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Students at London South Bank University come from a range of ethnic origins, cultures and backgrounds. This diversity enriches the learning environment and the range of life skills and experience, combined with the knowledge gained on LSBU courses, has contributed to our graduates having one of the best employability ratings in the country.
The Times Good University Guide 2010 has ranked London South Bank University the 12th highest starting salary of UK Universities. This does not surprise us in the Employability & Careers. We are aware that our students are multi-tasking at an impressive rate, combining full or part-time courses with family responsibilities, full-time or part-time work and are still finding time to attend career development workshops, employer presentations and guidance sessions. All of this provides ample opportunities to demonstrate competencies and transferable skills that are highly prized in the graduate labour market.
Employers are also increasingly recognising the value of a diverse staff profile. LSBU students have benefited from being specifically targeted by a range of employers seeking to expand their staff profile to match that of their client group, in particular employers in the Public Sector and large organisations.
Some students and graduates, however, still face barriers to employment so Employability & Careers has compiled a range of useful resources, which may be of interest. These focus on developing greater self- confidence, reflecting on and valuing your life experience and marketing yourself effectively. We consider forward planning to be an essential requirement for any successful career and we urge first and second year students to visit us as soon as possible.
We would very much welcome any comments, suggestions or feedback on this section of the website. Please send your message to: careers@lsbu.ac.uk and we promise you will receive a prompt response.
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Legislation that came into force in October 2006 made age discrimination illegal, but until that point ageist attitudes will still be prevalent in the graduate labour market. This was then followed by legislation in the Equality Act 2010. Our Concise Career Guide Mature Students outlines useful tactics for challenging age discrimination and includes a 6 point action plan to combat unfair discrimination.
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With over 1,000 disabled students, LSBU is in the forefront of higher education provision for a wide range of disabled students including many with specific learning difficulties e.g. dyslexia. Careers works closely with the Learning Support Unit to promote employability skills development through work experience, careers education workshops and individual guidance. Our Concise Career Guide Disability and Job Hunting outlines the range of provision available.
The Employability & Careers Service's library in Technopark (fully accessible) offers all it's information and AgCAS (Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services) guides and handouts in alternative formats such as large font, Braille or on tape, by request. Facilities include: wheelchair accessible PC desk, Magnifyer (CCTV), Induction Loop, ground floor interview room, disabled toilets, link Careers Adviser and dyslexia software. Guidance is also available by e-mail for those unable to visit Technopark.
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Is gender still an issue in graduate employment? Although it may be argued that inequalities have been diminishing for the past 25 years, the glass ceiling is undoubtedly still with us and women are still struggling to make it up to the higher levels of responsibility (and, in particular, payscales) in many UK companies. Also the awareness of companies to adopt flexible working practices to allow for careers breaks and working mothers and fathers. Employment sectors such as the Built Environment have some way to go in encouraging women to enter and fully participate on equal terms with their male counterparts. Overt discrimination may not be such as feature as it is, for example, with mature students. However, it is clear that some women may benefit from forward planning and relevant strategising when job hunting, particularly for those positions which may be described as non-traditional occupations for women.
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This section of the Employability & Careers website is aimed at students and graduates who have previous criminal convictions. These pages are designed to help you consider and tackle the barriers to your career development which have resulted from your criminal conviction.
Many people with previous convictions are concerned about how this will affect their job applications. The most common query is "Do I need to tell employers?" followed by "how do I disclose my conviction positively".
To find out if you need to disclose your criminal conviction, check out what the legal requirements are. Current legislation relevant to this is the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, 1974 which enables certain criminal convictions to become "spent" or "ignored" after a specified period of time. This means that you are under no legal obligation to disclose your conviction after the required period of time. The following websites offer helpful information
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Are race and ethnicity an issue in graduate recruitment? Professor Peter Elias from the University of Warwick states that a "Worse than average experience of unemployment is correlated with being male, over 50 years old, of "non-white" ethnic origin, (or) not having parents in work at a younger age". (Moving On: graduate careers three years after graudation, DfEE/Institute for Employment Research/AgCAS/CSU. 1999).
Research published by the Institute of Employment Studies concludes: ."greater difficulties for ethnic minority graduates than white graduates in getting jobs, less satisfaction with career progress and experience of some direct racial discrimination". (Ethnic Minority Graduates: Differences by Degress" Connor, La Valle, Tackey & Perryman, Insitute of Employment Studies, 1996).
It is possible to challenge discrimination through effective marketing. Do your research, target the right employers, know your rights, prepare and plan to succeed. Follow the guidelines in our Concise Career Guide Job Hunting Strategies for Ethnic Minority Students to increase your chances of success.
There are lots of organisations that work to support ethnic minority graduates.
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