Shaniqua Davis has a trick for getting her resume noticed by recruiters--changing her name to Shawn.
"Almost every single job I apply to under the name Shaniqua gets rejected," she said. "And then when I apply under Shawn Davis I almost instantly get interview requests."
Davis studied information technology and computer science at Michigan State University, and has worked in web design and digital marketing.
Despite her qualifications, her experience echoes research that shows people with white-sounding names are 50 percent more likely to get a callback for an interview than people with black-sounding names. And a name is just one possible area of bias-- gender, education, and a nebulous "culture fit" can all negatively impact women and people of color in the recruiting process. While there's been increased pressure on major companies, particularly in tech, to recruit a more diverse workforce, there hasn't been much progress.
With this in mind, Davis launched Noirefy, a job referral and resource platform specifically geared toward people of color.
The platform and app acts as a social network and crowdsourced job board. Members have profiles where they can post their resume, qualifications, work samples, and video blogs, and search for job opportunities based on their location. There's a job board, which Davis designed to give people a foot in the door where they wouldn't have had one before: Members on the site can post jobs from their companies and refer resumes from Noirefy members to their hiring managers, while companies can sign up to recruit members directly from the platform.
While referrals account for six percent of applicants, they make up over a quarter of hires, recent research found. That's because referral applicants are likely to stick around longer. That said, employees tend to refer people of the same gender, ethnicity, and education which can lead to a homogenous staff. Noirefy aims to fill the referral pipeline with a more diverse candidate pool.
"We get those people who already work at Google and Facebook, and we’re getting them to directly give a handshake to someone else who is looking to come into that company," she said. "Because we know that referrals are more likely to stay with a company, [there’s] a shorter hiring process and these people also feel more comfortable."
This platform also formalizes the informal networking tools that many use to get a foot in the door. Previously Davis found her most productive networking came from coworking sessions with friends and colleagues, as well as professional group messaging threads on messaging app GroupMe. However, waiting on an in-person meetup or scrolling through hundreds of messages to find a job posting isn't exactly efficient. Davis found that many of her colleagues with advanced degrees and work experience are consistently working jobs below their qualifications, largely, she says, because "there is no platform to highlight their qualities and what they stand for," as LinkedIn and other job platforms don't necessarily showcase diversity.
There have been other platforms that seek to disrupt bias in recruiting, but most have centered around blind hiring. With Blendoor, recruiters can't see the name, photo, or age of job applicants. Interviewing.io administers blind technical interviews.
Davis said it's important to tackle diversity in the workplace from different angles, but noted that referrals also create a built-in network at the company that helps with retention. "I’ve been the only black person in meeting rooms, and it’s extremely uncomfortable," she said.
"The problem isn’t only centered around getting people into the company," Davis added. "The problem is centered around getting people in the company, and getting people to stay in the company."
Fabian Elliot, advertising technology consultant at Google and founder of Black Tech Mecca, said focusing on growing networks within companies is key.
"Most companies' top talent pipeline is through employee referrals so building a solution to capitalize has the potential to be a game changer," he said to Chicago Inno over email. "Connectivity is one of the key success indicators for the black tech ecosystem so this a big step in the right direction."
The platform is built to highlight people that are not represented on other platforms
Davis is starting out recruiting people from GroupMe threads, as well as LinkedIn. She's also working on partnerships with HBCUs, community organizations, and professional organizations in urban centers around the country. She said about 250 people have signed up since she launched in mid-December, and she has a major tech company as well as two startups, including Chicago's Spare to Share, signed up on the platform. Noirefy also recently facilitated its first hire for a media agent job in LA.
Davis plans to make money through a freemium model, charging $9.99 for a premium membership, which will highlight users' profiles on the site, as well as charge companies to recruit from the site. She's currently bootstrapping the venture and building the project on her own. She's planning to raise funding later this year, and is seeking an operational cofounder.
Though Davis is targeting people of color to grow the platform, she noted that anyone can join the platform, regardless of race or ethnicity.
"Honestly, the best benefit of networking is being able to connect with as many people as possible," Davis said. "However, the platform is built to highlight people that are not represented on other platforms."
Note: Updated with comment from Fabian Elliot.
