Who the Fox are STARs?

STARs are talented individuals Skilled Through Alternative Routes, defined as individuals at least 25 years old, currently active in the workforce, & having a high school diploma, but not having a bachelor’s degree. I myself am proud to be a STAR, I have an Associates of Science in Computer Science, a Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP) certification & over 35 years of experiencing programming & in IT.

𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒍?

STARs are a skilled & diverse talent needed to fill millions of jobs. STARs have developed valuable skills on the job, through military service, in community college, or through other alternative routes. In fact, research has found that millions of STARs have demonstrated skills for roles with salaries at least 50% higher than their current job.

😍66% of Rural Workers are STARs (ME!)

😍61% of Veteran workers are STARs

😍62% of Black workers are STARs

😍54% of Hispanic workers are STARs

😍50% of all workers in the U.S. are STARs (ME!)

😍STARs are a 70+ million strong talent pool (ME!)

𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒐 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚?

STARs reflect our country’s racial, ethnic, & cultural diversity. They are represented in all regions, races, ethnicities, genders, & generations across the U.S. In fact, the majority of Black, Hispanic, rural, & veteran workers are STARs. Without attention to STARs, corporate diversity efforts simply cannot succeed.

𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒐 𝑰 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉?

𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏 requiring Bachelor's Degrees for roles where that pedigree is completely unnecessary. 𝐎𝐑 rewrite education requirements with Associate's or High School degrees/diplomas options.

𝑬𝒙𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆:

Bachelor's Degree with 8 years' experience or Master's degree with 6 years' experience

𝑹𝒆𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆:

HS diploma/equivalent with 12 years' experience or Associate's degree with 10 years' experience or Bachelor's Degree with 8 years' experience or Master's degree with 6 years' experience

The rewrite includes way more talent & is less discriminatory. 𝐘𝐄𝐒, by not including education below a Bachelor's degree & having options for more work experience, we are discriminating against 1/2 of the workforce. STARs resumes will never make it through the ATS systems (including MINE!) Let's put the human back into Human Resources & include more STARs in the conversation.

Thank you to the Opportunity at Work organization for all the information I needed for this article. Learn more: https://opportunityatwork.org/