Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Career Advice
Paul Brown
09.01.2019
In December 2018, FDM Leeds held its second World of Work Day, following on from the success of its inaugural event in the summer. The World of Work Day is an opportunity for FDM to extend our outreach to the local community and inspire future generations to seek careers in the digital industry.
As part of our Schools Engagement Strategy, FDM aim to impact young people in a meaningful way and to give them a feel of what the commercial world is really like. We work with a number of different schools across the UK, and for this event, we partnered with the Leeds City Academy; welcoming 14 business students from year nine into our FDM Leeds Centre.
Leeds City Academy is home to a diverse group of pupils, with 67% of students not having English as their first language and 23.9% being recipients of pupil’s premium. As a champion of diversity and inclusion, it is important to FDM to partner with such organisations to ensure that the next generation of workers are prepared for employment and aware of the opportunities available in the digital world.
Many of the students demonstrated aspirations for a career in business and learning the art of communication will be a benefit to them both personally and professionally. Subsequently, the day was oriented around learning more about communication and professional skills with sessions focussing on networking, first impressions and delivering presentations. The students also learnt about the threat of cybersecurity, something which is of particular relevance to them as British teenagers are reported to be the heaviest users of the internet.
Students were asked to write testimonials about their experience of the day:
Vedant
“This day made me think about the commercial world in which you have to be very hard working and independent if you want to get your dream job or dream career. I would like to come back here again to do some programming next time.”
Amina
“We worked in groups and presented about each area of cyber security which taught me how to make sure I secure my data and business information properly. I think the offices are glamorous and professional, everyone was very helpful. We were given an insight into what it is like to work in the commercial world and how to succeed in this field of work.”
Zeena
“Spending the day at FDM helped me learn a lot about how they train graduates into business and IT as well as placing them with reputable companies. We were shown how to make first impressions in the business world and how to take care online with internet safety and rules.”
For most of these pupils, this event was their first experience in a corporate environment and it was important to learn skills that they could take forward when they enter employment.
Find out more about FDM’s community activities here
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