Why Square, Inc. Uses Datapeople To Promote More Inclusive Hiring

Read how a business technology solution company is using Datapeople for more than just language guidance in diversity and inclusion efforts.

Square, Inc.’s purpose is economic empowerment. The company’s business technology solutions are affordable and easy to use for ventures of any size. They also have a growing consumer Cash App product where individuals can spend, send, store, and invest money.

Given Square’s mission to democratize finance, it’s no surprise that the company is also committed to inclusion and diversity (I&D). 


More comprehensive than other platforms

Square flips the “D&I” to “I&D” internally because the company views inclusion as an often-overlooked tenet of the work. The hiring team identified job postings as an opportunity to improve inclusion. And the team uses Datapeople as one of their platforms because it compares favorably to the other products on the market. 


“We decided on Datapeople because of the advances in the product suite and the accessibility of the platform itself,” said Head of Talent Programs Amy Berlin. “We’ve been really impressed and continue to be impressed.”


Other providers offer more limited guidance on things such as gendered language. But Datapeople goes beyond gender to other biases, as well as readability, style, grammar, and content. The guidance challenges Square users to rethink phrases that may seem innocuous. It also forces them to rethink what goes into a job post overall.

“I think the platform is very interesting. It challenges me and gives me new ideas all the time,” said Talent Operations and Systems Manager, Jameace Maliga. “If I’m using ‘strong communication skills’ as a qualification and the Datapeople suggestion is to remove that content because it doesn’t add much value, it pushes me to rethink my approach. Why was this determined to be a qualification for this role? Does this person need to give presentations to peers or to leads on a regular basis? Okay, let’s articulate that specifically in the responsibilities section instead.”

As a former recruiter, Jameace believes in the platform for both hiring and recruiting operations.


“I personally used Datapeople for a recent opening on my team because I wanted to see what it could do,” she said. “I closed the job in a few weeks, had hundreds of applicants, and many of them were qualified for the role.”


Recruiting analytics

Another reason Square chose Datapeople was for recruiting analytics. Through an integration with their applicant tracking system, SmartRecruiters, the team is able to see real-world data on their talent funnel. 

45 percent increase in qualified applicants

Square’s high-scoring jobs attract 45% more qualified candidates.

Recruiting analytics enables the Square team to measure how much the work they do in Datapeople affects recruiting performance. Jobs that score highly in the platform, for example, consistently attract 25% more female applicants and 45% more qualified candidates (applicants that reach the interview stage) compared to low-scoring jobs. And the visibility isn’t just on the job level. Tying reports to custom fields for the department level enables them to see what’s happening in each department and communicate any trends to leadership.

“It seems basic, but having the departments list mirror exactly what’s in our system makes it easier for us to have targeted conversations with teams and make things actionable,” said Jameace. “Also, I love that we don’t have to worry about internal organizational changes because once we make the change in SmartRecruiters, the changes are reflected in Datapeople.”


Consistency across all Square job posts

Square views I&D as every employee’s responsibility, and maintaining consistency from one job posting to the next is an example of how they champion this work. From a marketing or branding perspective, consistency ensures that they tell the same story in the same way across all hiring teams.

“A big reason why we invested in Datapeople is that a job post is a branding opportunity,” said Amy. “When you’re pitching a role to a candidate, you’re marketing something. You’re marketing a new opportunity, a new location you may be moving to, or even a new way of life.”

It’s often the first time a candidate has an experience with an organization. And it’s a really short window to convey a lot of information─about the company, the team, core duties, and more. 

“Having the ability to control the narrative, making sure you’re using the most effective language possible and creating consistency amongst hundreds of job descriptions is so, so important,” Amy said.

“Inconsistency leads to a lot of candidate confusion,” added Jameace. “They’re wondering: ‘There are 25 different software engineer job ads and they each have a slightly different job description – are they the same role or on the same team? Should I apply to every single one?’ Instead, we’d prefer to create a handful of really strong, distinct, and attractive job ads rather than the 25, which historically had each recruiter or hiring manager’s mark on them.” 

Amy agrees. “When you have 200 to 300 jobs posted and everyone is writing differently and there’s no consistency, that’s my worst nightmare. Datapeople has allowed us to create that consistency which is extremely important, especially as we continue to grow.”

Creating templates also helps. The Square hiring team has created job templates so that recruiters or hiring managers don’t have to “constantly reinvent the wheel.” 


“Easiest team that I work with”

Jameace and Amy appreciate how easy it is to use Datapeople. Particularly being able to make an impactive change immediately with just one click. But they also acknowledge how easy it is to work with the Datapeople team.


“I work with many vendors across all of our talent platforms,” Jameace said. “And this is the easiest team that I work with in terms of exploring different ways for us to meet our evolving goals.”


Part of that exploration is evolving the platform to match the company. Amy and Jameace say systems don’t often grow with their needs. 

“In my experience with other platforms, once you sign the contract, there’s not a lot of opportunity to build on the experience for at least the next two or three years,” said Jameace. “There are incremental changes as you go, but the speed and priority are heavily dependent on their client portfolio and how ‘important’ we are in that portfolio.”

According to Amy, it’s rare to find a vendor that truly compromises and partners with customers. 

“You might get some compromise in a meeting, but there’s no follow-through after that,” she said. “We have found Datapeople to be very receptive to our feedback and working with us and getting us the solutions we need. That is a very rare luxury, and we really value that in our relationship with the Datapeople team.”


Try Datapeople

Want to see for yourself how easy it is to consistently write job posts that attract more diverse and qualified candidate pools – and make your entire hiring process more fair and efficient? Schedule a demo of the Datapeople platform and we’ll show you around.


About Amy Berlin and Jameace Maliga

Amy Berlin

Amy Berlin is the Head of Talent Programs at Square. Amy leads the effort to attract, engage, and grow Square’s talent community. She oversees the company’s talent branding, employee referral, internal mobility, and recruiting event programs. 

Jameace Maliga

Jameace Maliga is the Talent Operations and Systems Manager at Square. Jameace manages the company’s applicant tracking system and other talent platforms. She also manages the team responsible for talent data (metrics, analytics, and reporting) and hiring and onboarding support. 

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