Time out of the industry? UBS wants you

13 February 2008

2 minute read

UBS is following in Lehman's footsteps and helping people who've spent time changing nappies or strolling the Himalayas back into the exciting world of work.

The Swiss bank has teamed up with the London School of Economics' Executive Education arm to launch 'UBS Career Comeback', a three-day programme to be held at the LSE in mid-March.

To qualify for attendance, interested parties will need to have spent anything from 18 months to seven years out of action, and to hold at least a degree, and preferably a Masters-level qualification. There's no need to have worked in finance, although it helps.

In the words of UBS, attendees will be treated to:

· Important business updates from leading professors in finance,

marketing, technology and strategy.

· Professional one-to-one coaching.

· An overview of the current regulatory environment.

· Development of a personal action plan for re-entering the

workforce.

Unfortunately, at the end of the programme there's absolutely no guarantee of a job at the Swiss bank (which has been making redundancies), but nor is landing a new job entirely out of the question. Following a similar event at Wharton, UBS hired four out of 60 attendees.

Mona Lau, global head of diversity at UBS, says the bank's running the programme partly because it doesn't want to see good talent go to waste: "It's an incredible waste to let this talent segment go and we want to do the right thing and help them back."

Interested parties should apply by clicking here before 15 February. Competition for places on the free programme is liable to be fierce (although nowhere near as fierce as for graduate programmes), with at the last count 80 applications already in for just 50 places.

AUTHORSarah Butcher

Global Editor

Ja
Jane
30 April 2008
UBS wants me? Nice. The issue is, do I want UBS? Nah.
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De
Denise
19 February 2008
I took a year off to help albanian single mothers set up a lesbian marxist knitting circle. I immediately got 3 lucrative offers and now have a job for life.
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AP
A Parent
14 February 2008
it is a cheap publicity stunt but at least it's a form of acknowledgement we exist.
Having been out for over 4 years but with more than 14 years experience the biggest hurdle is the first one. If you are currently not in work most agencies treat you as a loser. They even admit, if you have been out for more than 6 months it will be very difficult to get back in. We may all take a dim view of most agencies but they can only be saying this through experience and from what they are fed by the employers.
The other sad thing is my experience counts for nothing as I have no degree. Employing everyone with a degree is very diverse but if you employ the same type of people you will get the same type of results.
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On
OnTheDole
14 February 2008
For what its worth, I've never heard of Lehman doing anything for people out of the market. The reality is that if you've been out of the market you have to expect a pay cut and be comfortable with doing the lunch run. All this until you can jump ship and go somewhere more suitable. There is a massive penalty to those who have spent time out of the market and very few firms ever capitalise on it. The Headhunters add more insult to injury I'm afraid. Unless you have decent contacts, be prepared to do some serious graft. And let me save you the time--UBS Career Comeback is an absolute SHAM!
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An
Annoyed at UBS
14 February 2008
What a waste of money. Why not focus on treating current employees better, so they don't get annoyed and leave? As a woman I can say I definitely haven't been supported at UBS and all this marketing about being a great place to work and diversity is definitely salt in the wound! UBS need to focus on rebuilding its reputation from within the company, not spending more money telling the public it is a great place to work, without addressing the underlying issues within the company!
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