12 Communities for Sourcing Female Engineers

October 27, 2014 at 10:50 AM by Rob Stevenson

It's hard enough out there for recruiters to find and hire the best tech talent, even before adding the hurdle diversity3of building a representative team. Finding candidates from disparate sources across the web is a great way to get on the path to diversity, but if you want these candidates to eventually accept an offer, you’ll also need to prove your organization has a culture in which they’d thrive. As you begin sourcing female engineers, here are a handful of culture-related items to consider, as well as some places to more easily locate top talent.

Actively showing interest in hiring a representative team isn't going to be enough to display the open-mindedness of your company. You're going to need to point to pre-existing examples (a bit of a catch-22, I confess) if you want to prove you're serious about closing the gender gap. Diversity at high levels of your company can go a long way to proving to newer candidates that your organization is one ripe with opportunity, regardless of race or gender. Also, the presence of potential female mentors at your company is an attractive asset that not all companies can offer.

Remember of course to stress non-gender specific benefits of your company’s engineering culture. Regardless of gender, engineers want to work on challenging problems, with new technologies, and in a place that encourages growth and development. Give examples of team members who have risen from their initial roles or learned new languages beyond what they knew when they started. Engineers also thrive in systems where they’re afforded some degree of freedom in technical implementation, and only have rigid processes to a necessary extent.

Attending events hosted by tech groups diverse in nature is a great way to open up your funnel to female talent. In addition to finding female engineers where they engage with their professional community, you may find the opportunity to explain why your company is a great fit. There’s a whole host of these type of groups, a handful of which I’ve included for your perusal:

There you have it, talent acquisition pros! Foster an open-minded, accessible culture; provide opportunities for growth and prove your commitment to creating a well-rounded team; and, source female talent where they express their professional interests, and you’re well on your way to building a solid, representative team. Happy recruiting!

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