There are many ways for employers to advertise their roles to people in prison and in the community.

In this blog, we will break down all the different routes available.

• 1. Sign up to Ban the Box and become a Ban the Box employer.

Business in the Community's Ban the Box successful campaign has been running for 7 years. Businesses can sign up and commit to asking about disclosure at a later stage in the hiring process, ensuring safe and fair recruitment. You will then be able to join a network of 145 employers who have signed up to Ban the Box, covering more than 980,000 roles. This includes businesses from a wide range of sectors such as Boots, Barclays, the Civil Service, local authorities and Eversheds.

Being a Ban the Box employer means giving our business the best chance to find the right person for the role, while reducing reoffending for the good of society. As an early supporter of Ban the Box, it has been brilliant to see other businesses discover the benefits of taking a fair approach to the employment of people with criminal convictions.

-Marco Pagni, Group Legal Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer, Walgreens Boots Alliance

• 2. Use the Bridge of Hope Careers Portal

Get in touch with the Resume Foundation and advertise your roles through the Bridge of Hope Careers Portal. They can automatically and instantly post vacancies, supporting diversity and inclusion programmes.

• 3. Stay current with the innovative career management App Imployable®

Find the right people and advertise vacancies for free on the Imployable App. Their web platform and user app work together to give you targeted access to candidates from a range of backgrounds that meet your needs.

4. Sign up to Key4Life's YOUNITED Employer Charter

Key4Life support young men between the ages of 18-30 in prison and in the community access training, education and employment opportunities. They operate in Bristol and London.

Young Offenders are 4x more likely to be in employment and 4x less likely to re-offend if they have been through the Key4Life programme.

Businesses can sign up to their YOUNITED employer charter. The YOUNITED kite mark features on the website of every employer who offers a work placement or job to a Key4Life participant.

5. Showcase vacancies on Novus' opportunity database

Novus delivers education, rehabilitation support and opportunity to 60,000 adults and young people across England and Wales.

The have recently created a new weekly database for employers to showcase vacancies. This is sent out to prisons and their wider network of stakeholders and partners. Please do get in touch via our directory to access this opportunity.

6. Connect with a specialist recruitment partner

Here at The Exceptionals, we recommend employers to connect with a specialist recruitment partner in the first instance. This is because they have the skills, expertise and network available to access the very best talent. They can help walk you through and refine the hiring process, take you into the prisons, connect you with employers who already hire from this talent pool and consult on an individualised basis on how to achieve the most successful outcome for your business. This can reduce overall recruitment costs and makes the process much more smooth and efficient.

We highly recommend Offploy, Working Chance, Tempus Novo, Ex-seed Recruitment, Radical Recruit and Unlock Employment. Please do get in touch with us to find out more information and look at the best partners near your business centres.