Comments on: What kinds of jobs are out there?

Question: What kinds of jobs are out there?

Deathalicious — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 10:51:41 -0800

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.

By: otio

otio — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 10:56:40 -0800

The BLS's Occupational Outlook Handbook is comprehensive.

By: mkb

mkb — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 10:56:59 -0800

You are looing for a Dictionary of Occupational Titles.

By: pasici

pasici — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:05:05 -0800

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while still used extensively by the Social Security Administration to determine the availability of work, is woefully out of date, not having been updated in decades.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.

By: filthy light thief

filthy light thief — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:13:04 -0800

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).

By: smackfu

smackfu — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:06:58 -0800

Canada's Occupation List

By: onshi

onshi — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:29:26 -0800

I came in to offer smackfu's answer, the National Occupational Classification, which is relatively current (2006).

By: MrMoonPie

MrMoonPie — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:23:52 -0800

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.