Oh gawd, theres a promotion at work, I'm looking at the application form, completely stumped .....  it says ....

Show you have the skills to:  Represent our interests within the community whilst showing an understanding of the needs of minority groups....

I'm quite an intelligent lass.  But i haven't a bloomin clue how to go about this. 

Please someone help.  Cliches, Plaguarisms, I'll take em all...

It would probably help if you enlightened us on what those "interests" are................

ha yeah sorry, I'm a criminal intelligence analyst for Met Police and TFL and the role is a Transport Community Safety Officer (a management role to be used to find ways to reduce crime on transport).

well, Rastafarians need to smoke marijuana as a serious part of their religion.
you could argue that they have a smoking exemption on the tube? then they wouldnt be breaking the law if they lit up??

............

sorry, only kidding!!
boy, am i glad i dont have to deal with such vague, obscure, and woolly political correct questions in my line of work.
this sort of thing is way beyond my radar, but i hope someone else can better inspire you?

Hi Jodenice,

Have you done any Diversity training as part of your job; if you have, what you learned on that (or your notes/handouts) could help you form a response.  Or are there any manuals, info packs etc concerning diversity in your office you could look at, or a designated diversity or equal ops officer you could pick the brains of for pointers? They will be looking for you to be able to say how you would balance the operational requirements of the post with the need to recognise, support and respect the needs of the diverse minority groups with whom you will come in contact, for example, people from ethnic communities, people with disabilities to name but a couple.  Well, I think that's what they are asking, so I hope this helps a bit :)

Lesley

Hummm

How about you will threaten to break lawbreakers legs (representing and protecting employers interests) but will not actually do it (as this shows understanding that the minority groups with broken legs feel pain).

I think I probably have as much as a clue as you do as EVERYONE is in a minority group of some kind  (likes a particluar breed of dog for instance) but everyone they are talking about is probably a member of the human race and is not, therefore in a minority group and needing special attention, as everyone should be treated the same if they are breaking the law in any way, shape or form.

Ok what you need to do is give an actual example of how you have done this - you probably do it evey day it's just not labled.
So you must in you current job represent your employer on a daily basis and you probably also adjust your approach to situations and groups based on their ethnicity? so just describe how you have done this or how you would do this and give clear examples.
Good luck
Sharon

I think what they are looking for is an example of how you would carry out your job, with deference to the needs of a minority - so not asking muslem women to remove their head scarf in public etc :D

OK cool, this has at least opened my mind up - I know its about diversity but its a) trying to find an example ... to be honest its not just about work though, surely most people do this stuff everyday?  And more importantly B) its finding the phrases to use, we have word limits, I don't want to come out with the same old cliches that everyone else will be using but there are some good suggestions here, I will crack on, I can't wait for it to be finished, there are 3 A4 pages of these type of questions, i'll be here til midnight!

thanks again

Dunno about everyone doing this in there everyday life??
I certainly cant think of any examples where i "represent my interests within the community whilst showing an understanding of the needs of minority groups..."??.
If that is defined as not being a racist or making insulting comments about cultural aspects of minorities, then I dont do that.
But then im not generally rude to anyone that isnt rude to me.
No offence intended, just genuinely not too clear what you mean? 
In my everyday life (or job), I dont even have to think about other people's cultures, let alone show "special sensitivity".
They are them, they are not me, often they dont know me; I am me, I am not them, often I dont know them.
If I did work with someone with a "minority culture", I would just talk to them nicely like anyone else. I wouldn't insult them, I would be friendly.
But equally, I would feel free to be myself too.
Even if my beliefs, interests, or general personality wasnt to their personal tastes.
If Muslim, for example, i wouldnt even feel the need to even consider their "cultural diversity" enough to even want to ask them to remove their face masks.
Ditto my behaviour. For example, I wouldnt go out of my way to consider the "cultural diversity" of a white Christian if I was engaging in everyday conversational swearing.

Interesting discussion tho.

Good luck

I know what you mean and I didn't explain myself properly.  In my work, I cannot for instance, assume that all the problems in a certain area are 'youth related'.  Or that black men between 30 - 35 are guilty of a particular crime... etc etc.  I'm supposed to 'embrace the differences' between us all.  Which I don't really think about, I'm too busy trying to actually work.  On a personal level, I have one disabled brother and one gay brother and work with homosexual colleagues and being in central london we have a wide and varied mix in our office.  I'm not explaining this well really and I'm too knackered, but generally, on a bus, I'd sit in an empty seat if it were next to an asian, an old man, a woman, white, black, disabled, deaf, young....     

*collapses at computer*

*collapses at computer*

:P

Sorry can't help, but you made me laugh :) Good luck

Lindsay
x

Hi,
This is a hard one, "understanding the needs of minority groups" Well some minority groups carry knives as
part of there religion, but! that can't be exceptable,  as it could be taken off them and another person use it! If you took it from them, that can be discrimination, if you don't others are at risk.
I am afraid you have to been seen to be doing right a!!
Some minority groups, do not allow there young women to sit were there are men."Only there
husbands." Probly! not letting more than 2 youths sit by one another, No huds! as that, may stop the gangs intimidating others or taking of them, say mobile phone ect; and of course camera's.
I hope something triggers somethink for you.
Regards
Denese

Thanks to everybody for your help, sent off the finished application today, definitely got some ideas off of here, much appreciated!  :)

It sounds like to me that they are looking for an answer that is inclusive rather than discriminatory.  Perhaps making clear that you are aware of stereotypes, i.e. not every youth is anti-social and hates authority, not every middle-aged suit is 'clean'. Perhaps being aware which groups are most at risk i.e. 16-25 yo males.  Does this sound anything like near to what you need?

whoops, I'm a bit late then. lol

Nope not at all, if I get through i'm going to have to justify this in interview, i'm still noting it all down!  Jo

Now then, my 15 year old son wears a hood and he's a darling, sport mad and definitely not an uncouth (sp?) youth.  Also not every Asian teenager carrying a rucksack is a bomber, far from it there must be hundreds in London who are Uni Students and these people have as much right to be respected as anyone else.  Is it about equality, treating everyone the same but at the same time recognising the cues for potential crime?

What did you think they were looking for?

Well I definitely think it was along those lines...  It was very difficult, there were 3 questions to answer in one section and only 250 words allowed I had to cut loads out so this is what I wrote on diversity...

Within my working life, I am lucky enough to meet with different races, religions, ages and sexes.  Not only in my working life but also on an everyday level I do embrace diversity around me, respecting the different beliefs, backgrounds, sexuality, races and personalities that I encounter.  For example, in my role, I cannot assume that 'youths' are causing problems,   I must be fair and objective in my assessments of problems, analysing data provided without prejudice, knowing that decisions should not be made that are of detriment to the organisation.

I then went onto give an example in a different section (nabbed from someone off here) about  policing public transport whilst preventing crime on it yet still respecting minority communities in the process.

sounds succinct and that's the direction I would have gone.  Thing about the organisations dealing with Joe Public is that there is so much publicity about discrimination it's a minefield.  In a discussion about racism a black guy was talking about postive discrimination and how he didn't like that.  Positive discrimination he said when applying for a job means that employers choose the black person to ensure they meet their 'quota' which means that the black person doesn't know if they are most suitable for the job or just making up the numbers.  Of course this means that the white guy who didn't get the job feels discriminated against. So being fair means genuine equality.  I think your answer hits the right spot.  Hope you get the job.