Ethnicity
Recent statistics show that ethnic minorities are well represented in areas of work such as medicine and science. However in some areas minorities remain under represented. A number of organisations aim to help redress the balance.
Ethnic minorities make up around 7% of the UK population. With ethnic minorities set to account for more than half of the growth of the working age population over the next decade, employers are waking up to the fact that they need to target and recruit graduate talent from a diverse range of ethnic and social backgrounds
There are some national schemes in existence aimed at helping students and graduates gain the experience and skills that potential employers are looking for.
National schemes
The BBC Resources Equal Opportunities Unit. BBC’s recruitment aim is to attract an increasingly diverse workforce representative of the population it serves. Several ‘flagship’ training schemes are advertised annually. Visit the BBC website for details.
Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) London - a not for profit organisation that provides outstanding penultimate year under-graduate students from under-represented ethnic minority backgrounds a unique opportunity to gain summer internships at some of the most prestigious firms in the UK financial services industry.
The Windsor Fellowship offers development programmes. Their aim is to create ethnic minority professionals and managers. The BBC World Service, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Unilever and British Airways are some of the companies that support the Windsor Fellowship. Training is arranged during vacations.
Useful websites
Asian Jobsite - recruitment site advertising vacancies in the public and private sector for ethnic minority students and graduates.
DiversityNow is an organisation that mentors job seekers from diverse backgrounds, and that helps prestigious employers committed to diversity to target and hire candidates from diverse backgrounds.
Equality & Human Rights Commission - merging the Commission for Racial Equality, the Disability Rights Commission and the Equal Rights Commission, this site offers information on the rights, including employment rights of various diverse groups.
Ethnic Minority Jobsite - working in partnership with Public and Private Sector, it aims to improve recruitment and other communications with black and minority ethnic people and groups, and encourage applications from them.
LINKnet - LINKnet mentoring offers one to one mentoring to individuals from black / minority ethnic communities living in Edinburgh and Lothians on career development, educational development and personal development.
Prospects Web - useful information for students from ethnic minorities looking for advice on job-hunting.Look in the jobs section.
Race for Opportunity (RfO) - is a national business network of organisations in the UK working on race and diversity as a business agenda. Part of the Business in the Community website
Suga Fix - website aimed at encouraging more ethnic minorities into the media, both as performers and in decision making roles. Site contains information about the industry, job descriptions, information about training and careers advice, including sections about CVs and interviews. Also includes a jobs page and profiles of ethnic minority media role models.
University of Westminster Careers and Student Employment service -useful online resources to assist ethnic students to develop their careers effectively.
This article was published on Aug 13, 2010