Mix it up with Reach!

 ’Employer’s Love A Mix – Make sure you’re a part of it!’ Reach has new publicity  emphasising  everybody’s unique contribution and that it’s a great time to engage with employers. Look out in your Careers Service and other places on campus (if you are at a University of London college) for the new posters and postcards.  We’d love to hear what you think on the forum.

£1000 for Working in Museums

The Museum Association have been working hard recently to increase the diversity of staff in museums. They started with their Diversify Scheme – a link to which is in our Resources section under Mentoring. Now they have traineeships on offer which include those with £1000 a month bursary to cover living costs. These traineeships aim to make museum work more accessible to people who cannot afford to pay for training or to volunteer extensively and whose background and family circumstances may have made it hard for them pursue a museum career. Find out more at www.museumsassociation.org/careers/diversify

Applications made easy!

If you’re a UK/EU student from a Black And Ethnic Minority Background (BAME) and would like to have the graduate application process demystified then look no further.

You can receive top training with the ADAB trust on interviews, assessment centres and psychometric tests that will coach you to the standard expected
by top city firms on their Leadership by Example programme.

At the end of the process the ADAB trust will work with you to secure your first job or internship.

Interested? More information and entry criteria are here www.adab-trust.org/leadership Deadline 5 February 2010

Media Makes Good

The media sector is perhaps held with some suspician by many in the UK as being the preserve of the white middle classes and mostly male to boot. However Skillset and others in the industry are making huge efforts to change this. There is lots of information on the Skillset website but a few of the key iniatives across the media sector include:

The George Viner Memorial Fund – funding and mentoring for those from a BME background wanting to following a career in journalism.

Dipnet – Diversity in Publishing Network - a new website supporting the increase of diversity in publishing.

Audio Visual Entrepreneurship Development Partnership - supported over 700 people from diverse backgrounds over the last 2 years to get into the film and tv sector and a video by the participants provides great inspiration for those wanting to join this sector.

Overall the main message seems to be one of positive encouragement and you can find out the latest by going to http://www.skillset.org/skillset/diversity

Law Struggling with Equal Opps?

Image from Roll on Friday from their story about Equal Opps

A flurry of articles in the news recently seems to suggest that Law is struggling with equal opportunities with some negative PR emerging alongside some honest attempts to redress the balance.

Norton Rose is focusing on improving the % of women in the firm and has made concrete steps towards this.

The Law Society pointed out that the rising costs of training to be a Solicitor may prevent lawyers from BME backgrounds from entering the profession however the good news is that currently “the solicitors’ profession continues to attract [black minority and ethnic (BME)] student lawyers despite the high cost of the academic, conversion and practice aspects of training to be a solicitor” and the launch of Black Letter Law, by the Black Lawyers Directory provides fantastic evidence of BME lawyers leading the way in the profession.

Roll on Friday have also been writing about equal opps as it is rumoured they discovered employee’s from a Law Firm rating students they met at a Careers Fair in a very un politically correct way, commenting on race and noting whether women were ‘sweet’ or not.

Just goes to show that in some companies there is a lot of very good practice and genuine attempts to ensure their workforce reflects the society around them and in others it is perhaps best to wait until they catch up with the trailblazers.

Straight to the Horses Mouth

Mentoring can be a great way to find support and learn from people who want to pass on what they have learnt or are just happy to be someone else you can bounce ideas around with. We have a page on finding mentoring opportunities and have just added Horses Mouth, an easy online mentoring website.

Where are the bright stars?

While  Film Director, Jane Campion is getting lots of attention for her new film, Bright Star, she continues to be a minority in the film industry as Skillset’s report shows that women make up only 4% in lighting, 8% in sound and 15% of those in camera work. To see the report or get involved in the Film Industry see the Why Her? report or go to the SkillSet website.

Two months that could change your life

Well there’s only one way to find out if this is indeed true. The Civil Service Fast Stream Summer Diversity Internship Programme  is now open for applications from 2nd November 2009– 4th January 2010. www.civilservice.gov.uk/summerdiversity

An Eye for Graduate Talent

Fantastic proactive strategy called An Eye for Talent from Blind in Business who are emailing employers with graduate profiles and building the number of vacancies they can offer to graduates with visual impairment. To find out more and receive support with the application processes visit Blind in Business or contact them on 020 7588 1885 or info@blindinbusiness.org.uk .

Don’t Write Me Off

Interesting article about the campaign and report from the National Autistic Society called Don’t Write Me Off which looks at employability for people with Autism. Despite the depressing figures (only 15% in full-time paid work) there are some great positive examples from individuals and  employers such as Goldman Sachs. For more positive news on this topic see the case study in The Independent about a company staffed by over 40 people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Inspring stuff.