Pictured: Host Andrew Ryan (left); Raph Mokades, Rare; AnnaWard, Legal Week
Raph Mokades, managing director of graduate recruitment agencyRare, won the Outstanding Innovator award for creating a newrecruitment tool which helps businesses identify the UK's mosttalented graduates from different backgrounds.
Mokades set up Rare on his own over a decade ago after workingin a diversity role for media company Pearson for three years.
More recently, Mokades has focused onsetting up Rare'sContextual Recruitment System (CRS), which has been live for thepast eighteen months.
To put candidates' achievements in context, this tool providesdetails of the circumstances they grew up in with the ultimate aimof boosting social mobility in privileged professions such as law.For example, it allows companies to rate potential recruits againstthe average performance of their school.
Those using CRS are able to see an applicant's GCSE and A-levelresults in the context of the performance of their whole school meaning it is immediately obvious when their results may be lowerthan a rival candidate's but their achievement may have beengreater.
Since its launch, the system has processed more than 100,000applications in order to help firms increase the amount ofcandidates they recruit from disadvantaged backgrounds.
So far, more than 20 law firms havesigned up, including the entire magic circle.
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