Your first foot on the ladder... Writing your CV.

Uni students planning their new careers should look no further. Erica Roberts explains how to get a job where people actually respect you and offers some tips which will help all job-seekers.

Bankruptcy threatens after your years of study; your credit card sits malignantly in your wallet, calling you to spend; your hairdo has grown beyond retro flop and is now seriously impeding your pulling power. But you’re skint. Well, face it: it’s time to grow up and get a job. Here’s a guide through the minefield of being gay and looking for work.

Choose your boss

Do some initial research to find a gay-friendly employer. Phone up – you don’t have to give your name – and ask if the company has a diversity team, or an equal opportunities team, and ask what their policies are. If they say, “We don’t view our staff as different groups – we like to treat everyone the same”, don’t touch them with a 50-foot pool cue.
Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, comments: “Now, being non-discriminatory at work is not just a matter of good practice; it’s law. But you may well be more comfortable working for an organisation that put those things into practice a few years before they needed to, than for a company that did it kicking and screaming, and only because the TUC made a fuss. It depends whether or not you want to spend your life on a workplace crusade.”

We are the champions

If you’re looking for gay-friendly employers, you need to know about the Stonewall Diversity Champions and Corporate Equality Index.

The index is a list of the top 100 employers for gay people in Britain. It rates them on what they’re doing for their gay staff - in terms of company policy on sexual orientation, sponsorship of queer groups or events, same-sex couple benefits, whether or not they have an out staff group and a diversity group that covers sexual orientation issues, whether they are serious enough about diversity recruitment to advertise in the gay media, and whether there are any out board members in the company.

Diversity Champions are organisations that have joined a programme run by Stonewall that aims to educate and promote diversity in the workplace. They are committed to improving their working environments for lesbian, gay and bisexual staff – and making sure that sexual orientation and diversity are at the heart of any company strategic planning. There are currently 123 organisations on this programme – they’re the kinds of companies you really want to work for.

Giz a job then!

The best place to look for gay-friendly jobs is the jobs page on puffta! Meanwhile we’re developing a section of our website with details of the latest vacancies and tips about landing a top job and developing your career.

Cut the waffle on your CV

Nobody cares that you were committed and enthusiastic on your paper round when you were 12 – emphasize only your relevant experience. Keep it short – no more than a page or two. Any more than that and prospective employers will bin it before reading. Check out what the job requirements are, and structure your achievements and experiences to match these. Consider mentioning any involvement in lesbian and gay activities – you may have learned invaluable project management and team building skills in your youth group, for example.

The dreaded job interview

Coming out is a personal decision; only you can decide if it feels right or not. But generally, your sexuality shouldn’t come up in an interview unless you’re asked a question about equal opportunities and you want to describe a situation where you’ve handled discrimination.

If you’re asked about your marital status, you could disclose that you’re gay – it might reveal any homophobia in the interviewers. If they do say something openly homophobic, let them know you found it offensive and bring the interview to an end – you won’t want to work for them after that.

And remember, the worst thing you can do is witter endlessly about yourself. Answer the questions – and if there’s a deadly silence in response to your quarter hour rave about your fascinating hobbies, ask if you’re on the right track.

Work the gay thing

Your experience as a gay man or lesbian could be an advantage. Summerskill comments: “Lots of gay people have networking skills and the capacity to get on with other people.
“That’s not necessarily the case if you’ve spent six nights a week in your straight, white rugby club during university.

“Thirty years ago, big businesses would have valued that – but not now. Gay peoples’ ability to deal with all sorts of different people is a positive business strength.

“Also, gay men and lesbians have often developed the ability to not to be distracted by irrelevant criticism or process, but to focus on final outcomes – on what really matters. Anyone who’s lived with prejudice has had to do this in their own lives.”

You may also have developed a lot of transferable skills in any voluntary work you’ve done in the gay community – think about how to present these to an employer.

Coming out (again)

Only you can make the decision about whether or not you come out at work but remember if you’re used to being open at uni, it may be hard to go back into the closet.
When you’re trying to decide, make sure that you feel safe coming out – that the personal risk isn’t too high for you – and that you feel strong enough and have enough support to deal with any possible consequences. It’s always good to make sure you have a supportive buddy at work.

So you’ve decided to brave it and come out. Dykes – you don’t need to stand on your desk brandishing a strap-on and screaming, “bring on the laydeez”; and gay boys, you don’t need to strut into the office wearing only your Calvin Kleins. This is a work environment – appropriateness is the order of the day. Choose a moment to drop it into the conversation, or tell one person, and let them know it’s no secret – you can use the power of the grapevine to take the hard work away from you.

Your bravery may even make it easier for someone else to come out – and before you know it, you’ll be having some scintillating conversations around the water cooler.