International Women’s Day 2024

In honour of International Women’s Day 2024, Impact’s co-founder Jules Dosne spearheaded a compelling Vodcast featuring Dipti Shah, the Founder of Conscious Rebel Leadership.

Their dynamic conversation delved into the vital topic of allyship, branching out to explore Dipti’s remarkable journey as a woman of colour operating at the helm of leadership in the global media landscape.

Our Vodcast also features as part of UpliftHER’s global series – hearing from inspiring women around the globe on IWD.

Click here to watch our International Women’s Day Podcast with Jules Dosne and Dipti Shah and don’t forget to comment your thoughts!

International Women’s Day 2023 Q&A with Jules Dosne, Co-Founder

Imagine a gender-equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women’s equality. Collectively we can all #EmbraceEquity.

Celebrate women’s achievements. Raise awareness about discrimination. Take action to drive gender parity.

International Women’s Day belongs to everyone, everywhere. Inclusion means all IWD action is valid.

We spoke with Jules Dosne, Impact Creative Recruitment Ltd.’s Co-Founder, to discover her journey. 


Made with Clipchamp

 

I see it as a chance to shine a spotlight on the important issues affecting women and it promotes greater awareness and support for gender equality. I love how we recognise and celebrate the achievements of women to raise awareness of the challenges they face around the world, such as discrimination, violence, and unequal access to education and employment opportunities.

This is about inspiring people to take action to create a more equitable world.

 

Whilst focusing on equality is vital, every business should be embracing “equity” in the workplace.  Ensuring the allocation of resources against individual needs as opposed to equal for all helps even the playing field so that everyone can thrive.  Associating this with IWD gives a great platform to highlight the differences between Equality and Equity.

It is not only the right thing to do, but it is also good for business, drives innovation, and helps companies attract and retain top talent.  When people see that a company values diversity and is committed to equity, they are more likely to want to work there.

 

I am very passionate about helping the industry to value greater diversity and can see a huge benefit in showcasing industry female role models.  Mentoring creates opportunities for women to network with successful female leaders to help build the necessary skills and confidence to pursue these roles. Supporting and championing flexible working arrangements as well as creating a culture that values and promotes diversity and inclusivity will attract more women to take on leadership roles.

 

Having kicked off my career in advertising – a truly male dominated industry in the late 90s, I have immense admiration for Karen Blackett OBE.

Her career path and progression that led to her promotion in 2011 at Mediacom to CEO has always felt like a game changer moment with the industry. An inspirational and powerful female with so many accomplishments but I’m particularly interested in her early adoption of driving inclusion. In her 5 years as CEO of MediaCom, ethnic diversity transformed from 11% to 19% and women in senior management roles increased to 44%.  

 

There’s a lot that I’m proud of and I guess it started with taking the decision to step away from a career in advertising and, at the age of 26, launching Impact with Nick.

Going on to build Impact into an award winning, ethical business where ED&I is embedded in our DNA.  I’m proud of the difference we are making in the media industry.  We have been championing women for 21 years and when we look at our data, including leadership hires, 70% of our placements are women.

An internal view at Impact fully represents society in ethnicity, sexual orientation, academic choices and social economic climates.  Our team are 65% female, 43% diverse and 85% of our SMT are female. 

I couldn’t be prouder of Impact and our commitment to future proofing talent through diversity.

 

I’d say to be true to yourself, set goals that align with your passions and values and retain positivity and belief in your capabilities.  Ultimately, I believe anyone can achieve their career goals and make a meaningful impact on their journey.

LGBTQ+ History Month Spotlight: Asafe Ghalib

February marks LGBTQ+ History Month here in the UK, a charity that’s overall aim is to promote equality and diversity for the benefit of the public.

To celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, we are spotlighting creative, queer individuals. We spoke to London-based queer image maker, Asafe Ghalib about their empowering work.

Name and Preferred Pronouns

My full name is Asafe Ghalib and my preferred pronouns are they/them. I’m a queer image maker born in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Growing up I found that society didn’t see me as an individual but instead wanted to define me as a preconceived idea of who I was supposed to be. As a result, this created a distance between myself and my origins. I started to look introspectively to confront this social construct around gender identity and racial hierarchy.

I began to feel a sense of community when exploring the different ways in which I could express my gender without the notion of someone dictating what’s right and what’s wrong. Without being taught to be scared of what could actually set us free. I don’t care about society’s expectations or gender norms. I just want to be me.

 

Tell us about your inspirations

My main inspiration draws directly from the queer community and those figures who came before us and paved the way for the queer movement today. It’s at the heart of what I do and what I want to show the world, bringing to light historically misrepresented communities. People such as Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera and Lavrne Cox are some notable mentions due to their incredible activism and outspoken voices for the LGBTOIA+ community.

 

What are your key achievements?

I was one of the winners and the Story cover for British Journal of Photography “Ones to Watch” and recently, the Creative Review editorial team selected me as one of the photographers that have made an impact over the past 12 months as their Zeitgeist winners. This year my project called Queer Immigrants has been selected by the jury of the PROFIFOTO NEW TALENT AWARD 23/1 as first prize winner in Germany.

 

Tell us about what else you get up to?

Music is one of the biggest sources of inspiration and relaxation to me. I love finding and discovering new music to be on the playlists for my future projects. I love to put on some music and dance and feel the words that the artist is trying to convey at the time. I also have a dog named Otis who has been my companion for about two years now and being able to take him around and explore the country is also a big hobby of mine, going camping and being in touch with the great outdoors. I also love exploring new work in galleries and seeing what the scene has to offer, be it my friends’ exhibitions and supporting their art or discovering new work which also inspires me further.

 

If you’d like to know more about our social impact and ED&I policies, contact our EDI Recruitment Consultant, Daniel today.

In conversation with Isabel: Associate Recruiter

What does a day in the life of an associate recruiter look like?

First things first, I need my caffeine hit to hit the ground running in our fast-paced environment. An oat latte made by the fab WeWork barista, Errol, does the trick. Then, the Creative & Marketing team meet every morning to go over the roles we have on, discuss candidates, and determine the goals for the day ahead. My colleague Ferhan on the Creative desk, and Mark from Marketing, will suggest roles to work on and then vroom! Off I go headhunting, registering candidates and working with the wider team to make placements.

Describe the work culture and environment at Impact

“Could it be any nicer an environment?” – Chandler Bing.

But for real, Impact is one of the best places I have worked in relation to the support and encouragement from all staff (is there a cooler word for staff? Shall we say Unicorns? They’re all magical). Everyone wants everyone to do well and make placements, and when we do we celebrate. It is a culture that is rewarding and encourages you to succeed.

Tell us about your best experience so far working with Impact

I made a placement for an incredible graphic/UI designer with one of our gaming clients. Delivering the news that he had booked the job was a feeling like no other!

Where’s your favourite lunch spot?

Easy. Falafel wrap down the road. If I’m feeling spicy I’ll chuck a bit of halloumi into the mix. Delish.

Desert Island Discs! What three records and one book can you not live without?

Purpose by Justin Bieber (obviously), Any record ever by Charli XCX, MOTOMAMI by Rosalia. In terms of books, I revisit Fine on Acting by Howard Fine time and time again. A must-read for any theatre or film-maker!

Share your number one tip you tell your candidates to help them get their next role!

Let your personality and creativity shine through. We want you to succeed, the client wants you to succeed – we are all rooting for you!

 

If you’re looking for a new role across creative or marketing, send your CV to Isabel today!

How To Ace Your Next Interview

Interviews can be nerve-wracking, but we want to show you some of our tips for making the smooth ride into your next position! Whether your interview is face-to-face or over a zoom meeting we look at our top tips from our team for acing your next interview for that dream job!

 

Prepare and Research

Research, research, research! Knowing all about the client, who they are, what they do and what they’ve done, is vital to any interview and shows real interest and passion for the company. The simplest way to start your preparations is using LinkedIn, checking in on their socials and analysing the job description. Because preparation is KEY to nailing that interview!

Bonus points if you know the interviewer beforehand and do some research on them as well.

First Impressions

First Impressions are key with any interviewer. When you get out of the lift or are met at the reception, stand tall, look warm, confident and smile! If you walk to a meeting room, engage in conversation on the way – ‘How’s your day been so far?’ or ‘Great offices!’. This will alleviate any nerves and gets the conversation going before the interview takes place. If your interviewer has decided even before you’ve sat down that he or she likes you, then you’ve already won half the battle!

Be familiar with your background

Our work history can be a long-winding road, so much so that it’s easy to forget what we’ve done. Go back over your CV multiple times! Talk yourself through everything you did, the processes you undertook to complete tasks and all projects you were part of.

Knowing your CV inside and out will able you to talk through your CV confidently, and don’t forget to have details on why you’ve moved from one job to another, explaining your journey.

Practice and prepare interview questions

Prepare for competency-based questions. Everyone dreads these questions but they’re a necessary evil. How to ace them? Go back over the job spec, alongside your CV, and pick out your most relevant examples to give. For the awful “biggest weakness?” question, choose a previous skill you have since developed and why you’re now better for it and turn it around into a strength!

Always have questions to ask at the end. These questions should always be about the company and careers path you could take there. Try to avoid asking about socials or time off, this will raise concerns to your interviewer. You can prepare questions, but you can also ask during the interview as it shows you are engaged. If you would feel more confident with your questions written down then be sure to bring your notebook, however, memorising them is even better!

Use the STARR technique

A well-known technique which helps you to structure your answer better and it enables you to cover all the key points needed in an answer. Using this strategy is particularly helpful in response to competency-focused questions.

Situation – What you were facing

Task – What you had to do

Action – How you approached it

Result – The outcome

Reflection – What you learned

 

Be Passionate

If you think it’s gone well, don’t be afraid to tell the interviewer that you want the job! It’s also important to talk about your interests outside of work. It’s not all about your employment history, companies want to get to know the real you so talk about your hobbies and show your personality!

Always be positive! Don’t say anything negative about any aspect of your previous roles. If any of your previous roles didn’t end well, you better have a good and truthful story which you need to prepare for so you aren’t caught short.

 

Now you are prepared for acing an interview, it’s time to send one of our team your CV and we will begin matching you with your next big career move! If you are looking for some more tips on preparing for a new role, follow our simple CV updating tips!