Pre-pandemic, Rise hosted networking events for its member community. The company aims to restart in-person events this fall.
Rising Above
The Resume
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Rise fosters career connections through storytelling on the candidate side, too.
Today, Chen continues to study how to make career connections more accessible in the post-pandemic era. Rise is planning an October 2021 summit with virtual and in-person events to support and celebrate its community, and promote employer-candidate relationships. She’s also focusing daily on Rise’s big-picture plan: to ensure the job search meets the needs of diverse candidates. “What can we do to make it better for others, for people like us?” Chen says. “We have to build a world in which diverse voices are elevated and heard.”
Building Networks
Most hiring starts with relationships that spark long before a position is vacant, explains Chen, and since resumes often fall short of providing a fulsome reflection of what applicants have to offer, deeper storytelling early in the process can be a game changer. Chen says the most important advice Rise gives candidates of color is to candidly share their personal stories and position their unique backgrounds and experiences as strengths that translate to the role.
Answering those needs, Rise expanded its scope beyond simply providing job listings to candidates and built out its business-to-business (B2B) model.
Today, the company aims to equally support the decision makers on the other side of the job search—employers of all sizes, from all industries, competing for top talent—in order to better match them with its member community. Rise charges its B2B customers, now mostly high-growth tech companies, for access to its candidate network as well as an array of services like talent sourcing and recruiting, brand consulting, diversity and inclusion coaching and more.
Engaging Employers
One way Rise supports its partner companies in cultivating diversity is by emphasizing the power of storytelling during coaching sessions. Rise helps companies ensure their messaging celebrates its diverse employees and their experiences, for example, advising that HR leaders and company content genuinely spotlight underrepresented staff and elevate their voices by sharing their candid views on topics like company culture and leadership’s dedication to inclusive hiring practices.
“If you don’t have a diverse set of perspectives, how are you able to adapt in this changing world and changing economy to meet people’s needs?” says Chen. “To be able to help companies shape how they’re telling their stories to this coveted segment has been increasingly important.”
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