: their characteristics and labour market ...
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/occ82migrantuk.pdf

- MIGRANTS IN THE UK
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2003/migration-report/full-report.PDF

- Ethnic Minorities and the Labour market
http://www.number-10.gov.uk/su/ethnic%20minorities/report/index.htm