Cornell ILR’s Criminal Justice and Employment Initiative (CJEI) launched a beta version of Restorative Record, a digital hiring tool for justice-involved job candidates, with the help of software development company, Gigster.
During Second Chance Month in April, Cornell ILR’s Criminal Justice and Employment Initiative (CJEI) launched, Restorative Record, a digital hiring platform designed to help job seekers affected by the justice system overcome barriers and prejudice, ensuring fair access to employment opportunities. Full-service software development company, Gigster, developed the enterprise-grade application and integrated the tool into Cornell University’s existing hiring systems.
Research conducted by Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) found that 92% of private employers perform criminal background checks. However, only 50% consider whether the candidate’s criminal record is relevant to the position and 25% do not verify the accuracy of third-party reports.
The inspiration for Restorative Record came from Jodi Anderson Jr., CJEI’s Director of Technological Innovation. As an alumnus of the Cornell Prison Education Program, he experienced the struggles of post-prison job searches first-hand and saw how technology could be used to improve exclusionary hiring practices.
CJEI tapped Gigster to manage the development and integration of Restorative Record due to the firm’s enterprise expertise and proven track record of innovating under tight deadlines.
“When you’re dealing with a big client like Cornell it’s impossible to do that with a small team,” said Anderson Jr. “We reached out to Gigster because of their ability to meet all the demands of that scale of client. In spades, Gigster just came through – all the documentation, providing a full development team, and building the technical architecture.”
Gigster’s elastic development team model allowed them to assemble a team with the specific expertise CJEI needed quickly. Established processes for enterprise app development resulted in an efficient development cycle that resulted in Restorative Record’s beta being ready in only two months.
“Restorative Record is a perfect example of technology being used to solve real-world problems and effect social change,” said Michael Kearns, CEO of Gigster. “We’re proud that Gigster was the right partner to make that technology a success.”
The beta version of Restorative Record is currently open to justice-impacted candidates and fair-chance employers as it collects feedback for future features and improvements.
For more information on how Gigster and CJEI developed the hiring platform, read the case study.
