It’s not what you know but who you know
January 19, 2012
This week saw the launch of Nick Clegg’s ‘Business Compact’ initiative, promoting greater social mobility in UK’s businesses. More than 100 firms such as Barclays, Tesco, BP as well as 10 top law practices, have already signed up to the scheme to help open up careers to people from less privileged backgrounds.
The Business Compact has been designed to ensure that the very best and brightest young talent across the country, regardless of background and upbringing, have the opportunity to succeed in business and of course consider a career in law. The scheme requires participants to formally advertise work experience opportunities as well as pay interns wages or expenses. The idea is to make the process more transparent and open. The scheme also encourages members to support schools and communities through mentoring schemes and staff visits.
Nick Clegg has claimed he wants to end the ‘Not what you know but who you know’ culture currently allowing privilege and connections to drive opportunity. Some have claimed that there is hypocrisy in this statement as Nick Clegg himself managed to gain work experience when he was younger through family and friend connections which inevitably helped his career.
This scheme follows on from the legal professions own social mobility initiative PRIME, which was launched in September 2011. PRIME is committed to provide work experience for talented, ambitious and motivated students in the full range of careers available in the legal sector. 23 UK and Irish law firms have already joined forces to introduce more teenagers from less privileged backgrounds into a career in law. The initiative was launched to provide fairer access across the board in order for the legal profession to become a true reflection of the wider society.
Let us know what your opinion is? By offering financial support do you think that it will attract more young people from poorer backgrounds into the profession? Or do you think it will remain a culture of ‘not what you know but who you know’?
