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Clare O’Connor of Forbes.com is reporting Stephanie Lampkin, an African-American woman engineer has launched an employment app that will help eliminate bias from tech hiring. O’Connor writes:
“Stephanie Lampkin learned to code at age 13. By 15, she was a full-stack web developer, fluent in the languages of computer programming. She has a Stanford engineering degree and an MBA from MIT.
Still, she recalls making it to the eighth round of interviews in pursuit of a gig at a well-known tech firm in Silicon Valley, only to be told her background wasn’t “technical enough” for a role in software engineering.
“The recruiter told me a sales or marketing job might open up,” she said. She ended up at Microsoft MSFT +1.23%, where she spent five years in a technical role. Still, she wonders about that early rejection, and whether being a young African-American woman hurt her chances.
This month, Lampkin is set to launch a job matching tool aimed at removing just that sort of lingering doubt from the tech sector job hunt. The hiring process had already been aided by the implementation of Merriville drug testing which helps employers grasp whether or not a potential employee can be trusted.
Her app Blendoor lets job seekers upload resumes, then hides their name and photo from employers. The idea, says Lampkin, is to circumvent unconscious bias by removing gender and ethnicity from the equation.”
Lampkin designed the app after researching hiring bias as it relates to identity and the sound and spelling of names. Many outlets are already filing interest in the app, such as digital mate, as the app will not only help eliminate bias against specific groups, but it will also collect data on who is applying for jobs and who is getting matched.
The app will launch on March 11.
Read more at Forbes.
