This week, I've been looking at photos of dozens of cohorts of new interns, placement students, being inducted into their workplaces. Laser focused on London and other diverse cities...The reality is that as early career professionals, we still have a lot of work to do.
When I left my Russell Group university, where I was known as "the black boy" on my course, I knew my career would be defined by increasing access for those excluded from the best opportunities.
Naively, I had hoped that a decade later, there would be a significant shift. I thought changes in policy, the impact of Black Lives Matter, the murder of George Floyd, the economic business case for diversity, or simply doing the right thing would create an appetite for hiring people who look like me, especially in London.
Two weeks ago, I hosted a panel with two thousand black students who were ambitious, well-educated, and career-minded. So, if I hear that companies struggle to attract them, I’ll actually scream 😱.
“We lose them at the test stage” – then change your tests. They’re not fit for purpose or the workforce.
Also, hiring underrepresented groups onto a specific diversity stream is great, the work experience opportunity is valuable. BUT in 2024, the next step has to be ensuring that these interns convert into permanent hires within your business. We have to keep pushing ourselves, hiring the next generation of talent is too important a role not too.
I battled with writing this post for fear of being ostracised by my early career peers for speaking up. Or unintentionally leaving people feeling offended. But honestly, I can’t be genuine about my mission to be the change I want to see if I don’t tell the truth.
Anyway Saturday morning rant over, please don't unfollow - leaning into discussion is always better 😅
#moremotivatedthanever #earlycareers #internship #industiralplacements
Fantastic to see Slaughter and May investing in the future by hiring such talented interns through the programme ✨ Congratulations to both the interns and Slaughter and May on a successful class of '24!