I can only point to the fact that most of our recent recruitment (both as regular casuals and staff) has been based on work experience students. It would be foolish not to follow up on leads from previous highly successful interns,http://www.mctw54.org/Review.asp?NewsID=159,Ugg outlet, who point altruistically at former fellow course-members. After all, are managers expected to avoid using the advantage of “who you know”,http://blog.paltalk.com/paltalkpress/2011/01/post-3.html#comments, especially when a quick lead to a good person can save time all round?

Such dilemmas and pitfalls abound in workie and staff selection. The trick for managers is to learn how to avoid them. The trick for the Government is to improve the culture of work experience without reducing the opportunities for it. The trick for all of us is to accept that striving for this is worthwhile.

Martin King is Online editor of independent.co.uk

The latest focus on internships and privilege from Nick Clegg will doubtless cause sighs and raised eyebrows among those who book “workie” slots. Managers will know that raising the administration bar will only add to their burdens.

Secondly the age of the “workie” has become associated with accusations of milking free labour. The dilemma is clear: does the manager try to make an internship meaningful by exposing the student to real tasks, or avoid accusations that the intern is merely compensating for the lack of staff?

The concept was that the opening of every interview should focus,http://blog.paltalk.com/paltalkpress/2011/01/post-3.html#comments, albeit comparatively briefly,Ugg boots cheap, on the candidate’s origins. Where were they born? What were the father’s and mother’s occupation? Were there siblings and what did they achieve? What types of school did they attend?

Firstly too much relies on contacts. I cannot blame young people for using them in a cruel job market,Clearance ugg boots,http://scubaswingers.com/scubaswingers/blogs/posts/ooxxoo3q, but the chances for valued foot-in-the-door chances are skewed by who you know (maybe at least in association with how much gumption you had to use them) rather than what you have done. This can perpetuate social, educational and racial types in a workplace – and diminish an employer’s staff diversity.

Despite the idea that talking about familiar aspects of their life enabled the interviewee to relax comparatively quickly, and it certainly helped many I saw,http://swanagefc.co.uk/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-687, the tell-me-quickly-about-your-early-life technique is no longer one I feel able to use. How easy is it to misconstrue such questions as an attempt to weed out those from various backgrounds? Ironically, the logic was exactly the opposite.

But we have to accept the spirit of Mr Clegg’s campaign against a culture that he feels prevents young people from modest backgrounds securing work experience and internships. He is targeting the civil service but the rest of us need to prove it is not too much hassle to adopt best practice in fair selection of workies – just as in choosing staff. Surely a more diverse workforce can operate better than a narrow one.

We were told to bias in favour of those from humble backgrounds,Ugg boot, to be more impressed by someone from a poor estate and ordinary comprehensive who went on to a good degree than we were by someone who achieved success after a good school and therefore a more predictable entry to a good university.

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Nevertheless the logic of the Deputy PM’s campaign can only be right – because of two fundamental wrongs that occur with unfettered internships.

The concern must be whether the phrase “too much hassle” will be heard too often and the number of places reduced.

As always the balance will be hard to achieve. A generation ago,Ugg boots, I was trained in staff selection at a highly acclaimed Aston University business course, but I no longer dare to use the primary interview technique that was drummed into us.