16 November – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Linklaters today hosts a ground-breaking seminar to encourage more students from non-traditional backgrounds to consider a career in the City, continuing its work to promote achievement in young people through its Community Investment programme.
More than 120 careers advisers and teachers from schools and colleges in London (with a particular emphasis on London Challenge schools) are due to attend the day-long seminar, timed to coincide with Enterprise Week 2005, a UK-wide week of activities inspiring people in their teens and twenties to be enterprising.
The day-long seminar, the first of its kind, is a joint initiative between Linklaters and the HTI (Heads, Teachers in Industry) Trust. It is designed specifically for teachers and careers advisers from schools and colleges across London, with the aim of highlighting how the City works and exploring the wide range of job opportunities that exist at all levels. The seminar will also offer practical advice on how to raise awareness of these opportunities, as well as explain how the recruitment process works.
Delegates will be taken through a dramatised case study of a takeover deal presented by volunteers from Linklaters, PwC and UBS, setting out the various roles for lawyers, bankers, accountants, as well as those in business services, such as information officers, IT support and secretaries.
There will also be presentations from Linklaters, HTI and The Corporation of London, as well as a series of workshops which will include information on resources to use with students, the recruitment process, online recruitment methods and how enterprise activities can inform and motivate students and boost the skills they need.
Tony Angel, managing partner of Linklaters, said:
“We hope this event will go a long way to demystifying the City as a place to work and that teachers will return to their school with a clearer image of what skills their students need to develop in order to succeed here.
“This is the first time that City institutions such as ourselves, UBS and PricewaterhouseCoopers have instigated this type of event. We hope it will be the first of many similar events because the opportunities in the City are vast, and students must get the message that it truly doesn’t matter what your background, if you have the talent we want to hear from you.”
Nigel Purkis, head of business programmes at HTI, said:
“There needs to be a two-way exchange between business and education so that there is a shared understanding of employability, skills needs and careers opportunities. HTI exists to facilitate this type of exchange across various sectors. ‘Employability in the City’ promotes just the kind of dialogue needed to build this understanding and break down barriers.”
