Klaviyo test runs tech skills training

The Future. Marketing startup Klaviyo has devised a program that helps job candidates, particularly those with no tech experience, prove their skills during a probationary period. The program could provide a blueprint for a workforce looking to pivot careers to keep up with the times.

Throw out the resume
With the ever-increasing need for tech workers, one marketing startup is helping people fill those jobs… without having any prior experience.

• Klaviyo helps businesses automate marketing campaigns.
• Spearheaded by its Chief People Officer, Jenny Dearborn, the company has created a program that pays job candidates from non-tech backgrounds to do on-the-job training.
• If the candidates do well, they can get hired in software development or product management roles.

Dearborn notes that Klaviyo saw that “people who were close to making it in the interview process, but were ultimately disqualified because of their lack of corporate experience, came from historically disadvantaged backgrounds. [So] we thought that if we were to create a program that gave them more intensive development and training, it could get them everything they need to get over the line to meet the hiring bar.”

During the program’s pilot test, 7 out of 10 candidates were hired on full time.