We Are Rosie Launches Tool to Reduce Bias in the Hiring Process

At one point or another, most people have experienced some form of bias during their job hunt—whether they realize it or not. Beyond frustrating, right?!


But it seems as though times are changing! Enter We Are Rosie, a talent marketplace that matches freelancers with clients for various projects. The company has launched a tool that aims to reduce diversity, equity, and inclusion problems in the hiring process.

The company's Rosie Roster tool ditches the idea of the traditional résumé. We Are Rosie is more focused on actual job experience than what the company calls "records of privilege and bias," like fluffed up titles or nepotism.

Jessie Kernan, We Are Rosie's head of product and strategy, told the Morning Brew in an interview, "think: 'I've managed a team of creatives' rather than 'I was a senior creative strategy manager.'"

And let's be honest, we all know that one person who has a super inflated title that doesn't match what they actually do, so the Rosie Roster seems like a promising way to weed out those with unfair advantages.

This focus on experience over titles also helps to prevent candidates from having the door closed on them immediately for questions regarding college education and whether or not they've held a particular role before. And the tool is programmed to consider other factors as well—such as a candidate's passions.

And how about the unfair bias in the hiring process when it comes to looks? The last thing a seasoned candidate wants is to be overlooked for a job because the hiring manager didn't find them attractive.

Well, good news! The Rosie Roster has a solution for that too! Rather than the standard of using professional headshots or LinkedIn photos, the tool allows users to select from 18 avatars and personalize them to their liking.

Kernan told the Morning Brew, "We're trying to eliminate the attractiveness bias—which has been a big factor in people getting hired for a really long time—and also enable people to identify as they'd like to identify. We make a lot of assumptions when we see people about who they might be, and those assumptions can impact their career trajectories."

We all know the job hunt can be a stressful game to play, given all the factors to consider, so the Rosie Roster sounds like a great way to eliminate some of those anxiety points when looking for work.

What do you think? Will you give the Rosie Roster a shot next time you're in the market for a new job? Let us know in the comments.

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