Supported Internships

The College and Job Coach will work with the employer to arrange the induction and settling in period, and provide as much support as is needed during this time. They will support with any reasonable adjustments needed – these often cost nothing and can benefit other employees too.

As the young person becomes more able, the Job Coach will gradually withdraw their support, but an employer will still be able to contact them or Middlesbrough College at any time if issues arise.

At Middlesbrough College we work with our young people to find out their interests, their career goals and aim to find a work placement to match their interests and abilities. We will work with employers to identify suitable work tasks for the supported intern to complete that will help the business.

The Job Coach will also work with you and the young person to identify their strengths in the workplace and areas for improvement, an intern can work on tasks to help other employers which then free up resource for the wider workforce. Employers have fed back to us that they have finally had time to catch up on mounting workloads with the additional help received.

Every effort will have been made to match your business with the most suitable young person, but if something goes wrong, the Job Coach should be your first point of contact to resolve any issues. It may be a skills gap, a difference in expectations between the intern and employer, a behaviour concern or simply a misunderstanding by the young person or employer.

Middlesbrough College and our qualified work coaches will work with you to resolve any issues and if necessary, look at bringing the placement to an end with a discussion to looking at placing a different student.

Although employers are not required to provide a job at the end of the internship, the aim of supported internships is to prepare young people with learning difficulties for employment. As the intern will have been fulfilling a real business need in your organisation, you should consider whether you can take them on as a paid member of staff at the end of their internship.

If you are not in a position to recruit or the intern hasn’t met the required standards, employers can still play a role in providing a reference and feedback to the College. Once the young person has completed their placement, they will continue to be supported by Middlesbrough College to find meaningful employment based on the skills they have gained as a result of their internship.