Technically People

In this episode of Technically People, Jennifer Carlson, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Apprenti, discusses how her apprentice program helps enterprise companies increase diversity while meeting their aggressive headcount needs in the midst of a tech skills shortage.

Apprenti blends classroom learning with on-the-job training, preparing apprentices to fill mid-level roles (software dev, cybersecurity, tech sales, cloud ops). Most apprentices are members of the BIPOC community, women, veterans and people who don’t have a formal CS education but who demonstrate ability in math and critical thinking. 

Carlson works by unearthing hidden potential. For instance, upon meeting with one applicant, a Burger King manager, she dug deeper to find he was actually doing supply chain management. While a “Burger King manager” resume wouldn’t see the light of day at a typical tech company, his history of solving complex problems landed him an apprenticeship. 

Highlights:

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

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After more than a year of work from home, professionals have sampled the greater degree of freedom that comes with remote. When it’s time to return to work, they say they want flexibility and choice in how, when and where they work. Given the tight labor market, every professional in the TA, recruitment and employer brand realm should take heed of the numbers from a 2021 Built In survey.  

In this episode, Shelby Eversole, Built In’s senior marketing manager, shares survey insights with Technically People’s co-host Tiffany Meyers. Engaging both employees and employers, the survey found these and more highlights:

- Sixteen percent of employees in the survey said they want to stay fully remote. 

- No one said they want to work from the office for five days. 

- Fifty three percent said they want to work from home regularly but have office space available for team meetings or gatherings. 

- While 84% of companies indicated they plan to or have already asked employees about their return-to-work preferences, only 21% said they plan to use the preferences as a driving force behind their return-to-work plans. 

It’s a candidates’ market, given low unemployment rates, especially among tech talent. Moreover, experts are projecting that employees are about to leave their current jobs in droves. This latter factor is known as the “Great Resignation,” and it has companies concerned about attrition.    

They should be. Seventy five percent of employees in the survey said they’re at least slightly to apply for a new job in the next year. Eighty five percent of employees said that, when they’re looking for a new job, they’ll heavily weigh whether a company offers remote work.  

In this conversation, Eversole highlights:

- The misalignment between companies’ plans and employees’ preferences.

- The need for employers in a tight labor market to act on what candidates want.

- Employers who don’t do so will struggle to attract in-demand talent. 

- Why companies must use employer branding to build a reputation as a company that listens to what candidates and employees want. 

Download Eversole’s full 2021 report:

- The Great Return to the Office  

Find every episode of Technically People on Apple, Spotify, and more. Find us on our website and join the conversation on LinkedIn. 

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Technically People in your favorite podcast player.

Isn’t recruitment the recruiter’s job? Not as we know it. And not if Mike Dwyer has anything to do with it. The Global Talent Acquisition Lead is creating a culture of recruitment at Feedzai, where every employee shares responsibility for talent acquisition. It’s a point of differentiation, he says, since the people doing the work are more likely to build meaningful relationships with candidates.

That culture will free recruiters to evolve, says Dwyer. They’ll become internal talent consultants who empower, enable and educate, delivering the resources employees need to be a vital part of recruitment. Dwyer adds: It’s time recruiters say no to being treated like administrative assistants. Instead, they should own their rightful place as experts. 

In this episode, we discuss:

- The definition of a culture of recruitment

- What the recruiter of the future will do  

- The need for empathy in recruiting and hiring

- Navigating the complexity of post-pandemic return-to-work plans

Find ever y episode of Technically People on Apple, Spotify and mo re. Find us on our website and jo in the conversation on LinkedIn.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Technically People in your favorite podcast player.

In her earliest days, Kellie Wagner, Founder and CEO at Collective — a DEI Lab, felt inclined to apply a structured set of academic processes to help companies create inclusive cultures. Over time, she realized the need to evolve. Today, her practice is immeasurably more nuanced.

When she works with companies, she validates and provides context for individual narratives around sexism, racism, homophobia and all “isms” and phobias. But ultimately she aims to transcend narratives by helping people discover universal points of connection — the human need for respect, for instance, dignity and psychological and physical safety.

In this episode we discuss:

- How Wagner’s experience with inequity in tech inspired her to found Collective

- The evolution of Wagner’s DEI training paradigm

- Making change in an era marked by intense fear of other people’s differences

- Why admitting you’re not ready to do the work is better than giving DEI lip service

- Wagner’s belief that we’re in a movement, not a moment

Find every episode of Technically People on Apple, Spotify and more, or on our website, and join us on LinkedIn.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Technically People in your favorite podcast player.

Every stage of hiring — from your job postings to your interview questions—is vulnerable to bias, particularly for employers that need to hire tech and tech-adjacent roles with expediency. If companies seek to foster DEI and gain the benefits that come with a diverse culture, they must put in place formal structures to de-bias hiring. In this episode, Shannon Hogue, Global Head of Solutions Engineering at Karat, outlines a model from her work and offers key strategies you can implement as early as your next interview.

Karat performs the first round of technical interviews for employers, aiming to make interviews better — more equitable, predictive, fair and enjoyable. In addition to designing and testing every interview question, Karat helps clients build rubrics and align on necessary competencies, enabling them to make decisions based on qualifications.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

- Shannon’s nontraditional background and the bias she herself encountered in her early career

- The use of structured interview protocols to ensure candidates pass through on the strength of their qualifications

- How to build a diverse pipeline of professionals from underrepresented communities

- The importance of setting and aligning on competencies and a hiring bar

- Inclusive language for recruitment materials and job posts

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

- Women Who Code

- Brilliant Black Minds

Find every episode of Technically People on Apple, Spotify and more, or on our website, and join us on LinkedIn.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Technically People in your favorite podcast player.

In America, 157 million adults have at least one chronic illness. Hannah Rose Olson, Founder and CEO at Chronically Capable, makes one thing clear: A person who lives with chronic illness or disability is not just capable but they bring important skills to the table, like resilience and empathy. People with these challenges represent a massive pool of untapped talent for the workplace, which has already started adapting to the most requested accommodation: remote work.

In this inaugural episode of Technically People, we interview Olson about strategies employers can adopt to attract and retain this capable and often untapped talent pool.

In the interview, we discuss:

- What it takes to build inclusive workplaces both in-office and virtually

- Intersectionality for people of different communities with chronic illness

- People’s fear of telling managers about an illness

- Job descriptions that signal you’re inclusive for this population

- 3 strategies for allyship

Find every episode of Technically People on Apple, Spotify and more, or our website, and join us on LinkedIn.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Technically People in your favorite podcast player.

Welcome to Technically People, a podcast brought to you by Built In.

This show will feature experts, thinkers, doers and futurist leaders on the vanguard of workplace issues. They’ll share ideas and tactics to shape a human-centered future of work in the tech industry. Topics include DEI and Belonging, hybrid and remote work, wellness, burnout, organizational psychology, human-centered leadership and much more.

In this trailer episode, Tiffany Meyers and Sheridan Orr share how the podcast:

- Aligns with the mission of Built In

- Inspires leaders to approach their people matters in future-forward ways

- Reflects the ongoing conversations Built In has had for years with the most future-forward companies and leaders in tech

To pitch an idea for the show or send a note to the hosts, email TechnciallyPeople@builtin.com. And join us on LinkedIn.

Tech employers need top talent now more than ever. Visit Employers.BuiltIn.com to discover how Built In can help you attract the sought-after tech talent you need to fill your roles of the future.