Lead-Software-Engineer-Permitivity-d1c474ef7f084f8da86d95b75fb225c3

sydneylehman·May 25, 2021

Posted in:Advice

I have built a startup that is focused on enabling sustainable construction by automating the permitting process and have been unable to recruit female engineers into the business. I am looking for leads on female engineers / advice on how best to recruit them.Job Posting Linked Above!

emilywazlak·May 25, 2021

Have you tried Tech Ladies or other women in STEM groups?

MakenaKong·May 25, 2021

I'm struggling with this too :(The company I work at is looking for software engineers and 98% of the applications are male and so far, 100% of the candidates who made it to the final round were white males.

merckulkarni·May 25, 2021

A few ideas to start with:- ensure you have an inclusive work environment + concrete goals/plans to foster diversity and inclusionHiring a diverse team doesn't matter if they don't have an inclusive place to land. What are the opportunities for growth? Mentorship? What do benefits and perks look like? Are they inclusive of women's health issues, working parents' needs? Is there flexibility in work hours in case childcare needs arise?- Market your inclusive environmentPoint out what you do to foster diversity and inclusivity. Be honest about areas where the company could do better.- check your job descriptions and interview processes for inclusivity. Women tend to apply when they meet most or all of the criteria listed. Men apply more readily. Run your job descriptions through a free gender text decoder (try http://gender-decoder.katmatfield.com/). Are women in the interview panels or are all interviews run by men?- train interviewers on how to interview and mitigate biasThe goal is to set candidates up for success. How we interview typically isn't indicative of how we work on the job. Whiteboarding interviews assess for performance anxiety, not ability. Most people are not very good interviewers because they haven't actually been trained on how to ask questions and assess responses.- source, source, source. Go outbound to female candidates- post your jobs on women in tech job boardsAnd TRACK where applicants are coming from so you can adjust your efforts as necessary.

Sherie25·May 26, 2021

spend the money to join WITI, its a wonderful group of wormen in technology and pay to post your jobs there. do note the competition for women in engineering is fierce and maybe hiring a VP of Engineering that is female will also attract...wait for that great talent and don't force the need because we gals can sniff the fakes out there...

theresa·May 26, 2021

Are you looking for women who are "Engineering Leads" or leads on finding women engineers, at any level? I would say try to post in the other suggested places, and also work with Elpha. I really enjoy their job boards and their personal recruitment help. Try putting benefits women may want in the ad, like really good parental leave or flexibility. I wonder if women might be less likely to bounce around jobs, and that there may have been far fewer in the pipeline in the past, so most women engineers looking for work may consider themselves mid level, not senior, engineers. I know I haven't tried applying to "Senior Software Engineer" posts, but I'm going to try this time around. (and you might as well drop your job ad in this post :)

sydneylehman·May 27, 2021

Looking for Lead Engineers / Senior Software Engineers who are female! I will definitely add my job posting in the post. Thanks!

Chitraf·May 27, 2021

I would also post on WIT slack (Women in Technology) as well as Remote Women