February 2015

O*NET Fundamentals

What Is O*NET? O*NET is a (data collection) program that populates and maintains a current database of the detailed characteristics of workers, occupations, and skills. Currently, O*NET contains information on 974 detailed occupations, which are gathered from a sample of national surveys of businesses and workers. For each occupation, O*NET collects data on 250 occupational descriptors. O*NET is intended to be a definitive source for persistent occupation data, i.e. stable occupations that have been (and will continue to be) in existence over the medium term. O*NET superseded the U.S. Department of Labors (DOLs) Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) and provides additional occupational requirements not available in the DOT. The DOT is no longer supported by DOL. O*NET uses an occupational taxonomy, the O*NET-SOC, which is based on the 2010 version of the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) mandated by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for use by all federal agencies collecting occupational and labor market information (LMI). O*NET is the bedrock of occupational data. It offers a stable foundation that contains information on jobs and skills that are not fleeting. In a phrase, it is the gold standard of data on occupational skills. Why Use Sampling and Surveys? The primary reason O*NET currently uses sampling and surveys is that these are the best techniques for maximizing the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information prior to dissemination. O*NET uses the OMB Information Quality Guidelines for all Federal statistical information, which defines objectivity as a measure of whether disseminated information is: 1. Accurate 2. Reliable 3. Unbiased 4. Presented/disseminated in an accurate, clear, complete, and unbiased manner 5. Subject to extensive review and or quality control

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What Are Other Foundational Principles of O*NET? O*NET is designed to be: 1. Comprehensive covering the entire economy; going across all occupations in the labor market. 2. Consistent each and every occupation is described consistently in particular to facilitate analysis of skill transferability. 3. Representative sampled from across the labor market, the nation, and from employing industries. 4. User-centered Incumbent workers or occupational experts as the primary respondents. Why Does O*NET Only Contain Survey-based Data? Using survey-based data enables O*NET to have comprehensive coverage, be very representative, enable the data to be validated and cleaned relatively easily, enable the statistical calculation of margin of variance or error, and to meet the OMB data collection requirements. How Is O*NET Used? O*NET is the common language and framework that facilitates communication about industry skill needs among business, education, and the workforce investment system. The O*NET data is used to:

Develop industry competency models and occupational competency profiles. Conduct skill gap analysis based on information about transferable skills. Support career exploration by the young, their parents, job seekers, dislocated workers, workforce professionals, counselors and teachers. Write skill-based resumes by job seekers, and skill-based job descriptions and job postings by business. Implement at least 33 different laws that use O*NET data in tasks ranging from wage determinations for H 1-B visas to vocational rehabilitation and disability determination. The O*NET database and companion O*NET Career Exploration Tools are also used by many private companies and public organizations to tailor applications to their needs and those of their customers.

How Do I Access O*NET Data? The O*NET database is provided free of charge to the public through O*NET OnLine, a Web-based application at http://www.onetonline.org/. O*NET Data is also available through the My Next Move, and My Next Move for Veterans websites; through the O*NET Web Services application programming interface (API); or by downloading the

February 2015

database, particularly by developers who provide applications targeted to specific communities or audiences. How Does O*NET Collect Its Data? The O*NET data set gets updated once a year. O*NET uses a 2-stage sample first businesses in industries that employ the type of worker are sampled and contacted then when it is confirmed that they employ those workers and will participate a random sample of their workers in the occupation receive the O*NET survey form and respond directly. When necessary, this method may be supplemented with a sample selected from additional sources, such as professional and trade association membership lists, resulting in a dual-frame approach. An alternative method, based on sampling from lists of identified occupation experts, is used for occupations for which the primary method is inefficient. This method is reserved for selected occupations, such as those with small employment scattered among many industries and those for which no employment data currently exist on which to base a sample, such as new and emerging occupations. At its current funding level, O*NET updates slightly more than 100 occupations per year with new survey data. What Are The Survey Response Rates? Currently, more than 144,000 establishments and 182,000 employees have responded to the survey request, resulting in an establishment response rate of 76% and an employee response rate of 65%, which compare favorably to other establishment surveys.

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Appendix A: Example of an O*NET Occupational Profile

Updated 2010

Details Report for:15-1132.00 - Software Developers, Applications

Develop, create, and modify general computer applications software or specialized utility programs. Analyze userneeds and develop software solutions. Design software or customize software for client use with the aim ofoptimizing operational efficiency. May analyze and design databases within an application area, workingindividually or coordinating database development as part of a team. May supervise computer programmers.

Sample of reported job titles: Application Integration Engineer, Applications Developer, Business SystemsAnalyst, Computer Consultant, Programmer Analyst, Software Architect, Software Developer, SoftwareDevelopment Engineer, Software Engineer, Technical Consultant

View report: Summary Details Custom

Tasks | Tools & Technology | Knowledge | Skills | Abilities | Work Activities | Work Context | Job Zone | Education | Credentials | Interests | Work Styles | Work Values | Related Occupations | Wages & Employment | Job Openings | Additional Information

Tasks Save Table (XLS/CSV)

Importance Category Task

81 Core Modify existing software to correct errors, allow it to adapt to new hardware,or to improve its performance.

77 Core Develop and direct software system testing and validation procedures,programming, and documentation.

75 Core Confer with systems analysts, engineers, programmers and others to designsystem and to obtain information on project limitations and capabilities,performance requirements and interfaces.

73 Core Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility ofdesign within time and cost constraints.

72 Core Design, develop and modify software systems, using scientific analysis andmathematical models to predict and measure outcome and consequences ofdesign.

68 Core Store, retrieve, and manipulate data for analysis of system capabilities andrequirements.

67 Core Consult with customers about software system design and maintenance.

66 Core Supervise the work of programmers, technologists and technicians and otherengineering and scientific personnel.

65 Core Coordinate software system installation and monitor equipment functioningto ensure specifications are met.

15-1132.00 - Software Developers, Applications http://www.onetonline.org/link/details/15-1132.00

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Appendix B: Current O*NET Usage Statistics During 2014, the O*NET websites (O*NET OnLine, My Next Move, My Next Move for Veterans, Mi Proximo Paso) averaged over 4 million visits per month. Fig. 2 shows the total site visits by year from 2002 to 2013.

Fig. 2: Total Site Visits for O*NET web properties There is some pattern of seasonality that appears to follow the school calendar. Peak months with over 5 million visits in 2014 were: April, September, and October. The O*NET database has been downloaded 83,573 times from 2002 to 2014. Fig. 3 shows the database downloads in each year.

Fig. 3: O*NET Database Downloads, 2002 - 2014 O*NET Web Services and APIs were introduced in 2012 and their usage is steadily increasing through 2014. At the close of 2014, there were 343 total registrants for O*NET Web Services. Fig. 4 shows the progress since 2012.

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Fig. 4: O*NET Web Services Registrants, 2012 - 2014 The breakdown of the users of O*NET Web Services is detailed in Fig 5.

Fig. 5: Registrant Composition for O*NET Web Services

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Appendix C: Comparison of Occupation Coverage . Comparative Analysis of Occupation Profile Coverage by Federal Agencies

2010 Census Occupational Outlook Handbook

BLS employment projections 2012-2022

2010 SOC in Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey

O*NET

Employment estimates for 190 SOC occupation and aggregations 334 profiles (covering 580 SOC occupations)

818 SOC occupations 800+ SOC occupations with wage estimates 974 detailed occupations with characteristics and requirements data