{"id":4006,"date":"2018-05-17T17:00:03","date_gmt":"2018-05-17T21:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/technology-educational-information\/?p=4006"},"modified":"2024-01-30T16:07:23","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T21:07:23","slug":"2018-technology-career-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/technology-educational-information\/2018-technology-career-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"2018 Technology Career Summit: Tech Is Where It’s At in Tampa Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

What’s the climate for tech in Tampa Bay? HOT, according to Daniel J. Scott, Co-Executive Director of Tampa Bay Tech<\/a>, at St. Petersburg College’s 2018 Technology Career Summit.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight behind the research triangle in North Carolina sits Tampa Bay – the second<\/em> fastest growing in the country,\u201d Scott said during his speech, which set an inspirational tone for the night.<\/p>\n

For many, March 14\u00a0was a night of potential. Local businesses came together to review resumes and build connections with all interested, offering students the opportunity to take the first step into their future careers. Luckily for technology students<\/a>, Tampa Bay may be the perfect place to start.<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay and the 2018 Technology Career Summit<\/h4>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re home to 1 out of every 89 U.S. tech workers, and we employ more technology talent than half the states in the country,\u201d Scott explained. \u201cTampa Bay is Florida\u2019s most densely talented technology hub, with greater than 80 percent of the region\u2019s tech talent working in Hillsborough and Pinellas County. That\u2019s pretty convenient for most of you!\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott is intimately connected with this growing industry. Beyond being a part of the council representing Tampa Bay Tech<\/a>, Scott is also chief operating officer at Alorum<\/a>, on the board of directors for the Lions Eye Institute for Transplant & Research<\/a> (the only combined eye bank and ocular research center in the world) as well as RNG Tampa Bay<\/a> (the region\u2019s largest, in-house corporate recruiters group). He is also a professor at St. Petersburg College<\/a> and serves on multiple advisory boards, living up to the title of \u201cone of Tampa Bay\u2019s best-known leaders in the business startup community.\u201d For him, events like the\u00a02018 Technology Career Summit are not only a place to inspire but a place to uncover talent.<\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/a>\u201cA third of our force didn\u2019t exist here five years ago, and we\u2019re on track to add another third over the next five years,\u201d he told the audience. “That\u2019s you all. You\u2019re net new talent as far as we\u2019re concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n

As new talent, it can be easy to get overwhelmed. In a room full of potential employers, where do they start? And for many students, the skillsets that will allow them to land that first opportunity is in question. Who do they need to be?<\/p>\n

Knowing Your Company<\/h4>\n

\u201cYou need to be Billy Joel, and you need to walk into employers and say these are the things that I did to be awesome while nobody was looking, but now is my time,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n

He also emphasized that it is just as important to know the quality of your company as it is to know yourself. When making decisions and exploring\u00a0 opportunities, he told the group to keep an eye out for three things:<\/p>\n