Could your name stop you getting a job?

There's a great piece by Helen Curry on the Reach blog covering how prejudice about race and gender may affect your chances of success via CV or application form. It looks at several studies suggesting that discrimination continues.

Curry offers some strategies to avoid discrimination including potentially anglicising names or using initials, and actively trying to challenge potential assumptions. But importantly she states that "While it can get your foot in the door, you do have to ask yourself, ‘if this company wouldn’t have looked at me before, do I want to work for them now?’" There is also advice to research employers who "make a positive statement about equal opportunities, with demonstrable results". You can read the full article here.

Although nobody should have to face discrimination, it does still occur. If you want to discuss how these issues are affecting your applications you can chat to one of our advisers. Call us on 01273 678429 to book an appointment, and you can check our vacation opening hours online.

Resources for women in STEM

There are still some careers where there are gender inequalities and science, technology, engineering and maths tend to have low levels of female employees compared with the levels of success and ability of women in these subjects when studying. Luckily for women interested in working in these fields there are a number of excellent resources on the web to help with training, networking and learning more about careers in STEM.

The UK Resource Centre for Women in SET tackles women's under-representation in the science, engineering and technology (SET) community. The GetSET women blog has some great profiles of women in interesting careers and there are many events and training opportunities.

The WISE Campaign encourages young women to stick with studying Maths and Physics and to consider careers in Science, Engineering and The Built Environment. Has useful news and links.

Equalitec seeks to address gender inequality in the Information Technology, Electronics and Communications (ITEC) industries. It has some downloadable career guides, events and resources.

Women in Technology has a great blog as well as jobs, careers advice and (mainly London based) events.

Cambridge AWiSE is a regional network for women in SET in both industry and academia. It has an excellent links and resources page with details of other networks and information on grants for further study.

There are lots of people and organisations worth following on twitter too. Sarah Blow, founder of Girl Geek Dinners (@girlygeekdom on Twitter) has created two particularly useful twitter lists: womenset and womensetcontd.

Finally, Imperial College London has a created 100 Women 100 Visions a series of portraits about women doing interesting things in science, technology, engineering and medicine.

Let us know if you come across any other useful links, resources, or tweeps to follow.

Researching LGBT Friendly Employers

Researching employers is an important part of your job search. How can you tell if an organisation is going to support their LGBT staff? Although discrimination at work on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is illegal there are undoubtedly some employers who are better than others in providing LGBT friendly working environments.

A good place to start is the company literature, webpage and job adverts. Does the organisation have an equal opportunities policy or an equality and diversity officer? Are there support groups for LGBT employees? It may also be useful to get an idea of the work culture from current employees where possible.

For lesbian, gay & bisexual job seekers there are a few resources that may help in identifying employers to investigate further. Stonewall produce a list of Diversity Champions which are employers who are committed to creating gayfriendly workplaces. The Starting Out: Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Recruitment Guide is available in the Careers and Employability Centre and we have several copies for students to take away. Additionally Stonewall's list of their top 100 employers can be downloaded from their website.
Additionally lesbians and bisexual women may need to look at any LGB workplace support groups to ensure that they are representative as a study has indicated that lesbians can sometimes feel discouraged at the way these groups were dominated by gay men leading to less involvement by women.
The University of Westminster careers service website has a useful list of LGB professional associations for a variety of sectors. Be sure to check out all their diversity information as it's full of useful tips and resources.

For trans job seekers finding friendly employers can be a little more complex. Press for Change have an award for equal opportunities but it isn't as well known as the Stonewall list and it is difficult to find out how employers get it. If you are applying for a job in the public sector the Gender Equality Duty requires public authorities to promote equality and eliminate unlawful sex discrimination. You can look at their gender equality scheme which should detail how they are avoiding discrimination against trans employees and customers.
Another thing to look out for is whether the employer has a policy on transitioning at work as well as looking at their harrassment, and equal opportunities policies to see whether they are trans inclusive. Again I would recommend the University of Westminster for further reading as their web resources are great.

If you have any questions about researching employers, disclosure or any other job or career related issues do come and see us in the Careers and Employability Centre. Appointments with Careers Advisers are available every day.

Diversity Milkround- graduate opportunities

Diversity Milkround is a website which advertises graduate opportunities, internships, placements and professional positions from employers who champion diversity in their workplace. There are also interesting news articles and a list of employers keen to show their commitment to equal opportunities. Register for weekly updates.

Disclosing your disability to employers

One of the questions that we get asked a lot at short interview is when is an appropriate time to disclose a health issue or impairment to an employer and if it is even important to disclose at all. It may be that you have a visible impairment but are not sure if you want to put personal information on a job application or it may be that you have a hidden condition which you don't feel will affect your ability to do a particular job and thus don't feel it is appropriate to tell an employer. There isnt a black and white answer to these questions and every case is unique but it may help you to be aware of your rights and to think about some of the issues and there are some excellent resources available to help you.



Skill produce some excellent resources including a leaflet called "Disclosing your disability". Prospects also have an interesting page all about handling discrimination in the workplace. You can also visit our Careers & Employability Diversity pages for further links to information or come and see an adviser for a short interview where we can discuss your own situation individually.

Diversity Week 15 - 19 February 2010

15 - 19 February 2010 is Diversity Week at the University of Sussex and there are lots of interesting events, discussions and workshops celebrating diversity and promoting equalities.

As part of the festivities the Careers and Employability Centre is hosting two events: a CV workshop for mature students on Tuesday and career planning for international students on Thursday. Both of these sessions can be booked via our events listing. We will also be blogging here throughout the week on diversity issues in careers, employment and job-seeking. This will include methods of disclosure, tips on researching LGBT friendly employers and resources for women in science, engineering and technology.

Let us know if there are any diversity or equality issues you particularly want to hear about this week. A full programme for the diversity festival can be found here.

Diversity in Leadership & Women in Leadership – Graduate Recruitment Fair

The QS Diversity in Leadership & Women in Leadership Career Forum takes place on Friday 25th September 2009 in central London. Companies participating this year include American Express, Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Financial Services Authority, L'Oreal and many more. There are keynote speeches and talks as well as Career Coaching sessions on such topics as personal branding, psychometric testing and networking skills.

The event is free, please go here to register for a place.

TARGETchances City Law for Ethnic Minorities

TARGETchances City law for ethnic minorities will be taking place on 9th - 10th June and 11- 12 June 2009 in London. Travel expenses will be reimbursed and accommodation provided. The event is open to all ethnic minority students in the first-year of a law degree or second-year of any non-law degree at a university in the UK.

At this event you'll be able to network with representatives from all levels within top City law firms, take part in real business activities and legal case studies and get a unique insight into the legal sector. You will also meet graduate recruiters and develop the essential skills and interview techniques needed to apply for legal jobs. More information and application details can be found here

Sussex Diversity Festival

CDEC is taking part in this year's diversity festival at Sussex taking place 28th April - 1st May 2009 at a number of venues on campus. CDEC will be holding a CV workshop for mature students and Career planning for International Students. Other events include films, readings, performance and a world barbecue. A full events listing can be found here