White House, Simply Hired Focus on Connecting Workers with Jobs
Simply Hired Staff
How can we use data to increase hope? To inspire confidence? To drive success? These were some of the questions that Simply Hired head of data science Jike Chong discussed with Vice President Joe Biden at the 21st Century Jobs Jam in Washington last week.
The Jobs Jam, which was organized by the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, focused on methods and technology to help middle class Americans access and navigate the job market. Three Simply Hired representatives were invited to join a group of more than 60 technology and government leaders to discuss efficient ways to connect unemployed citizens with available jobs.
“Simply Hired frequently holds internal data jams where we invite active job seekers to speak with us about their experiences and challenges,” Chong said. “We also have a wealth of job seeker behavioral data that drives our search algorithms. Because we have so much reliable data gathered in a very methodical way, we were able to represent the middle-class American to the organizations at the Jobs Jam. This is a key reason that Simply Hired was invited to participate.”
Staff software engineer Delaney Parker added, “The target audience of the Jam—primarily middle class workers—has been a focus of Simply Hired, so we had a lot of great data to share. This event was a wonderful opportunity to share ideas with a diverse group and to collaborate with others in the technology and employment industries.”
The government indicated that making its data available to tech companies that are helping job seekers remains a significant challenge. Jobs Jam attendees spent the day discussing ways to fill available jobs with skilled workers across the country by integrating data and technology. The six-hour event included multiple brainstorming sessions followed by idea refinement and voting. Several of the concepts will be explored and prototyped by volunteer teams from participating organizations over the next four months.
“As a company with a history of using available data to better match qualified candidates to open jobs, Simply Hired is eager to partner with the government as we continue to drive success for employers and job seekers,” Chong said.
