Fair Recruitment Advisers

Our Fair Recruitment Advisers can broaden the conversations throughout recruitment – bringing fresh perspective to and considerations to discussions and decisions.

The Fair Recruitment Advisers initiative is an important way in which, as a university based in one of the world's most diverse cities, we're working to enhance the diversity and inclusivity of our staff community. Together, our Fair Recruitment Advisers help to reduce the impact of unconscious bias during recruitment for senior level Professional Services staff (PSS) at Bands 7 and above.

Designed to tackle underrepresentation of Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME)* candidates, these Advisers play a key role throughout the recruitment process by acting as a member of the selection and interview panel for senior PSS roles.

Our Fair Recruitment Advisers Pocket Guide and Information Pack explain more about the initiative and how it can help remove barriers to BAME interviewees securing a role at our School.

The Fair Recruitment Advisers are all employee volunteers who identify as being from a BAME* background. To be an Adviser, you must be at Band 5 or above and available to join interview panels for Senior Professional Services Staff recruitment (Band 7 and above).

All Advisers receive specific training and support from HR, as well as being part of a network of fellow Advisers who meet for in-person and hybrid catch-ups throughout the year.

We recognise that undertaking the training to become a Fair Recruitment Adviser, as well as taking part in the recruitment campaigns themselves, requires a time commitment from our staff. To reflect this, each Fair Recruitment Adviser will be paid £100 for every completed recruitment campaign in which they participate. What’s more, being a Fair Recruitment Adviser is an important contribution to the LSE community and Advisers are therefore welcome (and are encouraged) to include this as a ‘citizenship’ activity when they complete their Career Development Review (CDR) paperwork.

If you’re interested in becoming a Fair Recruitment Adviser, this form will help you get started.

For hiring managers and panellists, our Fair Recruitment Adviser Information pack contains detailed information and should read this before beginning recruitment and selection. Training sessions are available in our training portal.

You may also want to learn more about Anonymised Applications, which is another way we’re working to reduce the impact of unconscious bias in recruitment. Both of these initiatives are part of our ongoing work to advance race equity at LSE through our Race Equity Framework.

The headers below summarise the dates of upcoming FRA training sessions. Please check that you meet the criteria above (under Who are Advisers?) before you book on any of these sessions - just contact hr.fra@lse.ac.uk if you are unsure.

Recruitment and Selection

This interactive and highly practical short course will support managers to effectively plan their recruitment. The course is available on two different dates.

Wednesday 06th March 2024 (9:30am - 1:00pm)

Please click here to book your place.

Assertiveness and Interview Techniques Workshop

This highly interactive short course aims to give Fair Recruitment Advisers practice in being part of a recruitment panel at the LSE, both in interviewing and assessing candidates and contributing to the panel discussions.

Wednesday 21st February 2024 (9:30am - 1:00pm)

Tuesday 19th March 2024 (9:30am - 1:00pm)

Please click here to book your place.

Understanding the Fair Recruitment Adviser (FRA) role

This training session will be delivered internally by the HR Partner Support Group and will focus on providing clarity around the role and responsibilities of the Fair Recruitment Advisers. The session is available on two different dates.

Tuesday 26th March 2024 (10:00am - 12:00pm)

Please click here to book your place.

If you have any questions, please contact hr.fra@lse.ac.uk

*A note on terminology
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) are umbrella terms used by the UK government and the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) to refer to all non-white people. However, we recognise that these terms are problematic, in that they mask differences in lived experience and outcomes for many different ethnic groups. Improving our community’s understanding of these differences will be part of our work on race equity at LSE.