Karat — a global world leader in technical interviewing — has just launched a brand-new dedicated program called “Brilliant Black Minds” — an initiative aimed at improving access, fairness, and inclusion across the tech industry.
According to a press release, the program — which emphasizes Karat’s commitment to providing Black software engineers with $1 million worth of practice interviews — initially kicked off last year. Since then, it has continued to grow and help support more computer science students and professional engineers in 2021.
“Brilliant Black Minds aims to eliminate barriers for software engineers,” Jeffrey Spector, Karat President and co-founder, shared in a statement. “Our goal is to support Black software engineers through the technical interview process so they can advance their careers and achieve their purpose in the world of tech. Tech companies shape the ways we all live, and they need the brilliance and unique perspectives of Black engineers.”
It is today’s tech startups that are building the future, and according to Karat, those opportunities start with employing more developers.
“Every time a developer gets a job, they create a new opportunity for their company to create, grow, and innovate,” the company shares in a blog post. “And every time a developer gets a job it’s an opportunity for them to build the lasting financial stability and economic empowerment that comes with a high-paying career.”
Karat’s company mission has given it a prime opportunity to transform the hiring process into a more accessible and equitable practice, as well as usher more Black software engineers into the higher career levels of tech that these technical interviews create.
The Brilliant Black Minds program is what allows Karat to leverage their interview expertise and capacity to help empower more Black software engineers by giving them first-hand interviewing experiences, performance feedback, and professional development opportunities, a press release shares.
“Job candidates seldom get feedback from interviews, and it’s even less common for that information to make its way to the educators,” shared Dr. Legand Burge — a Howard University Computer Science Professor — in a statement. “Karat’s ability to share the skills that hiring managers from top-tier tech companies are looking for, coach our students on how to crack the code of the technical interview, and guide our faculty on how to map our curriculum to meet those practical needs has been incredibly valuable.”
According to Karat, the basis of their new program offers a series of enterprise-grade technical interviews to computer science students and professional developers.
In addition to receiving sound feedback following each interview sessions, participants are also able to attend workshops with professional engineers that tackle topics such as interview prep, networking, salary negotiation, how to demonstrate problem-solving skills in an interview, networking, and more.
Currently, Karat is offering its program to students from Howard University, Morehouse College, and members of the professional industry association, Jopwell, with plans to expand its services to more partners in the future.
For more information about Karat’s Brilliant Black Minds program, click here.
