Definition
The term Occupational Outlook Handbook refers to an employment resource that provides information on hundreds of professions and trades. The Occupational Outlook Handbook is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics; information is derived from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey.
Explanation
The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) is the most comprehensive publicly-available source of careers in the United States. Published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the document includes a series of career profiles as well as employment trends. These profiles are built using a standardized format, allowing end-users to make reasonable comparisons. The type of information appearing in these profiles is as follows:
Occupation Overview: includes roles and responsibilities, tools and equipment used, and job titles or types of occupations.
Work Environment: includes the level of physical activity, work hours, working conditions (safe or potentially hazardous), and travel requirements.
Work Schedules: includes typical work schedules (time of day), full or part time employment opportunities, and seasonality of the workload.
Job Requirements: includes the level of education needed, related work experience, apprenticeships / internships, the training necessary to attain competency and whether or not a specialize license, certification, or registration is needed.
Worker Characteristics: includes the important qualities of the profession and why those skills and aptitudes are important.
Salary: includes the median wage data for hourly and salaried workers in each occupation.
Outlook: finally, this last section provides ten year projections of job growth or decline as well as a discussion of the reasons for the change.
For more information on this very important topic, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistic's website.
