The analysis of the occupational role of the Job Broker and the provision of training at European level are some of the topics discussed on the dissemination event held on 19 June in Santander within the project The Evolving role of the JOB BROKER across the EU. This seminar closured the transnational meeting celebrated the day before by the consortium of the project.

“Job brokering in training for employment, the occupational profile of an emerging job” was the title chosen for the seminar in which 43 guidance practitioners and job brokers from diverse backgrounds and countries discussed about competences, tasks and new needs of this occupational profile to face the requirements of both labour market and their own labour conditions.

The framework proposed by the project emphasizes in the relationship of the job broker with three types of clients, job seekers, employers and funding bodies. And client approach is the core of the job brokering service, therefore, it is important that job broker has the right skills set and competency level to meet the expectations of these three clients, and needs to balance these effectively.

Key activities of job brokering service would correspond to:

• To jobseekers – This includes advice, guidance and assessment as well as support and counselling services to obtain an employment.
• To employers – This includes vacancy sourcing, human resource planning, detailed analysis of job roles and person specifications, matching clients to jobs, finding applicants, interview assistance and testing.
• To public/private funders – This includes guiding/supporting in the definition of public employment programme, marketing and promoting the service; dealing with National or Local labour market programmes including funding programmes and active labour market policy; networking with services, authorities, bodies and agencies.

The event had two distinct parts. In the first part, basis and main characteristics of the proposed model were shown, in the second one was presented the Good Practice Guide elaborated along the project, following a group of discussion.

Among the main conclusions, It was noted the need for a definition of the professional profile and a specific curriculum for the job broker in a clearly and effectively way at European level, taking into account characteristics of both the national context of each labour market and training adapted to the different target groups with which he/she will work. In this respect, the job broker has a broad and complex profile, multidisciplinary and multifunctional, and in this case it is also pointed the need of create a multidisciplinary brokering teamwork.