You may be wondering how to assemble a talented team that is also diverse. Some excellent organizations aim to shape the next generation of culturally diverse tech talent. Code2040, for example, fosters great software development talent inside the Black and Latinx communities through expert mentorship and professional fellowships. The goal is to dismantle the barriers keeping these minorities from accessing management-level positions in the industry.
Another way to achieve more diversity is by hiring graduates of coding bootcamp. Coding bootcamps are short-term, intensive programs that train rising talent. They are quickly replacing traditional routes like earning a computer science, information technology, or software engineering degree.
Coding bootcamps are excellent resources to find younger professionals making their first leap into a more career-oriented industry and professionals from other industries aiming to start a new career. Hack Reactor Coding Bootcamp grads will most likely have spent the majority of the past year doing nothing but learning how to code in a wide range of programming languages for different purposes, including web development, cybersecurity, and, of course, software engineering.
Through coding bootcamps and organizations like Code2040, you can find some excellent and industry-ready professionals, from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, young and old. So, let’s take a closer look at the different ways of finding top tier tech talent.
Code2040
Code2040’s goal is to mentor and train 150,000 Black and Latinx tech professionals by the year 2040. They are steadily accomplishing this goal through their Early Career Accelerator Program (EACP), which pairs Black and Latinx tech professionals, with experienced managers in the tech industry.
Through the EACP program, Code2040 hosts in-person workshops, coaching sessions and online engagement. The goal is to dismantle roadblocks that impede the accurate representation of the 15 percent of tech professionals who identify as Black and Latinx in management positions in the tech industry.
Code2040 also hosts a Fellowship Program geared towards college and graduate-level computer science students. This nine-week summer program pairs rising tech talent with a top tech company in San Francisco, or the Silicon alley, to help them better understand and ground themselves inside the booming tech industry. Students who participate in this fellowship also engage in advocacy work.
Software Engineering Bootcamps
As you start your journey toward diversifying your team, one of the application processes modifications you should consider making is regarding the educational background of your candidate. The traditional route of earning a four-year degree in computer science or software engineering is quickly fading from the mainstream. They are being replaced with more efficient and effective software engineering bootcamps.
Hiring a grad from a software engineering bootcamp means you are hiring a capable and industry-ready young professional, or perhaps a seasoned professional of another industry with an accomplished career behind them. These bootcamp grads just spent an intense three to six months doing nothing but learning the necessary software engineering skills, and will likely be versed in multiple programming languages, across an array of programming environments and backgrounds.
Many of the students that partake in the Code2040 programs are also bootcamp grads or even current students. So, if you are looking for a resource to tap into to hire diverse and qualified tech professionals, Code2040 and local bootcamps are excellent places to start.
Artur Meyster is the CTO of Career Karma (YC W19), an online marketplace that matches career switchers with coding bootcamps. He is also the host of the Breaking Into Startups podcast, which features people with non-traditional backgrounds who broke into tech. Find him on Twitter & Linkedin.
