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The Pillars of an Award-Winning Program
Reddit was selected as a 2023 Campus Forward Award Winner for their unwavering commitment to seeking out and hiring early career talent, their emphasis on diversity & inclusion, and investments in nurturing and retaining the next generation of talent. Please see below for the highlights of their approach to early career recruitment.
Demonstrated Investment in Early Career Hiring
Reddit’s mission is to bring community, belonging, and empowerment to everyone in the world. Reddit believes that investing in early career talent is an essential component of reaching its mission, and allows for curiosity and passion to flourish as interns and new grads are empowered to bring different perspectives and ideas. Reddit’s award-winning internship program is deeply embedded within its Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging organization, which will allow it to evolve and further reflect the diversity of its communities — on Reddit and in real life. The commitment to early career talent comes from the CEO all the way to management and intern mentors, ensuring that the company continues to invest in the recruitment and retention of exceptional and diverse students.
Innovative and Multi-Faceted Approach to University Recruitment
Reddit’s Emerging Talent team revamped its early talent recruitment strategy to be anchored around high-touch events. Creating moments of human interaction is invaluable and allows for deeper connections with passionate talent. Reddit’s first-ever campus tour focused on diverse student organizations at high-performing universities. In-person events at select colleges – including HBCUs and HSIs – provided students with direct access to engineers, data scientists, and former Reddit interns, “Snooterns,” to learn more about the program and how to stand out during the recruitment season. Engaging beyond normal info sessions, students shared how valuable it was to learn from Reddit vs. just learning about Reddit, thus increasing candidate interest. In addition, attending virtual career fairs provides access to larger ‘hard-to-reach’ talent pools, expanding the pipeline. Using early career tools like RippleMatch for sourcing and events contributes to faster engagement with highly-qualified students interested in Reddit’s opportunities, ultimately leading to a better candidate experience.
Overarching Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
Upholding one of its company values — “Remember the Human ” — Reddit strives to be a place where people can find community and belonging. Reddit’s Emerging Talent team partners with diverse student organizations including NSBE, SHPE, and SWE to help advance underrepresented communities in tech at several universities. In addition, the team has established relationships with nonprofits including ColorStack and STEM Advantage to boost recruitment efforts of Black and Hispanic/Latinx students. Reddit further expands its reach by intentionally building meaningful relationships with HBCUs and HSIs to attract diverse talent, and attending conferences like Grace Hopper to engage and connect with women in tech. Once talent has found a home at Reddit, the company offers dedicated spaces for cultural learning opportunities and creates inclusive events such as “Real Talk” series and monthly “Cultural Connexions” that celebrate the diversity of Reddit’s employees and unique company culture.
Impactful Internship Program
Reddit’s internship program revolves around the company’s mission by empowering Reddit interns, “Snooterns,” to do meaningful and impactful work. Snooterns work on critical projects that advance their career growth and provide a sense of ownership, including updating infrastructure, building app features, and analyzing advertising performance. Reddit fosters a sense of belonging by treating Snooterns as full-time employees who receive a competitive salary, time off, and participate in company-wide ERGs and Experience Team events. Intern events create community by ensuring cohorts network and learn together through Executive Speaker Series, ERG “Real Talk” sessions, and workshops that increase their business acumen, provide career support, and enhance their skill sets. Social engagements for both in-person and virtual Snooterns include events like Escape Rooms, baseball games, and Snootern Challenges for prizes. These factors lead to high retention where on average, 95% of the internship class accepts their return offers.
Growth and Development of the Next Generation of Talent
Reddit invests in all of its employees to ensure they are respected, valued, and supported at every stage. The early career talent, “new grads,” begin their Reddit journey with Snoobie Orientation, learning about the company culture and receiving the tools and resources necessary to succeed. New grads benefit from having an informal mentor who assists with their “on-the-job” learning and development. In addition, the Reddit/Connect program gives access to cross-functional mentors for enhanced business acumen and new skill enrichment, while the professional development stipend enables career learning and support from external sources of their choice. In 2023, the Emerging Talent team will launch a new grad program, creating a cohesive experience centered around Reddit’s mission. Creating more interactive events such as leadership speaker series, “college to corporate” workshops, and social engagements will help maintain the 85% retention rate of new grads within their first two years at Reddit.