We’re so excited to announce the creation of Equality Careers, a new job board dedicated to connecting members of the LGBTQIA+ community with opportunities from employers who’ve created excellent Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives.
We’re especially proud of Equality Careers when we think about the statistics behind it. Roughly 23 million people in the United States identify as LGBTQIA+, but approximately 46% of them (about 12 million people) don’t feel comfortable bringing their whole self to work.
We’re working to change that. On Equality Careers, 100% of the featured employers are focused on fostering truly accepting, nurturing, and inclusive workplaces.
Equality Careers was the passion project of HRT Solutions owner and CEO Jessica Eberley, and it was built with the help of our excellent team and support from Redtree Web Design, a LGBTQIA+-owned web design agency.
Meesha Gerhart, the owner of Redtree Web Design, interviewed Jessica Eberley on the W.E. Talk podcast to hear more about the Equality Careers journey. Listen here:
Where the Idea for Equality Careers Came From
The original idea for Equality Careers came from a request from an HRT Solutions client.
The company was hiring for a new position and had a very specific request: We’re looking for a new hire who is either part of the LGBTQIA+ community, is sex-positive, or who is comfortable working with the HIV/AIDS community.
Our team immediately began scouring the internet for job boards that truly emphasized the LGBTQIA+ community. Unfortunately, we only found two that could possibly fit—and they were both problematic.
One website was obviously spammy. It was covered in advertisements, and we were certain that anyone who engaged with the site would eventually succumb to additional spam and advertisements in their email inbox and potentially even their cell phone.
That made it a poor fit for both our client and the individuals they were aiming to hire.
The other website featured thousands and thousands of jobs, so it was obvious they were scraping job postings from other websites, meaning they weren’t really committed to focusing on the LGBTQIA+ community.
With that, Jessica realized there was an opportunity to build a website that truly elevated the LGBTQIA+ community while simultaneously supporting companies with powerful DEI initiatives.
Developing A New Resources for the LGBTQIA+ Community And Employers
Here’s how we struck a careful balance while building a website for job seekers and employers:
A New Resource for LGBTQIA+ Community
Visually, we wanted the Equality Careers website to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community while emphasizing the professionalism driving the site forward.
To that end, we decided to subtly weave a rainbow theme into our overall design—ensuring members of the community can quickly relate to a symbol of security without sacrificing an overall sense of professional identity.
Beyond that, though, a few of our favorite community-focused features include:
- The ability to apply to jobs with the name you identify with. The primary goal of Equality Careers is to ensure people feel safe at work, and that starts with the ability to be your truest self. While we do include a section for job seekers to enter their legal name (which is important for background checks), the primary name field empowers you to introduce yourself as yourself.
- Pronoun options. Just as you can enter your chosen name, you can also enter your true pronouns, if you so choose. Again, this option is designed so that hiring managers better understand their applicants before stepping into an interview.
- A simple resume builder. To streamline the application process, Equality Careers features an easy-to-use resume builder that eliminates the need to worry about layout, design, or formatting.
- Quick apply functionality. Thanks to that simple resume builder, job seekers can apply to jobs in only a couple of clicks instead of spending precious time completing data-entry tasks.
- Deep search options. Equality Careers’ robust search options allows job seekers to quickly sort through their job options and find positions that truly match their future goals and ambitions.
A New Resource for Employers & Hiring Managers
In building a website that employers love, we’ve worked to foster an environment that appeals to HR departments in both small businesses and large corporations.
Some of our favorite employer-focused features include:
- A detailed dashboard providing data on each job posting, helping hiring managers to sort through applications and determine how much attention each posting receives.
- A downloadable DEI toolkit to help employers continue to flesh out their DEI initiatives.
- A comprehensive application process that allows employers to keep everything within the Equality Careers website—if they choose to.
Great Teams Made It Possible
Although the original idea to pursue Equality Careers came from Jessica, the Equality Careers team at HRT Solutions ran with the idea to bring it to life. They were instrumental in:
- Developing taglines
- Fleshing out the vision
- Working on design
- And more!
Much of what you see in Equality Careers was team-generated.
Working with Redtree Web Design was an equally positive experience. As an LGBTQIA+-owned company, they understood the importance of the vision, and as experienced designers, they were able to capture the celebratory angle of Equality Careers while melding it with a professional look—all while ensuring the website provided all of the functionality we wanted for both our job seekers and our employers.
To learn more about the design process, check out Redtree Web Design’s blog post on creating Equality Careers!
Learn More About Equality Careers
To learn more, visit Equality Careers an LGBT+ Job Board and take a tour! If you’re an employer, submit a job. If you’re a job seeker, check out the job board.
And if you have any questions, contact the Equality Careers team!