Streamline Training & Documentation: O*NET IV: Ways to Use Occupational Information

Thursday, March 26, 2009

O*NET IV: Ways to Use Occupational Information

O*NET Online, the application for the general public that facilitates access to the O*NET database, provides an overview of specific ways in which employers, employees, and job seekers can use O*NET's rich compilation of occupational information.

Employers can use O*NET occupational information to:

Develop job descriptions

Expand the pool of qualified applicants for open positions

Define employee and job-specific success factors

Align organizational and employee development efforts with the organization's needs

Refine recruitment and training goals

Design effective compensation and promotion systems

Employees and job seekers — on their own, or with the help of vocational and career counselors — can use O*NET occupational information to:

Find out which jobs fit with their interests, skills, and experience

Explore growth career profiles using the latest available labor market data

Research a targeted job and related occupations to learn what is needed for success

Maximize earning potential and job satisfaction

O*NET offers several self-assessment tools for those exploring career possibilities:

O*NET Interest Profiler (paper-based and online) — see footnote 2 in yesterday's post.

O*NET Work Importance Locator (paper-based) and O*NET Work importance Profiler (computer-based) — measures six types of work values: Achievement, Independence, Recognition, Relationships, Support, and Working Conditions.

O*NET Ability Profiler — measures nine work-related abilities: Verbal Ability, Arithmetic Reasoning, Computation, Spatial Ability, Form Perception, Clerical Perception, Motor Coordination, Finger Dexterity, and Manual Dexterity.

People can use these tools "to make a seamless transition from assessing their interests, work values, and abilities to matching their job skills with the requirements of occupations in their local labor market."

I would mention that when I experimented with the O*NET Skills Search tool, I did not find it very helpful for homing in on occupations that were actually appealing to me. I ended up with long lists of often-unsuitable occupations.

The Tools and Technology Search seems more helpful. It lets you search for high-demand occupations that make use of tools (e.g., machine tools, MSExcel, CAD software, etc.) that you are already proficient in or intend to learn.

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Labels: Competencies, Documentation, Expertise, Hiring and getting hired, Learning resources

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