Occupational Outlook Handbook
If you have a general field of interest or have identified a handful of jobs that you are considering for your own career path, use the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) to explore careers. You can search the handbook for jobs related to your area of interest, or search for specific jobs to learn more about them. Read about the duties of a job, what it takes to become qualified to do that type of work, the average pay, and job outlook. The OOH is an online resource for individuals to gather information pertaining to specific occupations. To explore a career of interest:
- Go to https://www.bls.gov/ooh/ and use the search bar in the upper-right corner of the page to search for the career(s) you are interested in exploring.
After clicking on a career link you want to explore, pay attention to the following three areas of the Summary box on the main page:
- Median Pay
- Typical Entry-Level Education
- Job Outlook (this should be at least 5%)
After reviewing the details in the Summary box, if you still want to explore the career click on the following tabs at the top of the page:
- What they do – description of job duties and specializations
- Work environment – description of work environment and typical schedule
- How to become one – description of required education, licenses, and key skills
- Similar occupations – list of related careers that may be of interest
Use these steps to identify three to five careers that you would like to explore in more depth and detail and then make an appointment with an advisor to review those careers.