Thank you for looking at my blog.
I am here to tell you a tiny bit about me but a lot more about Jobs for the
Girls.
About Me
My name is Paul Collins and I am
the communications manager at NICEIC - the UK's leading voluntary regulatory
body for the electrical contracting industry. It has been assessing the
electrical competence of electricians for over fifty years and currently
maintains a roll of over 26,000 registered contractors.
In 2011 NICEIC set up its Jobs
for the Girls campaign to encourage more women to become electricians.
I manage the campaign on behalf
of NICEIC which aims to support the hundreds of women who are out there showing that working as
an electrician is not just for boys.
So, that is enough about me.
Below is some more about the campaign.
Jobs for the Girls
Women are
severely under-represented in most trade professions with less than one in
every thousand electricians a female.
The Jobs for
the Girls campaign aims to encourage more women into the industry and redress
the imbalance.
The
objectives of the campaign are straight forward. We want to:
- Inspire more women
to seek a career as an electrician
- Promote the
benefits of employing female electricians
- Challenge
prejudices of a ‘male only’ profession
- Highlight the opportunities and
benefits a career as an electrician can offer such as flexible working
hours and a skill for life
- Secure backing from key stakeholders
such as MP’s, industry bodies and personnel
Since launching the campaign we
have achieved these and so much more. We have successfully challenged sexist
adverts in the media and appeared on national TV and Radio– with support from
Dragon’s Den star Hilary Devey.
Last year we also launched our
Jobs for the Girls Academy - a series of sessions providing technical, business
and industry advice to give women a helping hand in the industry.
The academy was our response to
networking meetings which revealed that getting a foot in the industry and
gaining experience was still a barrier for many women.
Several of the women who attended
are now forging a successful career for themselves as registered electricians and
there is now a dedicated website www.jobsforthergirls.com with more
information about the campaign.
Please come back and visit for more information about the campaign and our future plans.
