DUO for a JOB organises intergenerational and intercultural mentoring to facilitate access to the labour market for the youngest jobseekers while recognising the value of older people’s expertise. The project matches a mentor, who shares their knowledge and expertise, with a mentee, a young person with a migrant background. By bringing these two groups together, DUO for a JOB helps to eliminate inequalities in access to the labour market for young people with a migrant background, recognises the knowledge of over-50s, and combats discrimination by creating social cohesion, understanding and local solidarity.

The mentoring aims to ease access to the labour market for young people with migrant backgrounds, whether through finding a job, training or an internship.

The innovative aspect of the project is in bringing together two different groups who can meet each other’s complementary needs in respect of the labour market and work experience. Besides the professional guidance, the programme also offers participants an opportunity for encounters and exchanges between cultures and generations, thus also contributing to social cohesion in Brussels.

The mentoring relationship is framed by the DUO for a JOB association. The methodology of DUO for a JOB consists in eight steps:

• A 90- minutes group information sessions for people interested in becoming mentees or mentors, where the project is presented and where potential mentees or mentors can ask questions before enrolling;
• An individual meeting of each future mentor or mentee with a coordinator from the DUO for a JOB association, in order to learn more about their experience and expectations;
• A four-weeks (online and offline) training for new mentors, aimed at providing them with a basic toolkit on the do’s and don’ts of being a mentor;
• The matching session: mentees and mentors are paired by the DUO for a JOB team. The matching is based on the individual meeting with the coordinator from DUO for a JOB based on several criteria, such as the sector of activity (of the mentor) and of interest (of the mentee), language spoken, personality, needs and skills.
• A first meeting between the mentor and the mentee to get to know each other and decide whether to validate or not the matching carried out by the DUO for a JOB team.
• A second meeting between the mentor and the mentee to sign the mentoring agreement that clarifies the framework and the commitment of each party, and ‘officially’ marks the beginning of the support period.
• The support period, where mentors and mentees meet for two hours a week for a duration of six months. The meetings can take place at the offices of DUO for a JOB, where meeting rooms with computers and printers are available for the participants, however the mentors and mentees can also agree to meet in other places if they prefer.
• An assessment by the mentors and mentees about the success of the programme in meeting their expectations and on whether the objectives they set themselves have been achieved.

People interested in volunteering as mentors or in participating as mentee can register for an information session through the DUO for a JOB website. Mentors need to be over 50 years old, be available 2-3 hours per week and have a professional experience on which they can capitalise. Mentees need to be between 18 and 33 years old, be of non-European nationality or have a parent or a grandparent born outside the EU, have a valid Belgian residence permit and be registered with the local public employment service.

Each mentor can have only one mentee at a time, ensuring a focus on tailored solutions.

It is possible to join the programme at any time of the year.

An annual report publishes the results of DUO for a JOB. The programme is evaluated through qualitative indicators, with 300 mentors and mentees completing an evaluation questionnaire on the organisation, support received, activities, etc.

Quantitative indicators include the number of duos created and their success rates (% employment, training, internship).

Regional directors discuss the results of the annual report with the local coordinators of the DUOs and reflect on how to make improvements. For example, the content of the training for the mentor is regularly updated based on the evaluation provided by the participants (e.g. addition of a module on Linkedin).

In 2014, DUO for a JOB was the first NGO in continental Europe to issue a Social Impact Bond (SIB)[1]. The monitoring of the SIB involved the conduct of an independent evaluation carried out by the Brussels Observatory for Employment and validated by the University of Liège. The evaluation covered a three-year period (2014-2016) and was based on a comparison of the placement rates of the beneficiaries of our programme with control groups presenting similar characteristics in terms of age, gender, origin and qualification. The results shows that DUO for a JOB’s beneficiaries had higher rates of employment than the jobseekers included in control groups in each year of the evaluation period. In 2014, DUO’s cohort obtained 42,9% against 33,7% for the control group; in 2015, DUO’s cohort obtained 43,6% against 30,5% for the control group; in 2016, DUO’s cohort obtained 38,7% against 33,4% for the control group. The benefits of the programme were particularly obvious in the most vulnerable segment, i.e the beneficiaries with no or low qualifications.

The methodology of DUO for a JOB can easily be adapted to other cities, as demonstrated by the successful branches created in other cities and countries. Before opening a branch, DUO for a JOB assesses the need for a mentoring service and the presence of a support network ready to collaborate. One success factor in transferring the eight-steps methodology of DUO for a JOB is to hire a local director coming from the city where the project is to be replicated. This ensures a good knowledge of the specific situation and of the local ecosystem (i.e. local public services, NGOs). While the local director can adapt the programme to the local context and local needs, the methodology remains the same and the material is provided by the central level.