On October 10, 850 high school students from Sarasota and Manatee counties packed Robarts Arena for the State of Jobs Conference, a full day of engaging sessions on a variety of career tracks. Part of the day included surveying the students to get their perspectives on college and careers so we as a community can better design programming to meet their needs. This is where the State of Students Report (SOSR) was born. This year’s State of Students Report includes 498 responses from 17 different schools in Manatee and Sarasota counties including public, private and charter institutions. Students in this report represent five sectors of post-secondary interest including healthcare, engineering/manufacturing, hospitality/tourism, entrepreneurship and information technology.  “Too often, we focus on telling students exactly what jobs are available by connecting earnings to a profession that’s needed within a community. This forfeits our ability as communities to encourage students to understand their skills, passions, and personality, and connect these attributes to opportunities. We don’t want students finding jobs, we want them excited about careers. Careers that may not even exist yet.” – Chris Laney, Director of Education and Community Investment. To view the full report, visit stateofstudents.org

State of Jobs