Talent Acquisition Initiatives

Learn more about GitLab Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Talent Acquisition Initiatives.

At GitLab, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging is infused into our company culture, from our values to our all-remote way of working. The GitLab Talent Acquisition team partners closely with our Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging team to ensure we’re building a diverse and inclusive workforce around the globe as the company continues to grow.

Talent Brand Initiatives

Spotlighting GitLab team members

Our goal is to tell the story of what it’s like to work at GitLab through our people. We’ll do this through blogs, videos, social media, and other platforms. By sharing these stories, we’re able to highlight the diversity of our team in an authentic way.

Employer and Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging awards

One of the ways we raise awareness about life at GitLab is by applying for employer awards. These award programs are typically run by third-party organizations or media outlets. A number of the awards we’ve applied for (or will apply for in the future) are specifically focused on recognizing companies that are diverse and inclusive employers.

Initiatives we’re exploring

  • Strategic partnerships with gender diversity platforms
  • Recorded podcasts
  • Virtual events: Culture Open House
  • Updating the look and feel across digital channels to ensure the diversity of our team is reflected

Hiring Initiatives

Inclusive interviewing

We are building an inclusive workforce to support every demographic. One major component is ensuring our hiring team is fully equipped with the skills necessary to connect with candidates from every background. We strive to have a hiring team that is well-versed in every aspect of diversity, inclusion and cultural competence. We are helping the unconscious become conscious. Our number one priority is a comfortable and positive candidate experience. Our interviewing guide describes how you can request an adjustment to your interview process.

Inclusive language in Recruitment

We want all prospective candidates, including those from underrepresented groups to have a sense of belonging at GitLab. Inclusive language helps build a sense of belonging and does not alienate underrepresented groups. Written communication that does not use biased language, but is instead neutral, will help increase response rates and levels of interest in GitLab from people in underrepresented groups.

  • The Talent Acquisition team is reviewing and making sure all required edits are done to GitLab’s talent acquisition templates.

Speaking with TMRG members in the hiring process

During our hiring process, there’s an optional step where candidates can request to meet with a team member from one of our Team Member Resource Groups (TMRGs). Candidates can request this at any time throughout the process, and we will also proactively offer this to a candidate when they reach the reference check stage. Whether or not the candidate decides to take us up on this offer will have no impact on our overall hiring decision.

When a candidate requests to meet with an TMRG team member, their Recruiter or Candidate Experience Specialist will share a message in the dedicated #candidate_tmrg-call Slack channel. To aide with scheduling, the message will include the name of the TMRG the candidate would like to speak with, the candidate’s location, which role they are interviewing for and a request for a volunteer who would be willing to speak with this candidate for a 25-minute Zoom call. Once a volunteer has been found the Recruiter or Candidate Experience Specialist will share the TMRG members’ Calendly link, LinkedIn page (optional), and request the candidate book in a 25-minute call with the GitLab team member.

If a volunteer has not been found within 24 hours the CES team member will reach out in the TMRG’s dedicated group slack channel. If a volunteer has not been found within 48 hours, the CES team member will reach out to the TMRG lead(s) and request assistance with scheduling. If a volunteer has not been found within 3 business days of the request, the CES will ask the TMRG lead to take part in the conversation.

On the call, we advise you to start with a short introduction to you and your role here at GitLab. From here, we advise you to let the candidate lead the conversation as the goal is for you to answer their questions and offer insight into how we work.

These calls don’t require you to submit a scorecard in Greenhouse. If a candidate mentions something that you see as a red flag (e.g. the candidate states they understand our values and demonstrate an unwillingness to adhere to them) or shares something that would help us set them up for success, we advise you to share the details of this with the hiring manager for the role they’re interviewing for. It will be the responsibility of the hiring manager to review this and decide whether we need to alter the hiring, offer, or onboarding process for the candidate.

Lack of dates on your resume

If you don’t have dates (employment period, graduation year, etc.) on your resume or public job profile that allow someone to determine your age, GitLab will not assume that you did not complete that task. We understand that some people are not comfortable sharing all dates, and that’s ok with us here at GitLab. However, we will ask you for the dates of the last two to three employers. We also don’t view it negatively if someone takes time off between jobs for personal reasons (such as to take care of friends and family) as long as they kept their skills up to date.

Return to the Main Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Page

For a full overview of GitLab’s diversity, inclusion and belonging initiatives, please return to the main page.

Last modified March 27, 2024: Change shortcode to plain links (7db9c423)