What kinds of jobs are out there?

January 20, 2009 10:51 AM

It occurs to me that, if pressed, I could write out maybe 100-200 jobs/careers, tops. But there must be thousands or tens of thousands. Partly out of curiosity, and partly because I'd love to know what's out there, are there any websites or free resources with a comprehensive listing of jobs and careers, including info like average salary and qualifications required?

I'm more interested in breadth than depth here, but if there are good listings for a particular field or sector that'd be interesting too.

posted by Deathalicious to work & money (7 comments total)

The BLS's Occupational Outlook Handbook is comprehensive.
posted by otio at 10:56 AM on January 20 [3 favorites has favorites]

You are looing for a Dictionary of Occupational Titles.
posted by mkb at 10:56 AM on January 20

The Dictionary of Occupational Titles, while still used extensively by the Social Security Administration to determine the availability of work, is woefully out of date, not having been updated in decades. A document known as O*Net was developed by the U.S. Department of Labor to replace it.
posted by pasici at 11:05 AM on January 20 [1 favorite has favorites]

For a graphic view on things, check Very Small Array's take on Schedule C Principal Business or Professional Activity Codes (not sure where the source list can be found - probably in some PDF or hard-copy).
posted by filthy light thief at 11:13 AM on January 20

Canada's Occupation List
posted by smackfu at 12:06 PM on January 20

I came in to offer smackfu's answer, the National Occupational Classification, which is relatively current (2006).
posted by onshi at 12:29 PM on January 20

I was the editor for the BLS' Standard Occupational Classification--for real, I wrote the thing. If you can get your hands on the print version, you'll see my name in it. Then it became my first web project, and launched my career.

It's not a list of every occupation, but does attempt to provide general categories into which every job in the US can fit. I sat in on all the board meetings when it was being revised, and got a really close look at government bureaucracy, how it's good as well as how it's bad. It was truly a fascinating experience.
posted by MrMoonPie at 1:23 PM on January 20 [3 favorites has favorites]