Pride Circle, a Bengaluru-based two-year-old platform is organising a first ever job fair for the LGBTQIA community on July 12 . Called RISE (Reimagining Inclusion For Social Equity), the fair aims to provide the LGBTQIA communities with comfortable livelihoods.
Held for the first time ever in the country, the event is expecting around 300 applicants and 50 companies across the IT sector, hospitality, banking, finance, housekeeping among others. Some of the companies coming to the fair have already implemented policy changes related to diversity and inclusion in creating a comfortable work space.
Pride Circle, founded by Ramkrishna Sinha and Srini Ramaswamy have planned to take the fair to other cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Chandigarh, Jamshedpur and Jaipur.
“Unlike other fairs, this one includes jobs in the blue to white-collar space. Companies often struggle with the process of making a workplace more inclusive. Job seekers in the LGBTQIA community also fear discrimination at work. We are looking to solve some of these problems at this fair," says Ramkrishna Sinha.
Adding that discrimination is still rampant in workplaces, Srini Ramaswamy talks about the instances where a trans person has been denied the job even after being selected for an interview.
Three major aspects
The job fair will have three major aspects – a day long conference, and a job fair and a marketplace for half the day each.
The conference – Featuring global and national executives along with renowned LGBTQIA representatives, the conference will shed light on the inclusion practices which companies in India can adopt.
The job fair – With around 50 companies coming in, the community members can interact with the experts in the field.
The marketplace – The idea behind queer persons setting up stalls is to show that entrepreneurship can also be an option LGBTQIA community can look at.
Schedule
Date: July 12
Time: 1 pm to 5.30 pm
Where: Lalit Ashok hotel
The fair will also feature small business stalls set up by the LGBTQIA community at the venue.
Contact
Interested can contact the organisers on their Facebook page ‘Pride Circle’ and stay updated about the job listings. You can also write to rise@thepridecircle.com.
Candidates will have to pre-register and walk-ins will not be allowed. Log on to www.thepridecircle.com/rise to upload your resume and register.