Notes on Sources Used with the Career Pathways Publication Series

Element	Notes
Occupation Title	From the U.S. Dept. of Labor's ONET classification system. See the ONET Resource Center for more information about the nation's "Occupational Information Network."
Subtitle	Based on my analysis of common job titles. I've included subtitles whenever the O*NET titles are inadequate in identifying the occupation. I've also incorporated the subtitles into the titles listed in the Table of Contents.
Occupation Description	From O*NET.
Common Job Tasks	Originally from O*NET, but edited/enhanced by me (and my associates).
Education and Training	Originally based on a general education level assessment by the U.S. Dept. of Labor but edited/enhanced by me. Two noteworthy problems I found with DOL's education level assessments: One, they frequently assessed lengthy apprenticeship training-based occupations as requiring only "short term training." Two, they didn't have an education level to distinguish teaching occupations that require two years of graduate study and training but don't result in a Masters Degree. So I made those and other corrections. Note that the education and training information in my books are general statements intended to reflect the TYPICAL levels for each occupation. However, some occupations have jobs that reflect a wide variety of education levels and specific educational requirements when it comes down to the reality of individual employers and their hiring/replacement needs.
Employment Outlook	The statistics are from the U.S. Dept. of Labor's Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections and are for the 10-year outlook period of 2002-2012. These are the most up-to-date employment projections available at the time of going to press. (The next update for these statistics will be in mid-2006.) Note that the titles used in the projections are from the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system which are sometimes slightly broader in scope than those used by/for O*NET (although they are always closely related). The trends analysis is based on a DOL analysis but edited/enhanced by me.
Wages	From the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program. This program produces estimates of wages by occupation 2x per year based on a semi-annual mail survey of non-farm establishments. The collected data are used to produce occupational wage estimates at the National, State, and sub-State levels. I've included the average (mean) wages for both the annual and hourly wage categories. Note that, in the case of teaching occupations, the OES program only provides an annual wage estimate; therefore, for the purpose of making occupational comparisons, I have calculated an approximate hourly wage for these occupations using a general estimate of 2,000 work hours per year. For the Top 100 Careers book, I have also included an hourly wage range based on the 25th and 75th percentiles. The wage data used in the 2005-2006 editions of my books reflect the most up-to-date information available as of summer 2004 (which reflects data originally collected from employers in 2002).
Top Employing Industries	Based on the 2002-2012 National Industry-Occupation Employment Matrix developed by the U.S. Dept. of Labor's Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections.
Most Important Skills and Abilities	From O*NET but edited/enhanced by me. Includes top rated (most important) knowledge, skill, ability and work activity requirements for each occupation.
Typical Career Paths	In this section I've tried to indicate the “typical” job-to-job career progression for each career field by using a career lattice visual (rather than a more conventional career ladder). The lattice implies what is often the case; namely, that people may start at an entry or lower-level job, but they don’t always move in a straight line from left to right, or from bottom to top. The use of terms such as “lower level,” “mid-level,” and “advanced level” should not be associated with any particular education levels; rather, they are used to indicate the general job-to-job progression within that specific career field. Because career paths are normally comprised of steps taken from one job to the next job, the career lattice is based on common job titles (rather than more broadly defined broader occupational classifications). However, to make the career path information as useful and comparable as possible, I've also included occupational information (such as education level, average hourly wage and - if needed - occupational titles) for those job titles that best represent the occupational classifications.
Career Dialogues	The career dialogues are NOT intended to be representative - nor would they be nearly as interesting if they were representative! Rather, they are provided as anecdotal information in which one person who works in that occupation or career field tells us about their career journey (so far) and about the occupation (from their perspective). The dialogues are intended to provide a personal or human touch to the traditional occupational information which can be difficult for many people to relate to. If you know of someone who would be a great interview subject for one of our career dialogues, please let me know!
O*NET Codes	The ONET codes will be of interest primarily to career counselors and workforce development professionals. The first code is the ONET classification number for the occupation as indicated by the title and description at the top of each career profile. The second code is the ONET Job Zone, which can be viewed as a simplification of the Typical Education Levels and/or Specific Vocational Preparation (SVP) time. The last set of codes are ONET RIASEC codes that indicate how the occupation rates in terms of basic career interest areas. RIASEC codes are used by many career counselors to assist their students or clients in researching occupations that best meet their career interests.
Comparison of Occupations with Similar Skill Sets	Based on ONET Related Occupations lists (see ONET OnLine) but significantly expanded by me (and my associates) so that each career profile reflects the 20-40 most closely related occupations in terms of similar skill sets. To make occupational comparisons more meaningful, I've also included - in brief - education/training levels, job growth forecasts, and wage information for all the related occupations. Note that, sometimes, occupations that are closely related in terms of career advancement will have very different skill set requirements. When this is the case, the "related occupations" may show up in the Typical Career Paths table - but not be included in the Comparison of Occupations with Similar Skill Sets list. Another thing worth noting: just because two occupations may have similar skill sets - that doesn't mean that, if you're qualified for one occupation, you're also qualified for the other occupation. It simply means that the two occupations share a lot of skills in common. But then you have to look deeper at the individual occupations to find out what their full set of qualifications are (including education and training requirements).