In the summer of 2020 I looked at my team of high performing analysts and realized there was no Black representation; I had fallen short. I’m embarrassed to even say that I thought we were doing everything right. I worked with our Talent team to make our job descriptions more inclusive and paid extra attention to how the few Black candidates who did apply were moving through our talent pipeline. Yet as an analyst, I couldn’t ignore the number zero staring me in the face.
I’m going to take away my excuses of not hiring underrepresented candidates and be open to learning along the way.
A little less than 3 years later, my team of 14 analysts are benefitting from the contributions of three Black women and two Latino men. The journey to this point has required intentional investment and started with one idea: I’m going to take away my excuses of not hiring underrepresented candidates and be open to learning along the way. While I may not have started with a clear approach, I’ve since reflected on three key themes that have benefited our hiring efforts: connecting directly with communities, creating entry level job opportunities, and focusing on building long-term relationships.
Connecting directly with communities
At Doximity, we often get hundreds of resumes in the first week of posting a job. With such a large candidate pool, there are plenty of folks with the right technical skills so prioritizing team diversity takes a more intentional approach. It’s not enough to review your job description for exclusionary phrases (though, of course, you should still do that). You need to actively recruit to make sure your pipeline has a diverse representation of qualified candidates. So what could I do as a hiring manager to improve my talent pipeline? My solution was to do more active outreach by searching LinkedIn for relevant candidates that were also members of Black affinity groups and professional societies. While imperfect, this method allowed me to directly connect with folks from underrepresented communities. Whenever I found candidates that fit our role, I would personally invite them into the process.
Creating entry level job opportunities
In addition to improving our candidate outreach, my team and I wanted to be sure we were not excluding high potential candidates through our job criteria. While our roles require the ability to use Python and SQL, my team had to question whether we really needed the years of experience stated on the job description, or if the technical skills were more important. With the understanding that many Black and Latinx professionals face barriers to entry in the tech industry due to systemic racism and discrimination, creating entry-level positions would be an additional investment in diversifying our team. Not only does it provide a valuable opportunity for young professionals to start their careers and build their professional networks, it also brings value to our team through fresh perspectives and diverse experiences, both critical for an innovative environment.
Focusing on building long-term relationships
Congratulations! You just filled the position you spent months working on with your top candidate. Time to relax, right? Not quite. If you’ve filled your pipeline with several qualified candidates, it’s important to keep in touch with them. This approach helped me hire a terrific candidate a year after closing another role. In late 2020, this candidate applied the day before we made an offer to someone else. Immediately, I saw how this person would be a great fit for Doximity, but the position was no longer available. So I reached out to them and explained the situation. Over the next year, we touched base every few months, congratulating them on starting a new job and checking in to see how it was going. When we had the perfect opportunity for them, I reached out and a month later they were part of the team!
It also requires investing beyond recruitment and developing an inclusive culture that fosters a sense of belonging for new employees coming from diverse communities.
I fully recognize that much of this work requires a long-term commitment, as well as collaboration with partners like our Health Equity & Inclusion Strategy team. It also requires investing beyond recruitment and developing an inclusive culture that fosters a sense of belonging for new employees coming from diverse communities. However, this investment has improved the diversity of our team, helped us foster authentic relationships with underrepresented candidates, and it has also helped me become a more inclusive manager. I believe both my team and I are better for it.
Illustration by April Brust