It’s the job economy, stupid. That’s what this month’s Technical.ly Podcast is all about.
Though job seekers here in D.C. might be faring relatively well, the University of California, San Diego’s Mary Walshok has some interesting thoughts on how to open up the technology sector to more minorities.
“These subjects are hard, and we aren’t finding creative ways to make them interesting for young people” who want to solve societal problems, she said.
“And people are saying, ‘I can’t find a, welder I can’t find a pipe-fitter, I can’t find a coder, I can’t find a fabricator,'” Walshok added.
That’s why several local initiatives are aiming to give more access to capital to minority entrepreneurs — from the African diaspora incubator tiphub to the Technoir pitch contests to WowMii, a soon-to-launch curated startup portfolio.
Because once you’re in, finding a job can be a doozy — well, at least if you’re using services like Steve Dean’s Jobsuitors, aka the OkCupid of job recruiting.
The Brooklyn-based entrepreneur sees himself as a recruiting wing man: “We’re your best friend who’s there at the party to say, ‘Hey, you should probably meet this person because they’re really cool, but not that person over there because they’ve got something that would never mesh well with you.'”
If you want to skip the boring recruiting sessions that smack of a “drab college job fair,” as editor-in-chief Zack Seward puts it, Technical.ly’s got a Plan B for you.
Our upcoming NET/WORK events will feature professional development workshops, resume reviews, coworking and also — we’re putting it all on the table, folks — free headshots.
“No selfies on LinkedIn,” Technical.ly Events Director Kate Leshko warns.
NET/WORK is coming to Philadelphia Feb. 10, to Baltimore Feb. 19 and to Delaware March 12.
Employers who can’t make it to the job fairs can also learn some innovative strategies for hiring top talent through our ebook, Beyond Recruiting, which we released last fall.
“The competition for talent is making a much more responsive and better work environment,” Technical.ly cofounder Christopher Wink says in the podcast.
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