Sep 12, 2019   SOURCE: PR NewsWire

Dozens of Tech Employers Build New Talent Pipeline through Virtual Career Fair

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Computer science nonprofit CodePath.org will today hold its second annual Virtual Career Fair, connecting more than 200 undergraduate engineering students, hailing from a diverse range of backgrounds and higher education institutions, with hiring managers from 15 major technology employers.

The career fair offers an inclusive process for employers to interview and recruit potential hires from colleges and universities whose students are historically underrepresented in elite tech industry jobs.

While the tech industry is facing a 500,000 worker talent shortage, just 7.4 percent of industry employees are African-American, 8 percent are Latinx, and 16 percent are women. CodePath.org works to close these gaps by providing free, industry-aligned software engineering training to underrepresented students and connecting them with tech recruiters.

"Too often, students outside the top-ranked engineering programs are overlooked for roles at the top tech companies. After months of hard work mastering engineering fundamentals, the Virtual Career Fair gives students the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in front of hiring managers," said Michael Ellison, founder and CEO of CodePath.org. "As soon as they gain access to the world of elite engineering recruiting, our students prove that their mastery of technical skills is on par with peers in top-20 programs. Programs like this will be key to building a more inclusive--and ultimately more competitive-- tech workforce."

With financial support from Comcast, the Virtual Career Fair will allow students enrolled in CodePath.org's software engineering course to engage in live, interactive interviews with some of the tech industry's top companies. Participating students--70 percent of whom are underrepresented minorities or women--represent more than 100 colleges across the country, including CodePath.org partner institutions such as Howard University, Mount Holyoke College, the University of Texas, and Purdue University.

After the 2018 Virtual Career Fair, participating employers extended second round interviews to 55 percent of students. Students were approximately three times more likely to receive a technical job offer after completing the program than if they had applied through the standard recruiting process.

"As demand for software developers grows at almost five times the rate of other jobs, employers have a unique opportunity to promote a more diverse and inclusive workforce by investing resources in the next generation of STEM talent," said Bill Strahan, Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Comcast. "CodePath.org has developed a promising new model for connecting employers looking for talent with a diverse pool of highly prepared, talented potential hires. This work represents a shift in how we identify and match talent with the fastest growing roles in the industry."

Since 2013, CodePath.org has trained more than 3,000 developers at over 800 technology companies and offered more than 2,600 college students free access to on-campus and online courses that teach the technical skills in-demand at the nation's top tech companies.

Companies participating in the 2019 Virtual Career Fair include:

    --  Bloomberg
    --  Cardinal Health
    --  Cherwell Software
    --  Comcast
    --  Docker
    --  Facebook
    --  Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
    --  Intuit
    --  Lyft
    --  Moody's
    --  Principal Insurance
    --  Quora
    --  Salesforce
    --  TaskUs
    --  Wayfair

To learn more, visit VCF.CodePath.org.

About CodePath.org
CodePath.org is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit transforming computer science education for underrepresented minorities at over 30 colleges and universities, doubling in size every semester. Working closely with major technology companies like Facebook, CodePath.org is changing what is being taught and how it is being taught in CS programs nationwide to increase diversity in tech using a system-wide solution.

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SOURCE CodePath.org