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Penguin Books

Penguin Random House UK scraps degree requirements for new recruits

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By John Glenday, Reporter

January 18, 2016 | 2 min read

Publishing giant Penguin Random House UK has announced it is to immediately scrap degree requirements from its recruitment drives as part of efforts to diversify its workforce.

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The publisher chose to move after new evidence turned up a lack of correlation between academic attainment and performance with high achievers within the business coming from a range of backgrounds not limited to those graduating from top universities.

Under the new approach Penguin Random House will prioritise creativity, strengths and ideas alongside their educational background in their selection process.

Neil Morrison, group HR director, UK and international, said: “We want to attract the best people to help grow and shape the future of our company, regardless of their background - and that means that we need to think and act differently. Simply, if you’re talented and you have potential, we want to hear from you.

“This is the starting point for our concerted action to make publishing far, far more inclusive than it has been to date. Now, we need to be more visible to talented people across the UK. We believe this is critical to our future: to publish the best books that appeal to readers everywhere, we need to have people from different backgrounds with different perspectives and a workforce that truly reflects today’s society.”

Penguin Random House has developed a reputation for innovation in recruitment having previously scrapped requirements for a CV for entry level posts, asking only for an email address and responses to seven strength-based questions posed via Tumblr.

The publisher will still require certain professional qualifications in some instances however.

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