Internet Resources for Career Research

There are a number of helpful internet sites which offer information regarding skills, work activities, work styles, and wages of many different occupations.

Dictionary of Occupational Titles

http://www. oalj.dol.gov/libdot.htm

Call number of the print copy at Grace Library: HB2595 U543 1992  v.1-2 located in Career Resources Reference Collection

To use online:

• Go to the above web address and click on the “Indexes” link near the middle of the screen.

• On the next screen, look for “Indexes” and click on the link for the “Alphabetical Index.” 

• You are now in the DOT alphabetical index of job titles. Scroll down until you find the one you are looking for. The titles in all capital letters are the official job titles. Those in capital and lowercase letters are alternate titles.

• Beside each job title is the DOT code for the job. Write this down.

• Click the “Back” button, and then scroll up the screen until you come to the subdivided section entitled “Occupational Definitions.” Look up the job using the code.

• Scroll down the screen to “Appendices.” Click on the link to Appendix C to find the meanings of the Definition Trailer Codes.

O*NET (Occupational Information Network)

http://online.onetcenter.org

To find information on occupations:

• Go to the above web address and click on “Find Occupations.”

• Enter the job name you are looking for in the “Keyword” search box which you will find under “Quick Search” on the left of the screen. (You may also search using “Browse Job Family” on the right.)

• Your result will contain all the titles for jobs that O*NET finds relevant to the search you entered. They will be ranked by relevance. Click on the name of the job you want to see. This will bring up the “Summary” report on the job. Click on the “Details” tab for a more in-depth treatment of the job.

• Under the “Job Zone” section of the “Summary” for your job, you will find an “SVP Range.” To find what this means, go to the “Online Help.” Find the Job Zone section and look for the link explaining SVP Ratings.

To find state and metro salary data from O*NET:

• Go to the bottom of a “Summary” or “Details” report.

• Select the desired state from the pop up menu under the “State & National” and click on “Go.” This will take you the “America’s Career InfoNet” website. The screen will be headed “Occupation Profile” and under the phrase “Selected Criteria” you will see the name of the job you are interested in and the name of the state for which you are seeking salary information.

• Scroll down. Under “State and National Wages” you will see a chart comparing state and national wage data.

• To find wage data for specific metropolitan areas, scroll up the screen to a box on the right entitled “Find Related Content” and click on the arrow. A menu will pop up. Scroll down until you see “Compare Metro Wages,” click on it and then click “Go.” On the next screen you may choose up to 10 different metro areas to compare. When you have chosen, click on “Continue” to see the metro wage information compared to the national wage data.

• To find and compare wage data for cities in a particular state, go to the box headed “ Find Related Content” on the “Occupation Profile” screen, pop up the menu and click on “Compare Local Wages” and then click “Go.” On the next screen, just click on the red “Continue” button at the bottom. (Ignore the menu of job families in the middle of the screen.) On the next screen you may choose up to ten cities for which to compare wage data with the national figures. When you have chosen the cities to compare, scroll down and click on “Continue” to display the comparison.

Occupational Outlook Handbook

http://stats.bls.gov/oco/home.htm

Call number of print copy at Grace Library: HF5381 U5 2000-01 located in Career Resources Reference Collection

To use online:

• Go to the above web address and click on the link for the “A-Z index” in the upper middle of the screen.

• Enter the name of the job you want information about in the “Search OOH” box (or use the “A-Z Index”).

• From the result list click on the name of the job in which you are interested.  On the resulting screen is the report for the job.

America’s Career InfoNet

This website is a great resource for job seekers. Go to  http://www.acinet.org/acinet/

to find, among other things: profiles of industries and of individual jobs; wage and salary information for particular cities and states; the fastest growing jobs and the training required to do them; jobs where employment is declining; the highest paying jobs and those with the most openings;  videos on industries and specific careers.

Career Resources Collection

The Career Resources Collection is located on the second level of Grace Library. Included in this collection are materials dealing with researching a career, writing a resume, interviewing and finding a job.  Carlow has a Center for Career Enrichment located on the third floor of Grace Library for more career assistance. 

To search for books and videos on careers and related topics in Grace Library go to http://library.carlow.edu and click on the link for Grace Library’s Online Catalog. Once the online catalog window has opened, enter in one of the search headings listed below into the Quick Search box, select subject from the drop down menu and click on the search button.  This is only a partial list of the most likely headings.  Consult the Library of Congress Subject Headings for others.

career change                              internship            resumes             

employment interviewing             job hunting         vocational guidance

Additionally, the subject heading is very often the name of a field and the phrase vocational guidance.  For example, to find more information about careers in the medical industry enter the phrase  medicine vocation guidance into the Quick Search box,  select subject from the drop down menu and click on the search button.

06/07

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