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A Quick Introduction to CareerOINK

(See our plans for the future of CareerOINK by clicking here.)

CareerOINK provides information on about 14,000 job titles. This is an enormous amount of detail, and we took a lot of time to give you information we think is most useful in making career, job, or learning decisions. While some of the occupational data we include can be complicated, we've tried to make it very easy to use. This means that you can just jump in and start rooting around - and figure it out as you go.

Sources of Information

A variety of government and other sources were used to assemble the materials used in CareerOINK. Most is based on information obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor. For example, we included the full text of all job descriptions from the current edition of the Occupational Outlook Handbook, a book produced by the U.S. Department of Labor. But we also used materials developed by JIST for use in other reference books. For example, we include about 1,000 job descriptions we developed for use in the O*NET Dictionary of Occupational Titles. This approach allows us to use carefully constructed job descriptions and other materials that would be too costly to create for use in CareerOINK alone. The result is access to wonderfully complete, carefully crafted, information-packed, and useful career information that is simply not duplicated by any other source.

One way to think of CareerOINK is as a database that uses information from a variety of books, with each source cross-referenced to the others, so you can start anywhere and go almost anywhere else. This is a very easy-to-use and a powerful way to explore your career options. Here are the primary sources of that information.

The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH)
Published by the U.S. Department of Labor and updated every two years, this is the most widely used career reference of all time. It provides very helpful one to two page descriptions for about 270 major jobs, covering more than 90% of the labor market.
The Occupational Information Network (O*NET)
This one is not a book, but a database of occupational information that is maintained by the U.S. Department of Labor. The most recent release provides details on about 1,000 job titles, with about 400 data elements provided for each job. The O*NET job descriptions we use in CareerOINK are based on ones JIST developed for a major reference book titled the O*NET Dictionary of Occupational Titles. We spent a great deal of time on developing job those descriptions so that they are easy to understand and packed with useful information. Our descriptions also include details not included in the O*NET database, such as earnings and projected growth.
The Guide for Occupational Exploration (GOE)
Another major career reference book, originally published by the U.S. Department of Labor but revised and published by JIST in 2002. It organizes all jobs in CareerOINK into 14 major "Interest Areas" and then into increasingly specific groupings of related jobs. The GOE is very easy to use, and one of the most effective ways to explore career options.
The Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT)
Also published by the U.S. Department of Labor, the DOT provides brief descriptions for 12,741 jobs. Replaced by the newer O*NET system, many government agencies and businesses still use the DOT's numbering and job titles system. The DOT's many job titles create a richness of specialized jobs that simply can not be replaced, and that is why we continue to include them in CareerOINK.
Military Careers
Developed by the Department of Defense, Military Careers provides a useful and easy-to-understand format for learning about military occupations. It introduces procedures, training and education available, working conditions, physical demans, projected openings, advancement opportunities, and many other details. It organizes military careers into major clusters of similar jobs, called job families, making it simple to explore careers based interests and experience.

Additional information on these and other sources of information are provided in the "Help" section of CareerOINK.

Quick Tips for Using CareerOINK

If You Want to Informally Explore Career and Job Options...

Most of us just want to see what sorts of options are available for us, and then learn more about the ones that interest us most. As luck would have it, CareerOINK is ideal for rooting around like this! If this is what you want to do, here are two suggestions for doing so:

  1. Start with the major jobs. Click the 260+ Major Jobs (OOH) button. This will take you to the information provided in the Occupational Outlook Handbook. You can learn more from the Introduction to the OOH page, or jump right to a list of Occupational Clusters (like Sales and Related Occupations). Just click on a cluster name that interests you, and you will go to more specific subgroups of occupations, and then a list of specific job titles in that group. You can then click on a job title to get to more detailed information on it. Simple. Because the OOH database presents you with just 270 major jobs that cover about 90% of all U.S. workers, this approach is very easy to use. Once you find a job that interests you most, you can quickly cross-reference to related and more specialized job titles and learn about those as well.
  2. Explore jobs, education, and training options based on your interests. Exploring career options based on what interests you will help you identify options you may otherwise overlook. To do this, click on the Explore Interests (GOE) button. This will take you to a list of 14 major interest areas - such as "Arts, Entertainment, and Media" - and brief descriptions for each. Click an area that interests you, and you will get to a list of related job groupings, like "Writing and Editing" or "Graphic Arts." Click on one of these to get to a list of specific related job titles, then another click will take you to a very useful description of that job. This is an elegant and simple approach that allows you to quickly explore about 1,000 job titles and get to those most likely to match your interests.

If You Are a More Advanced User - or Prefer to Explore...

If you already know what OOH, GOE, and DOT mean, please go right ahead and jump directly into those options from the navigational buttons. Or, you may simply prefer to figure things out as you go, rather than read about it in advance. We made CareerOINK pretty easy to figure out without reading lots of details before you begin, so please feel free to just jump in and start using it.

If You Are a Particularly Thorough Type...

Well, then, of course you will want to read the entire "About JIST" and "Future Features" pages, as well as all the information in the "Help" sections. Help includes separate More Information About... pages for each of the four major occupational sources. You will find useful information in all of these sections and, since we went to the trouble of writing it, we would greatly appreciate knowing that some people will actually read it. Home and Help buttons appear on most of the other pages as you go through CareerOINK.

We hope you enjoy using this OINK of a program. Thanks.