Equality and Diversity – enhance your employability March 5, 2013
Posted by Louise Honey in : Job applications, The Careers Group Blogs, disability, employability and skills, inclusion, skills development , add a commentIt is likely that many of you will be familiar with the ‘employability’ skills that are looked for by recruiters. Coming up with examples of your team work, leadership and strong communication skills is relatively normal for most roles within most industries.
But what about an understanding of equality and diversity issues?
I came across an interesting blog post from Sheffield Hallam University for their social science students and feel it has some really relevant stuff for anyone about to leave student life behind and enter the world of work. Protected characteristics under the 2010 Equality Act which defines ground in which discrimination is unlawful are noted as; age, disability, gender re-assignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. Whether you consider yourself as potentially facing barriers to employment under one of these characteristics or not, it is argued that an understanding of equality and diversity issues is an attractive skill for potential candidates to hold.
The post comments on three main themes in relation to how your knowledge can be of benefit;
- Managing your own work life – this details the importance of understanding whether you are being discriminated against or harassed and what you can do about it. It’s important to be able to judge when to challenge things and when to assert rights to equal treatment.
- Relating to diverse groups of co-workers and clients – being aware of the basics of equality law and being able to relate to a diverse group of people is presented as highly attractive to employers and an employability skill in itself. In certain industries this knowledge of cultural diversity and disability rights is an essential criteria for potential candidates.
- Managing a diverse workforce- whether management is part of your position immediately or something you move on into later in your career, the processes involved will require equality and diversity awareness as you recruit, train and appraise staff.
This post signifies that employability skills can go beyond teamwork and communication and your learning and understanding of equality and diversity will show you as an attractive employee.
Read the full post here http://employability4socialsciences.wordpress.com/employability-skills/equality-and-diversity/
