HackerRank: women in tech returning to work.

Before she became a stay-at-home mom, Adriana Rivera was a software developer on the team that created one of the first real-time financial trading applications in history. Her work is in the permanent collection in the Smithsonian, but when it came time to get back into the workforce, her skills needed refreshing. That’s when Adriana embarked on a journey of education and discovery that led to her to Randstad.

Summer Husband, data scientist for Randstad Sourceright’s Talent Innovation Center, was seeking the right candidate for an open position. She decided to post the job to Women Who Code; that’s where Rivera connected with Randstad, ultimately becoming one of three finalists for the job.

Husband shares insights on how pre-employment testing helped objectively uncover the right individual for the job: “I had talked with [Adriana] and had a strong feeling that she’d be a good hire. But we were pretty sure we were not going to extend the offer, given her [lack of recent] experience ... I had her complete an assessment. She did much better than the other two candidates, who had more extensive job experience. Quantitatively she was the right person for the job. Despite [the gaps] on her resume.”

“As a woman in tech, I want to be able to help other women succeed,” Husband adds. “I’ve been in the same position as Adriana, and I’m happy I was able to really see her skills objectively to be able to give her this opportunity.”

Check out HackerRank’s interview with Adriana and Summer, then read this insightful blog post with more details on how technology — combined with human intelligence — helps recruiters and hiring managers make the right hire.