This resource is designed to support government leaders championing skills-based practices in their organization to make the case for workers Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) instead of a bachelor’s degree to address workforce challenges.It provides a helpful outline that can be tweaked to a particular state, region, or locality to deliver a customized narrative about who STARs are and how they can expand the talent pool of workers using STARSight. STARSight is a free, dynamic resource that can pull data and create visualizations to empower decision-makers with the data needed to drive action.

This article includes step-by-step directions for slide changes and instructions for using STARSight to share the STAR story.
Check out the "Speaker Notes" field in the deck for suggested talking points.
This deck is provided as a starting point, but instead of using it as a whole, you might consider leveraging slides you find useful by adding them to other presentations.

Downloading and Editing the Deck

This resource is provided in a .pptx file and can be downloaded using this Google Drive link.

If the link above doesn't work for you, copy and paste this link into your browser:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1OqHlipmBTU5aoGD8jm-y9_FHyOzyhZKv/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=114432922474427217825&rtpof=true&sd=true

Once the file is open, select File, then Download. Select .pptx as the file type.

Screenshot 2024-05-10 at 9.11.25 AM.png

The file is only editable once you download a copy to your device.

Edit using PowerPoint

Open the file in PowerPoint on your device and edit it as needed.

Edit using Google Slides while retaining formatting and design

Upload the file to your Google Drive.
Right-click on the file, select Open with, and then Google Slides.
The Google Slides editor will retain the file as a .pptx type while enabling you to edit.

Citing the Data

We have already provided a static citation to our data resources in the footnote of each slide, even the ones you may use STARSight to edit.

The Data Guidance page on STARSight also provides more detailed information for consultation.

Need assistance? We are here to help.

For support with this deck or other inquiries, please contact our team at policy@opportunityatwork.org.

Guide by Slide

Slides 1-6: Getting Started with STARSight and this Deck

These slides only provide context about the deck, so no edits are needed, but we suggest deleting them once you are ready to present.

Slide 7: Title Slide

This is the first shareable slide of the deck.

Edit the title by adding the region you want to target during the presentation.

Slide 8: Section "[Your Region]'s Workforce Needs"

We recommend leveraging this section to set the context by highlighting challenges related to the workforce in your region.

Edit the title by adding the region you want to target with the presentation.

Slides 9 & 10: Looking Back & Pandemic Job Losses

These slides are examples we made available to illustrate challenges for a state workforce. They reference historical needs and recent job losses during the pandemic. Use these to demonstrate the need before setting the stage for the rest of the conversation.

The provided example shows recent information available for Philadelphia.

Replace with your own slide(s) and communicate the challenges unique to your state that STARs could address.

Slide 11 - 19: Section “Introduction to STARs”

This section helps set the context of STARs in the workforce at the national level.

No editing is needed for these slides; we have done the work for you!

Slide 20: Section “Seeing STARs In [Your Region]”

This section provides context about STARs in your region.

Edit the title by adding the region you want to target with the presentation.

Slide 21: “The Majority of Workers in [State] are STARs”

This slide is pre-filled with examples of data for a state. Use STARSight to update the content to reflect your state’s unique data:

Start by navigating to the Explore page on STARSight.

In the first section (map), click to select your state.
In the lower left of the map section, select the ”State Map” button.
Find Total Workers: In the top right of the map section, look for the number below the section title “Selected Area Workforce” – this is the total number of workers for the state.
Find Total STARs: Scroll down to the second section (pie charts). The chart on the right shows the total number of STARs for the state in the center. The title above that pie chart also shows the percentage STARs makeup of the total workforce.
Update the chart on the slide with the data from STARSight (click on the chart to open and edit the data in a spreadsheet. As-is, the total workforce, STARs, and the chart title reference the state-level data.
Be sure to update the slide title and subtitle.

Slide 22: “More than 1.4 million workers in [Region within State] are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) instead of a bachelor’s degree”

This slide is pre-filled with examples of data about STARs for a region within a state. Use STARSight to update the content to reflect unique data:

Continue using the map section of the Explore page to identify the metro area you would like to represent in the slide. In the example, data is displayed for the Greater Philadelphia area.

Use the Metros dropdown in the lower right of the map to select an area. The map and data display will update with the selected metro.
Once a metro is selected, the dropdown menu offers counties for the area. If preferred, a county can be selected to delve deeper into the metro.
Capture a screenshot of the highlighted area on the map and add it to the slide. Be sure to include the key in the screenshot.
For the title, identify the number of STARs in the area. Scroll down to the next section below the map; this chart shows a breakdown of total workers and STARs by demographic against the rest of the workforce for the selected area.
In this chart, the circle on the right shows the area's percentage and number of STARs. Use the numbers to update the slide title.
For the content in the body of the slide, note the percentage of STARs—in nearly all states, this is approximately half of all workers for the region, so the narrative provided on the slide is: “That means about half of…”

Slide 23: "STARs Represent the Full Diversity of The State Workforce"

Use STARSight to update the content to reflect unique data.

You can continue using the same area selected or return to the state-level view (shown in the example) and leverage the data available on the charts to frame a story about the demographics impacted by being a STAR.

To simplify the existing visualizations in Stellarisight and display the circles with only STARs by race (excluding non-STAR representation), use the right-side chart on the second section (pie chart: STARs) but select the toggle for Show STARs Only in the top right corner.
Find the racial makeup within STARs: The chart will shift to show the racial demographic makeup of STARs for the selected region.
Hovering over each section will show the race and percentage makeup within the section. You can use this information to edit the bar chart on the slide with the percentage for each racial group.
Update the title and subtitle to reflect the narrative the data provides.

Slide 24: "There are 609K STARs who have skills for higher wage work in [Philadelphia] right now"

This slide demonstrates that STARs are ready for transition or upskilling while offering racial demographic context of who will benefit.

Use STARSight to update the content to reflect unique data.

Select the area to represent in the state on the map, then the appropriate metro area or county.
Scroll down to the second chart and ensure the toggle for Show STARs Only is ON
Capture a screenshot of the Forming, Rising, and Shining STARs career mobility group breakouts.
The circle will also show racial breakouts within each subgroup chart by hovering.
Update the slide title to reflect the number/percentage of STARs with the skills for higher-wage work in the area.

Slide 25 - 26: Final Section Header “Next Steps”

No edits are needed here, but these slides reference Opportunity@Work as collaborators and resources used.