Method

Feb. 17, 2017 9:06 am

Recruiting startup JaneHires is moving into the impact space

Aside from working with Back on My Feet, Wash Cycle Laundry and other local mission-driven employers, the startup is helping companies hone in on fair chance hiring practices.

JaneHires staff in their offices at Benjamin's Desk.

(Courtesy photo)

Poor education and employment are the fuel that keep the cycle of poverty running. Philly-based recruiting startup JaneHires is trying to help underprivileged populations find the latter.

Not directly, per se. The company is working with employers to remove some basic barriers to employment for returning citizens, veterans and other folks with “challenging backgrounds,” said COO Everett Reiss.

The startup is helping employers improve fair chance hiring practices. That could mean stripping nonessential requirements from job descriptions. Ever see a posting for an entry-level job that requires three to five years of experience? That kind of requirement is almost always unnecessary, said Reiss.

“You’re unintentionally excluding people in the way you’ve defined something from the start,” he said. “We’ll help employers hone in on what’s really important.”

What’s really important, said Reiss, are attitudinal qualities such as teachability and competitiveness, traits that are often hard to measure. Jane helps employers set up targets for companies so they can fairly assess those attributes — they helped OG Philly social enterprise Wash Cycle Laundry develop its hiring process.

You can call it inclusive, said Reiss, but it’s not intentionally so. These are traits that employers should prefer to look for in their hiring processes regardless of the candidate. But employers looking to intentionally hire people with employment challenges such as homelessness or a criminal record need to know what they’re doing.

“If you’re going to tap into these talent pools, which we believe you should, you also need to be prepared in how to engage those talent pools,” said Reiss.”

From our Partners

Jane is working on that, too. They’ve been connecting organizations on the frontlines of workforce development — nonprofits such as homelessness-focused Back on My Feet and veteran service provider Liberty USO — directly to employers through job feeds.

Modernity has seen slow-moving nonprofits and government agencies try and fail to effectively break down barriers to employment for vulnerable populations. The private sector, however, brings a promising capacity for speed. That’s something social services can’t offer.

We’re a company that’s intimately involved with how other organizations are hiring people,” said Reiss. “We feel like we can make a difference trying to solve larger workforce issues.”

-30-

From our Partners

Steering Through Change: Empowering Philadelphia’s Workforce in an Evolving Job Market

What Black professionals and professionals of color hope for from Philadelphia

Trade Diversity: How Workforce Development Programs Are Working to Close the Gaps

SPONSORED

Generocity Philly

Meet Kim Andrews, new executive director for The Fund for Women and Girls

Philadelphia, PA

Pennsylvania Prison Society

Education and Advocacy Director

Apply Now
Radnor, PA

The Grace S. and W. Linton Nelson Foundation

Communications and Outreach Manager

Apply Now
Philadelphia,PA

DiverseForce

Director of Communications

Apply Now

Advancing Solutions to Philadelphia’s Issues

Stomping Grounds Café celebrates ‘magic’ of coffee in West Philadelphia

On the market: 50 social impact jobs to get you going

SPONSORED

Generocity Philly

Be the leader to bring a 26-year mission into the future in Chester County

8033 Germantown Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19118

harp-weaver LLC

Administrative & Grants Associate

Apply Now
Hamilton, NJ

Grounds For Sculpture

Manager of Wellness Programs

Apply Now
Central Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Prison Society

Prison Monitoring Manager

Apply Now
   
       
       

Subscribe to Generocity

       
* indicates required