We are recruiting Officers to join Detention Engagement Teams (DETs) working in our Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs).
These are secure buildings where the Home Office holds people prior to removing them from the UK, or while we establish their identity.
The centres are a crucial part of maintaining effective immigration controls for the UK.
Detention Engagement Officers work face-to-face with each centre’s residents, acting as a link between them and the immigration system managing their case.
This is what our team members say.
“The typical day in the life of a DET is a bit hard to describe because it is quite a varied role, but the main key tasks is engaging with people in the centres, being that first point of call, and explaining the various processes as well as engaging with caseworkers to make sure that people’s cases are progressed effectively and that we can meet the needs of our residents.
Working in the IRC there are individuals who you’re dealing with who depend on your care. There are also various stakeholders in different departments
who depend on our work.”
The right person for this role will need a rare combination of skills in order to do it well.
“The people that would thrive in this role would be able to communicate effectively be resilient, be assertive, be able to work under pressure, have confidence and be able to build trustworthy relationships with the residents.”
“You will need to be able to have empathy. You will hear cases where
they will share stories of being transported over into the UK illegally. You must be able to have some resilience to be able to deal with their queries.”
As a Detention Engagement Officer, you will receive excellent training and support and develop skills you can use as you build your career.
“We began with two weeks of shadowing on the inbox. So that’s where all of our paperwork comes in.”
“We are trained to protect ourselves.”
“You get taught all the techniques how to break from a stressful situation.
However, you will never be left in the centre on your own.”
“Our Care and Custody colleagues are trained to contain any situation.”
“There’s definitely some nerves there, but immediately, if you speak to people with respect and decency and you deal with people calmly and with patience, if you’ve got those skills, naturally, I feel like whoever you are, whatever background, age, job, skills you’ve come from, those are the skills that make an effective DET and that’s something that I’ve really enjoyed utilising as well as expanding.”
If you’ve got the right skills and are ready to build your career within the Home Office, apply now to join our Detention Engagement Teams and help protect vulnerable people and the UK.