Diversity Recruiting Platforms

Systems for Inclusive Talent Acquisition

Building a diverse workforce requires intentional tools and strategies. A diversity recruiting platform is not a single magic solution but a strategic layer in your talent acquisition tech stack. These systems help you source from underrepresented groups, reduce bias in hiring processes, and measure progress with data. The right combination depends on your company's specific goals, existing infrastructure, and resources.

Mapping Platforms to Your Hiring Goals

The market offers specialized tools for different stages of the hiring funnel. Your first step is to identify your primary objective: expanding your initial candidate pool, improving the fairness of your screening process, or tracking diversity metrics.

To directly source candidates from underrepresented communities, dedicated job boards and talent communities are essential. They connect you with pre-vetted, engaged talent pools.

• Jopwell specializes in connecting employers with Black, Latinx, and Native American professionals and students. It's more than a job board; it offers employer branding services and analytics to track campaign performance.
• DiversityJobs (by Circa) is a large-scale job board and SaaS platform targeting multiple groups, including people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, veterans, and people with disabilities. Its advanced matching algorithms and analytics are key for high-volume recruiting.
• The Mom Project focuses on retaining and recruiting mothers and caregivers, a talent pool often overlooked. With over a million users, it provides strong branding opportunities to showcase your supportive policies.
• PowerToFly builds community through virtual events and upskilling content, connecting companies with diverse tech talent, with a particular emphasis on women.

Using a dedicated diversity recruiting platform like Jopwell or The Mom Project is not about replacing your main job ads. It's about targeted outreach to communities where your standard postings may not reach.

To augment your existing recruiting team's efforts, consider DEI-focused sourcing add-ons. These tools leverage networks and data to find candidates you might miss.

• Use LinkedIn Talent Insights for DEI sourcing by analyzing the diversity of talent pools for specific roles and locations before you even post a job.
• Platforms like Teamable supercharge employee referral programs by tapping into your team's extended networks, which can be a powerful source of diverse candidates.
• Engage with communities on Fairygodboss or DiversityInc for branding and direct access to candidates who prioritize inclusive employers.

Integrating Diversity Tools with Your Core ATS

Your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is the hub of your hiring. The most effective strategy integrates specialized diversity recruiting platforms with an ATS that has strong built-in DEI features. This creates a cohesive workflow from sourcing to hire.

1. Audit Your Current ATS: Does your existing system support structured, equitable hiring? Key features to look for include:

   • Consistent, skills-based scorecards for all candidates.
   • The ability to anonymize applications (hide names, photos, schools).
   • Robust reporting on candidate demographics across the pipeline.

2. Select a Complementary Core Platform: If your current ATS lacks these features, consider platforms where DEI is foundational.

   • Greenhouse is widely recognized for its structured hiring framework, which standardizes interviews and assessments to reduce bias, coupled with detailed diversity reporting.
   • Hired operates as a marketplace but embeds DEI insights and diversity-focused sourcing directly into its platform, offering data on candidate demographics and employer representation.
   • hireEZ (formerly Hiretual) is a sourcing tool that allows you to search with filters targeting underrepresented groups while offering anonymized profile views.

3. Connect for Analytics: The goal is to have a single source of truth. Ensure your dedicated sourcing platforms (e.g., Jopwell) and bias-reduction tools can feed data into your primary ATS or people analytics platform. This allows you to measure which sources yield the most diverse hires.

Implementing Bias-Reduction at Critical Stages

Sourcing diverse candidates is only half the battle. Unconscious bias can re-enter the process during screening and interviews. Layer in tools designed to create a more objective assessment phase.

• For Resume Screening: Use the anonymization features in your ATS or a tool like hireEZ to hide biasing information during the initial review. Implement structured resume rubrics focused on skills and experience.

• For Interviews: Standardize the process.

  • Tools like HireVue offer on-demand video interviews with consistent questions for all candidates, though it's crucial to audit their algorithms for fairness.
  • Platforms like Interviewing.io provide anonymous technical interviews, allowing candidates to be judged purely on their coding skills.
  • Simply using a structured interview question bank in your ATS ensures every candidate is evaluated on the same criteria.

• For Background Checks: Partner with a compliant platform like Checkr to ensure your background check process is consistent, automated, and adheres to EEOC guidelines to avoid disproportionate impact on certain groups.

Actionable Checklist for Platform Selection and Use

Follow these steps to choose and implement the right tools for your organization.

Phase 1: Internal Assessment (Weeks 1-2)

• $render`✓` Define specific, measurable diversity hiring goals (e.g., "Increase percentage of women in engineering roles from 15% to 25% in 18 months").
• $render`✓` Audit your current hiring process to identify where diversity drops off (sourcing, screening, interviewing).
• $render`✓` Inventory your current tech stack (ATS, job boards, sourcing tools) and note DEI feature gaps.
• $render`✓` Determine budget and resources (who will manage these platforms?).

Phase 2: Platform Evaluation & Selection (Weeks 3-5)

• $render`✓` For sourcing goals: Test 2-3 dedicated platforms (e.g., DiversityJobs for breadth, Jopwell for specific groups). Request demographic data of their user base.
• $render`✓` For ATS enhancement: Demo Greenhouse and ChartHop. Focus on how their reporting tracks pipeline demographics and hiring outcomes.
• $render`✓` For bias reduction: Pilot an anonymized screening process in your current ATS and test a tool like Interviewing.io for a technical role.
• $render`✓` Check integration capabilities: Will the new platform sync data with your core HR systems?

Phase 3: Implementation & Measurement (Ongoing)

• $render`✓` Train all recruiters and hiring managers on the new tools and the why behind them.
• $render`✓` Launch integrated campaigns: Post all relevant roles to your new dedicated diversity recruiting platforms.
• $render`✓` Establish a quarterly review: Use analytics from ChartHop or your ATS to measure source of hire, pipeline conversion rates by demographic, and time-to-hire.
• $render`✓` Solicit feedback from candidates who applied through the new channels on their experience.

Start by addressing your most significant pipeline gap. If you struggle to find diverse candidates, begin with one dedicated job board like PowerToFly for tech roles or The Mom Project for experienced caregivers. If your pipeline is diverse but hires are not, prioritize bias-reduction tools and structured interview training. The most effective approach uses a diversity recruiting platform for sourcing, a robust ATS for equitable process management, and targeted tools to audit and reduce bias, creating a holistic system for building a truly inclusive team.