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To identify occupations related to your skills, you will use the
O*NET Online service (see directions below).
Caution!
Selecting a career goal should not be made simply by identifying
occupations related to your skills. Other factors, such as your
interests, values and behavioral traits should also be considered. To
select a career goal that matches your overall personality style, please
use our
Career Selection and Planning Guide.
To simply identify occupations related to your skills, please follow the
directions below.
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Visit the
Find Occupations area of the O*NET Online website.
O*NET
Online is a service of the U.S. Department of Labor, and contains an online
database of information on more than 800 occupations found in the
American work force.
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Note the
paragraph entitled Browse by O*NET Descriptor and the following 5
Descriptors:
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Knowledge
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Skills
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Abilities
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Interests
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Work Values
These Descriptors will allow you to search the database and
produce a list of occupations that match the Descriptor that you
have chosen.
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Click on the Skills Descriptor.
A
new page will appear listing 6 broad skill areas (folders), from
Basic Skills to Technical Skills.
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Click on the Basic Skills folder.
The
Basic Skills folder will open and a more detailed list of Basic
Skills will appear, from Active Learning to Writing.
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Review the list of Basic Skills and click on the first
skill that you believe you have WELL DEVELOPED. Note that a list of occupational titles will appear. These
are occupations that require a HIGH level of the skill you
selected, in order to carry out the work.
Want information on any occupation on the list? If so, just
click on the occupational title.
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Repeat the above procedure for other Basic Skills that you
believe you have WELL DEVELOPED.
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Once you have completed a review of all the skills in the Basic
Skills folder, move on to the next skill folder (Complex Problem
Solving Skills). Review these skills, clicking on any that
you feel you have WELL DEVELOPED to view related occupations.
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Continue this procedure for all skill folders, from Basic Skills
to Technical Skills.
Important!
After reviewing the various skill folders, check out the
Abilities folder to find occupations related to your abilities.
What's the difference between skills and abilities?
While there is
no universally accepted consensus as to the definition of, or the difference
between, Skills and Abilities, many career guidance professionals interpret
Skills to be talents that a person can develop through schooling, training
and/or experience. On the other hand, Abilities (sometimes referred to as
"aptitudes") tend to be natural talents that a person inherits from his or
her parents.
Regardless of
the definition of these two terms, when using the O*NET Online website to
explore for occupations that match your talents and capabilities, you should
investigate both the Skills and Abilities folders.
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Additional Resources:
CareerInfoNet:
Skills Profiler |