Katie moved from prison admin to a face-to-face role, where she now helps male offenders prepare for release and access employment, education and training.
Katie is a Careers, Information and Guidance (CIAG) Adviser in Career Connect’s East Midlands Team.
Katie moved from prison admin to a face-to-face role, where she now helps male offenders prepare for release and access employment, education and training.
What does your role involve?
Anything from sitting down with someone and discussing their skills, to helping them to write their CV, to speaking to them during their induction and explaining how we help. Or I could be helping someone with interview skills or directing them to wider support. I also work with employers.
I help with disclosure letters which can be really important. These explain to any employers what you’ve done conviction-wise and what actions you’ve taken in prison to put yourself in a better position to move into a job.
I work with people at all stages, and that is really interesting. It could be someone who’s been in and out of prison since they were a teenager, or someone who has come into prison for the first time when they’re in the 50s. Everyone is different. Every conviction is different, and each pathway is different. So, it’s quite a varied job.
How did you get into this role?
I worked in different jobs, including sales and hospitality. I started in a prison admin role, supporting the mental health team. My role wasn’t really prisoner-facing, but there were some small aspects that were, and I enjoyed that.
I got to see the challenges many of the lads faced, and I wanted to see if I could do a role where I could help even more. I’d also done some voluntary work with the Sea Cadets, working with young people, and that helped me when I applied for the role of CIAG adviser.
What skills do you need?
Empathy and understanding.
It’s about letting your participant know that they are working with someone who wants to be in their corner. For some of the lads, this is probably the first time where someone has said ‘I’m here to support you’.
Katie
CIAG Adviser, East Midlands
They’re more than willing to open up to you regardless if you’re man or a woman. It’s about listening to their personal experiences, being understanding and not coming across like you are telling them what to do or that you know better. You just need to let them have the floor, as it were. And then you can have that shared respect and good two-way communication.
You’ve also always got to keep those professional boundaries in place and have clear communication and clear standards in everything you do.
What are the challenges?
It can be a challenge, as you will come across lads experiencing mental health issues and substance misuse, and sometimes self-harm. You have to come to terms with the fact that not everyone is going to be the perfect person to work with. They are going to have different challenges, but you can focus on what you can help them with, or signpost them for other help.
You have to work within the system itself and there are various rules and procedures to follow, as there have to be. This can sometimes mean managing expectations with a participant, for example, about how quickly something can be put in place for them.
Being in prison, the lads can’t research companies or jobs on the internet, or go and do work experience or visits so you have to look at other options.
One of the things that we’re doing in our prison is work life workshops. We have employees come in to teach a taster session, and we try and mimic how they would work in that role on the outside. We then give the lads an idea of the pathways for that role – for example if they want to do an apprenticeship, they need to do certain courses while they are in custody to get on that pathway.
Can you tell us about your work with employers?
I work with employers who are interested in hiring ex-offenders. My role is to explain the programmes we have in place, and the work that the lads do before they leave, to become work ready. I also take time to understand the needs of the employers when it comes to hiring.
I really enjoy this, and sometimes challenging misconceptions of what it’s like in prisons. We have such a mix of lads with different experiences. Some of them have run their own businesses, worked in digital, been to university or got decades of experience in a certain sector.
Whether you’ve got all that behind you, or you’re from a low socio-economic background and need qualifications, those that are looking at employment after release are all in the same boat and want to go forward.
You will meet some employers who come into the prison and realise straight away they want to work with us. We keep in touch with some of our employers, and a lot of the time the lads are doing well, and the employers want to come back and recruit some more lads upon release.
Katie
CIAG Adviser, East Midlands
One gentleman, who had never had a full-time legal job out in the community, worked in the prison kitchens and did his hygiene certificates. We told him about kitchen roles with one of our employer partners, and after support from us, he applied and got the job. He came out of prison on the Thursday and was working for his new employer on the Saturday. He’s flying now. He’s now doing management qualifications, on the pathway to becoming a kitchen manager.
What do you like most about your role?
I like that you can be as proactive as you want. You can make as many information resources that you think the lads will need, or research and link them to courses and things that you think will be useful for them.
You also have to think about things like learning styles, and the best way to communicate with people depending on where they are in their journey.
I love helping people to overcome barriers that might have held them back in the past. Seeing someone ready and motivated for release is really rewarding.
One of my favourite parts of the job is seeing the progress from the lads from when they first come into the prison, to when they are ready to leave, and they have a plan in place.
Katie
CIAG Adviser, East Midlands
What is it like being a woman working in a male prison?
I’d never stepped foot in a prison before, and I was certainly a bit nervous. I think it is true that within the first few weeks, you will decide if you’ll love it or not.
The vast majority of the lads respect you and understand that you are there to do a job to help them – and they want that help as well. So, they respect that. It’s all about setting very clear professional boundaries and standards.
You might have the odd one or two that will try to big themselves up. But that’s very rare. They will be told to stop, not just by staff but by the other lads on the wing. It’s not as scary as it as it is perceived to be.
It is a really interesting place where you come across diverse people from every walk of life that you can imagine.
I tell people that the best job I’ve ever had is working in a prison.
How have you been able to develop in your role?
I’m quite lucky in my role. I am from Career Connect’s Achieve team, and within the prison, I work as part of the employment hub, which is a space we share with staff from the DWP, and other civil servants, the ID and banking lead, accommodation leads and the prison employment lead.
So, it’s like I have two teams that I’m part of, and both are very supportive. I’m not micromanaged but I also have a lot of good support whenever I need it.