Tips for navigating O*NET
- Utilize the “Occupation Quick Search” in the upper right-hand corner of the homepage. Here you can search for keywords (i.e. science, education, agriculture), specific job titles, or industries you might not have enough information on or may be particularly interest in.
- If you are aware of what some of your academic strengths are, you might find that searching for professions or paths based on “Knowledge” is helpful. From the homepage, select the “Advanced Search” drop down to help you identify which careers may be an appropriate fit.
- From the homepage, you can use the “Find Occupations” drop down menu to find occupations that are related by job family, career clusters, industries, etc. If you feel like you have an area you are interested in but are having a harder time narrowing it down to specific careers, this can be a great tool to help with the process.
- The “Advanced Search” option on the homepage will allow you to search jobs based on your Holland Codes (read more about Holland Codes on the Strong Interest Inventory page) or interests, skills, work activities you might enjoy, the environment you wish to do your work, etc.
- When clicking into specific job titles, be sure to read through the sections to learn as much as you can about given professions. Wherever you see a “+”, that means there is more information to be found. Example: If you are viewing the “Tasks” that someone working as a School Counselor might have, you will see that there is a “+” next to each task. Clicking the plus sign will then show you other careers and professions that involve the same tasks you might be interested in.
- Toward the bottom of the summaries of specific jobs or occupations, you can find information about national salary and employment trends. Filters also allow you to see how the state that you would like to work in compare to the national averages. You will also find a “Related Occupations” section which could lead you to other areas of potential interest.
