On June 27th, we’re proud to have presented with Hired.com, a half-day virtual summit with over 1,000 attendees (woohoo!), all about ways to advance your career in tech, despite systemic bias. Programming included a DEI panel, job fair, and salary negotiation training, all inspired by the findings of Hired’s 2023 Impact Report which used their proprietary marketplace data and surveys of employers and tech talent to examine the current trends in hiring and wage bias, opportunity and expectation gaps,  and the 2022 impact on DEI in organizations.

The day kicked off with a panel of DEI experts who spoke about how to navigate the current job market as underrepresented candidates. Speakers included:

• Maria Petnga-Wallace, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Consultant at Colorintech a not-for-profit working to make Europe the most ethnically diverse hub in the world.
• Nina Roussille, the Executive Director of the Hub for Equal Representation and will join MIT’s Economics Department as an Assistant Professor in 2023. Nina works on topics in labor, gender and public economics, with a particular interest for the distributional effects of labor market policies.
• Mercedez Bluebyrd, the Program Manager of RISE, the DEI initiative at Gusto, the people platform for growing businesses. With an extensive background in customer service, Learning & Development, and diversity initiatives, Mercedez has been instrumental in shaping progressive Employee Resource Groups (ERGs).
• Marco Lopez, the vice-Chair of the board at Techqueria, a nonprofit that serves the largest global community of Latinx professionals in the tech industry. he combines his expertise in DEI with his marketing acumen (his day job is as an Event/Sponsorships Strategist) to empower underrepresented jobseekers, providing them with invaluable strategies to navigate their job search, address wage inequality, and advocate for themselves effectively.

Key takeaways addressed:

• How stable is the market, REALLY? Should much leverage do candidates currently have when it comes to negotiating?
• Is DEI still a top priority?
• What are red and green flags to look for, plus things to ask, to identify if this is a company culture you want to work in?
• How to balance advocating for themselves in an interview and asking critical questions of a potential employer, with getting a job in a hyper-competitive job market.
• What does it mean to be a “culture fit” versus a “culture add”? How do we avoid tokenism?
• What is salary transparency and how can we advocate for it?
• What are the fundamental elements of making the process of hiring/paying/and promoting more efficient, equitable, and transparent? How can we become more aware of and mitigate our own biases?

Next up was a job fair, where attendees could directly connect with companies who are actively hiring for their tech teams and learn more about their company cultures, open roles, and commitment to DEI.

We closed out the day with a 75-minute salary negotiation training, led by Ladies Get Paid founder and author Claire Wasserman. Key takeaways addressed:

• Get your head in the game
  • What negotiation is and isn’t
  • Elements of success
• Gather your numbers
  • Be data detective
  • Determine your framework/package scenarios
• Prep your case
  • Decipher your job description
  • Tell a compelling story
• Practice the ask
  • Work with your nerves
  • Map out your answers

Good news, the event was recorded! Click here to check it out.