Are you trying to create more diverse software teams by hiring women? Here are six things NOT to do during the recruiting and interviewing process.

1. 6
ways
to
shoot
yourself
in
the
foot
if
you’re
trying
to
hire
technical
women
Karen
Catlin
Developing
powerful
women
leaders
in
the
tech
industry
www.karencatlin.com
@kecatlin
©
2014
by
Karen
Catlin.
All
rights
reserved.

2. 1.
Use
masculine
words
in
job
descrip<ons
Lots
of
tech
companies
are
looking
for
him,
a
guy,
a
right-­‐hand
man,
a
cra4sman,
a
quarterback
Image
courtesy
of
graur
razvan
ionut
/
FreeDigitalPhotos.net

3. • He
evangelizes
soluDons
and
best
pracDces...
• If
you
are
an
IT
guy…
• If
you
are
the
kind
of
person
who
manages
his
music
collecDon
on
a
Hadoop
cluster...
• We
need
5
guys
for
a
project.
• Looking
for
a
sharp
young
up
and
coming
guy
who
can
be
his
right
hand
man.
More
at
techcompaniesthatonlyhiremen.tumblr.com

4. 2.
Show
only
the
bro’s
on
your
careers
page
What
does
your
web
site
say
about
your
team?
Image
courtesy
of
photostock
/
FreeDigitalPhotos.net

5. 3.
Rely
on
employee
referrals
as
your
primary
way
to
find
candidates
Similar
educa<on
Similar
work
experience
Same
gender
Referrals
lead
to
Homogeneity—NOT
Diversity
Image
courtesy
of
cooldesign
/
FreeDigitalPhotos.net

6. 4.
Require
open
source
work
when
it’s
not
really
required
<2%
of
open
source
developers
are
women
Image
courtesy
of
cooldesign
/
FreeDigitalPhotos.net

7. 5.
Have
all-­‐male
interview
teams
leaving
female
candidates
to
wonder
“Where
are
the
women?”
To
envision
success,
candidates
want
to
see
others
like
themselves
Image
courtesy
of
sa@va
/
FreeDigitalPhotos.net

8. 6.
Lower
the
bar
for
women
with
easier
interview
ques<ons
What
message
are
you
trying
to
send?
Image
courtesy
of
David
CasBllo
Dominici
/
FreeDigitalPhotos.net

9. So,
if
you
*don’t*
want
to
hire
more
women…
Use
masculine
words
Show
only
the
bro’s
Rely
on
employee
referrals
Require
open
source
Have
all-­‐male
interview
teams
Lower
the
bar
for
women

10. Want
to
make
sure
you’re
attracting
and
retaining
female
tech
talent?
Get
in
touch!
Karen
Catlin
www.karencatlin.com
@kecatlin
©
2014
by
Karen
Catlin.
All
rights
reserved.