Fresh Start in Education Choose Digital Recruitment Software That Is Most Secure for Students and Tutors

Challenge

Protecting student’s private information against hacks and data theft.

Protecting candidates who apply for jobs to work with the organization.

Solution

Secured Signing’s RDB ProNet integration to seal documents with digital signature technology.

Results

Recruitment processes are completed digitally and paperless. Students and tutor’s personal information is protected by end-to-end encryption.

Background

In 2016, Fresh Start in Education was working steadily to fulfil its mission. They help vulnerable young people in finding and engaging in education and lead rewarding lives.

The organization focused on what was most important for its student’s success. Children were supported to re-enter the education system; young adults worked with mentors to gain skills and jobs.

Fresh Start in Education’s guiding principle is the protection and safeguarding of young people.

But the challenge was finding an approach to data collection that was consistent with this commitment.

Staff relied on manual methods for many business programmes, said James Gregory, Recruitment Supervisor at Fresh Start in Education.

One of these projects was to help young people – between the ages of 16 to 25 – find work or access college.

“When candidates come through for a recruitment process, they might have to sign bank details or contracts.”

Everything was done via emails or scanned documents. So, when contracts were completed, the Tutors would send them back via email.

Like many organizations involved with students, Fresh Start in Education took information security seriously. Globally, data protection has never been more important. Tougher data privacy regulations are going into effect across the world.

Organizations that don’t comply face harsh fines – and permanent reputational damage.

The stakes are even higher for organizations working with young people. Fresh Start in Education was ready to rise up and meet these challenges.

So, when the organization took a hard look at its document processes, they knew they were getting the basics right. Precautions were taken to protect the personal information of the students.

But Fresh Start in Education wanted more. They wanted to set the bar even higher – they wanted the strongest defence available.

Solution

To beef up document security, Fresh Start in Education started using the Secured Signing plugin within RDB Pronet.

The Fresh Start in Education team accessed Secured Signing in the RDB ProNet CRM. The full integration meant staff didn’t need to take on a new application or change their business processes. From the CRM, they could send documents and easily track process, said Gregory.

“We decided to use Secured Signing because of its secure nature. When you talk about sharing young people’s information… you have to be really careful. So that’s why Fresh Start decided to use (Secured Signing).”

Secured Signing uses Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology. In PKI, you get two keys – a public key and a private key. Only these keys can encrypt and decrypt the information. This means students private data is wrapped in end-to-end encryption.

This type of digital signature software also protects the document with a seal. It automatically detects any changes made to the file. And if the document is altered, all signatures are invalidated.

It was now impossible for hackers to gain access to documents. The students personal information was safe.

Results

Since using the Secured Signing software, the recruitment process is completed digitally, 100% paperless – and secure.

“We send documents out to candidates. They sign them easily, quickly, and securely,” said Gregory.

Although the previous way of working was adequate, the new technology provides total peace of mind, said Gregory.

“Documents weren’t secure back then to the same standard that Secured signing has brought in.”

Gone are the concerns about document security.

“More than anything it’s do with it being secure. That’s what Fresh Start have got out of it. Making sure that data isn’t just over email, which can be easily hacked.”

With Secured Signing, Fresh Start in Education is setting the bar for the protection of students personal data.

“It’s just having something that you have trust in. You can send off and know a candidate or client can sign and they have trust in it as well.”

The full RDB ProNet integration has also made life easier.

“The integration is easy to use…being integrated within ProNet and being able to send our documents via that does save time.”

Fresh Start in Education can sleep easy at night, knowing their students data is totally protected. Now the team can focus on the work that matters most – helping young people engage with education and ultimately improving emotional and physical wellbeing.

If your organisation works with young people, you have a responsibility to keep their data safe. Secured Signing protects your information against hacks and data theft, right from inside the software you use every day.