Karat Launches “Brilliant Black Minds” to Unlock Opportunities for Black Software Engineers

Karat recently announced Brilliant Black Minds, a program which formalizes the company’s commitment to provide Black software engineers with $1 million in practice interviews.
Karat recently announced Brilliant Black Minds, a program which formalizes the company’s commitment to provide Black software engineers with $1 million in practice interviews.

Karat Launches “Brilliant Black Minds” to Unlock
Opportunities for Black Software Engineers

     Karat, the world leader in technical interviewing, recently announced Brilliant Black Minds, a program to improve access, fairness, and inclusion across the technology industry. The
program, which formalizes Karat’s commitment to providing Black software engineers with $1 million in practice interviews, kicked off last year and is growing to support more computer science
students and professional engineers in 2021.
     Karat’s global network of Interview Engineers has conducted over 80,000 technical interviews for leading tech-driven organizations, giving the company a unique opportunity to make the hiring process more accessible and equitable. Black software engineers have been mostly kept out of the highest levels of tech and not afforded access to the career opportunities that interviews create, according to a press release.
     The Brilliant Black Minds program leverages Karat’s interview capacity and expertise to empower more Black software engineers with first-hand interviewing experiences, performance feedback, and professional development opportunities.
     “Job candidates seldom get feedback from interviews, and it’s even less common for that information to make its way to the educators,” said Dr. Legand Burge, Howard University Computer Science professor. “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.”
     The program offers a series of enterprise- grade technical interviews to computer science students and professional developers. After each session, Karat’s professional Interview
Engineers deliver real-time feedback and coaching to the participants, highlighting their strengths and areas for improvement.
     Participants also have the opportunity to attend workshops with professional engineers covering subjects, including interview prep, how to demonstrate problem-solving skills in the interview, networking, and salary negotiation, to help prepare them for the next step in their career journeys.
     “Brilliant Black Minds aims to eliminate barriers for software engineers,” said Jeffrey Spector, Karat president, and co-founder. “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.”
     In addition to providing direct feedback to the interview participants, Brilliant Black Minds also shares anonymized performance data and trends with key academic and industry partners. This establishes a critical line of communication
between the tech industry and the organizations responsible for training and supporting Black software engineers throughout their careers.
     More than three-quarters of Howard University’s Senior, Junior, and Sophomore computer science students participated in the inaugural program class last fall, and this year, Karat is expanding with new partnerships to serve even
more Black software engineers.
     “Based on the high participation and positive feedback from our pilot with Howard University students, we’re expanding the program this semester to other HBCUs and industry organizations,” shared Portia Kibble Smith, Karat’s global head of diversity, equity & inclusion. “These institutions produce brilliant software engineers, but many of the candidates haven’t been exposed to formal interview training and preparation for how big-tech companies assess talent, which puts them at a disadvantage.”
     The lack of interviewing experience is a hurdle for many software engineers, especially as they try to establish a foothold in the industry without a robust network of family and
friend connections in the industry. Ensuring Black software engineers have the same access to technical interview experiences was a key reason that Jopwell joined the Brilliant Black Minds program as a partner last month.
     “Karat’s Brilliant Black Minds program creates opportunities for our community to feel more prepared and confident in technical interviews,” said Ryan Williams, Jopwell president,
and co-founder. “This gives our engineering candidates exposure to technical interviews, which is a critical step in leveling the playing field for developers.”
     Karat is currently offering practice interviews to students from Howard University, Morehouse College, and members of the professional industry association, Jopwell, with plans to expand partners in the future.
     Previously, the company has partnered with organizations like the National Association of Black Engineers, Internhacks, Ada, and Year Up. For more information about Brilliant Black
Minds, or to learn how your organization can get involved, visit https://karat.com/company/ brilliant-black-minds/.

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