With 20 years of combined experience in the technology and recruiting industries, Gina Helfrich and Ashley Doyal said they know how technology companies operate. So, when the two colleagues realized a need to connect new and existing technology companies with talented, diverse candidates, they launched Rollingwood human resources company RecruitHER in August.

“It’s much easier to [assemble a staff] from the beginning, and we’d like companies to have it be an initial thought,” Doyal said. “It’s harder to retain a
person if that [individual] is the only person who looks like them in the group.”

In a 2015 poll, Forbes magazine ranked Austin as the top city for tech job creation.

When startups are first formed, they are not necessarily concentrating on hiring people from different backgrounds, Doyal said. Whether that has already happened or a company seeks a change in the diversity of its personnel, RecruitHER can help, she said.

RecruitHER’s list of clients includes various local and national companies—Pandora, Electronic Arts and RetailMeNot, Doyal said. It offers free job matching to candidates; however, once a company has been successfully matched with a candidate, the employing company pays for the recruiting service, she said.

Candidates and client companies can also do a la carte counseling with RecruitHER, paying for options such as career counseling, enhancing a corporate or candidate LinkedIn profile or updating a resume, Helfrich said.

“There is also the option to do a free 15-minute phone consultation if [a candidate is] interested in learning more [about the recruiting company],” Doyal said. “Sometimes we have candidates [who] maybe have stayed home for awhile or have reservations about switching over to the tech industry, and we walk them through that.”

Companies can enlist RecruitHER to provide diversity consulting and help them look at the bigger picture of their staff profile, Doyal said. For instance, RecruitHER can review corporate hiring policies, maternity and paternity policies and brand identity to attract diverse candidates, she said.

Although RecruitHER’s mission is to connect women in the technology field, it is not the business’s only focus, Doyal said. Its mission includes helping any candidate—regardless of his or her gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation—to find a job at an open-minded company, she said. In fact, the business focuses on all marginalized personnel groups that exist in the technology field.

“We are glad to draw people’s attention to the conversation,” Helfrich said. “We are looking to raise visibility for our candidates for any tech company because diversity is good for the bottom line.”

2720 Bee Caves Road, Austin
512-920-3068
www.recruither.io
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-6 p.m.