Table Of ContentPaving the occupational path:
A new system for assigning education and training
H
ow should you prepare to enter an
occupation? It depends, of course,
on the occupation. Training and
education paths vary widely. But knowing
the most common ways people prepare for an
occupation helps you identify which one you
might pursue—and helps guide you in that
pursuit.
For career-guidance purposes, the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) assigns
education and training categories to occupa-
tions. Students, educators, jobseekers, and
others use the information to prepare or learn
about occupations in the U.S. workforce. This
information is not used, however, to establish
an occupation’s education, licensing, or prac-
ticing standards.
Along with developing the upcoming
2010–20 projections, BLS is implementing a
new system of assigning education and train-
ing categories. This new system includes cat-
egories for education, experience, and training
assignments that give a detailed explanation of
the usual requirements for entering and attain-
ing competency in an occupation. uses sample occupations to illustrate the new
This article provides an overview of the system.
new categories, with examples of each. The The first two categories—typical educa-
Elka Maria
first section summarizes each of the three tion needed for entry into an occupation and
Torpey
categories of education and training: typical work experience in a related occupation—are
education needed for entry, work experience preemployment requirements, meaning that
in a related occupation, and typical on-the-job workers have completed them before they can
training needed to attain competency in an get a job in an occupation. The third cat-
occupation. The second section explains how egory—typical on-the-job training needed to
BLS developed the system and how econo- attain competency in the occupation—is usu-
mists determined an occupation’s category ally a postemployment requirement, occurring
assignments. Sources of additional informa- after workers are hired.
tion are at the end.
Typical education Elka Maria
Torpey is an
Understanding the Each occupation is assigned to 1 of 8 edu-
economist in the
cation levels, from doctoral or professional
new system degree to less than a high school diploma. The Office of Occupa-
assignment in this category indicates the typi- tional Statistics
The new education and training system cal level of education that most workers need and Employment
defines what is typically needed to enter and to enter an occupation. Projections, BLS.
become competent in an occupation. Eighteen Doctoral or professional degree. A She is available
assignments across three categories provide doctoral degree (Ph.D.) or first professional at torpey.elka@
specifics about an occupation’s education, degree, such as in law or medicine, usually bls.gov.
experience, and training. The box on page 15 requires the completion of 3 years or more of
Fall 2011 • Occupational Outlook Quarterly 13
full-time academic study beyond a bachelor’s but not more than 4 years, of full-time aca-
degree. Examples of occupations in which demic study beyond high school. Programs
workers must have these types of degrees are are offered at community colleges, technical
postsecondary teachers, lawyers, and dentists. colleges, and other educational institutions.
Master’s degree. A master’s degree usu- Occupations include dental hygienists, respira-
ally requires the completion of 1 or 2 years of tory therapists, and mechanical drafters.
full-time academic study beyond a bachelor’s Postsecondary nondegree award. Occu-
degree. Occupations in this category include pations with this assignment usually require
physician assistants; educational, vocational, workers to have completed a formal program
and school counselors; and statisticians. after high school that leads to a certificate
Bachelor’s degree. Completion of a or other award but does not lead to a degree.
bachelor’s degree usually involves at least 4 These programs are offered only at educa-
years, but not more than 5 years, of full-time tional institutions; certification programs run
academic study beyond high school. Budget by professional organizations or certifying
analysts, dietitians, and petroleum engineers bodies are not included. Examples of occupa-
are among the occupations in which workers tions that require a postsecondary nondegree
need a bachelor’s degree. award are emergency medical technicians and
Associate’s degree. Occupations in which paramedics, nursing aides, and hairstylists.
workers need an associate’s degree have Some college, no degree. Few occu-
this assignment. Completion of an associ- pations have this assignment. It includes
ate’s degree usually involves at least 2 years,
(Continued on page 16)
14 Occupational Outlook Quarterly • Fall 2011
Sample education and training assignments
Compared with the previous system for occur during employment. The rose-colored
assigning education and training categories shading identifies the category assignments
to occupations, the new system gives a more for the sample occupations.
complete picture of the requirements for enter- Economists in the U.S. Bureau of Labor
ing and attaining competency in an occupa- Statistics (BLS) base these assignments on
tion. research they conduct for the Occupational
As the following examples illustrate, Outlook Handbook. This information is
assignments in two categories cover the typi- provided to help students, educators, jobseek-
cal education and related work experience ers, and others interested in careers. BLS
usually required prior to employment, and does not have a role in establishing standards
assignments in a third category include the for education, licensing, or practice in any
types of on-the-job training that generally occupation.
Preemployment During employment
Typical education Work experience in Typical on-the-job training Categories
needed for entry a related occupation needed to attain competency
Doctoral or professional degree Internship/Residency
More than 5 years
ts Master’s degree
s
gi Apprenticeship
o Bachelor’s degree
ol 1 to 5 years
dr Long-term on-the-job training
y Associate’s degree
H Assignments
Postsecondary nondegree award Moderate-term on-the-job training
Less than 1 year
Some college, no degree
Short-term on-the-job training
High school diploma or equivalent
None
None
Less than high school diploma
Preemployment During employment
s
er Typical education Work experience in Typical on-the-job training Categories
k needed for entry a related occupation needed to attain competency
r
o
w
al Doctoral or professional degree Internship/Residency
v More than 5 years
o
m Master’s degree
e Apprenticeship
r
als Bachelor’s degree 1 to 5 years
ri Long-term on-the-job training
e
t Associate’s degree
a Assignments
m
s Postsecondary nondegree award Moderate-term on-the-job training
u Less than 1 year
o
d Some college, no degree
ar Short-term on-the-job training
z
a High school diploma or equivalent
H None
None
Less than high school diploma
Fall 2011 • Occupational Outlook Quarterly 15
experience. Restaurant cooks are an example
(Continued from page 14)
of an occupation with this assignment.
occupations in which workers usually need
None. Most occupations have this assign-
a high school diploma or its equivalent plus
ment. For example, audiologists usually do not
the completion of one or more postsecondary
need work experience in a related occupation
courses that do not result in a degree or other
to enter their field.
award. Actors, for example, typically need
some postsecondary dramatic instruction,
On-the-job training
but they need not earn a degree or award as a
Some workers receive training on the job
result.
that helps them acquire the skills they need
High school diploma or equivalent.
to become competent in the occupation. As
This assignment covers occupations in which
mentioned previously, this on-the-job train-
workers need a high school diploma or its
ing usually begins after a worker is hired. But
equivalent, such as the General Educational
there are some exceptions. Most elementary
Development (GED) credential. Occupations
school teachers, for example, must complete
include social and human service assistants
an internship to attain competency in the
and pharmacy technicians.
occupation, but they usually get this training
Less than high school. Occupations with
while they are in school and before they are
this assignment are those in which workers
employed as teachers.
have completed a level of primary or second-
Keep in mind that the on-the-job training
ary education that did not result in the award
assignments described here are occupation
of a high school diploma or its equivalent.
specific, not job specific. This distinction is
Cashiers, carpet installers, and janitors and
important because occupation-specific train-
cleaners are among these occupations.
ing allows workers to transfer skills they learn
in one job to another job in the same occupa-
Related work experience
tion. In contrast, job-specific training helps
To enter many occupations, it’s helpful to workers perform a particular job—learning
have work experience in a related occupation. about an individual employer’s procedures or
However, assignments in this category apply equipment, for example—but is not necessar-
only to occupations in which such experience ily transferrable to another job.
is required or in which related experience is
Internship/residency. Internships and
a commonly accepted substitute for formal
residencies provide supervised training in
education or training.
a professional setting. These programs give
More than 5 years. Some occupations prospective workers the opportunity to apply
require significant work experience. For what they have learned in school to a real-
example, computer and information systems world setting. Internships and residencies may
managers might need more than 5 years of be paid or unpaid, and they generally occur
work experience in a computer-related occu- after the completion of a degree program or
pation, such as computer systems analyst, required coursework.
programmer, computer software engineer, or
This assignment includes only programs
computer support specialist.
that are required for workers to be employed
1 to 5 years. Marketing manager is an in an occupation. It does not cover optional
example of an occupation in which workers internships that help workers gain experience
typically need 1 to 5 years of work experi- or advance in a field. Doctors, high school
ence, usually in marketing or a related field, to teachers, and marriage and family therapists,
qualify for their positions. for example, all must complete an intern-
Less than 1 year. For occupations with ship or residency program before they can be
this assignment, entry-level workers typi- licensed to work in their occupations. Intern-
cally need less than 1 year of related work ship and residency programs vary in length.
16 Occupational Outlook Quarterly • Fall 2011
Teaching internships often last 1 year, for as trainees and take formal courses to prepare
example, but medical internship and residency for their required licensing exams. Occupa-
programs may take between 3 and 8 years. tional training programs that are sponsored by
employers, such as those offered by police and
Apprenticeship. An apprenticeship com-
fire academies, also are included.
bines paid on-the-job training with occupa-
tion-specific instruction. Apprenticeships are Moderate-term on-the-job training.
formal relationships between workers and Moderate-term on-the-job training allows
sponsors, which may be individual employers, workers to develop skills for competency in 1
joint employer and labor groups, or employer to 12 months of informal training and on-the-
associations. These programs typically pro- job experience. Employer-sponsored occupa-
vide at least 2,000 hours of training on the job tional training programs are included in this
and 144 hours of occupation-specific technical assignment. Advertising sales agents, geo-
instruction per year—and most programs last logical and petroleum technicians, and home
between 3 and 5 years. Electricians and struc- appliance repairers are among the occupations
tural iron and steel workers are two examples that require moderate-term on-the-job train-
of occupations that have an apprenticeship. ing.
Long-term on-the-job training. This Short-term on-the-job training. Occupa-
assignment designates training that lasts tions with this assignment require 1 month or
more than 12 months and either occurs on less of informal training and on-the-job expe-
the job or combines work experience with rience for workers to gain the skills that they
formal classroom instruction. For example, need to become competent. The assignment
nuclear power reactor operators often begin includes occupation-specific training that is
Fall 2011 • Occupational Outlook Quarterly 17
sponsored by employers, such as programs a more complete summary of how a worker
that teach taxi drivers about equipment, safety, enters and becomes competent in an occupa-
and other topics. Retail salespersons and tion. For some occupations, the most com-
maids and housekeeping cleaners are other mon path to entry involves a combination of
examples of occupations that require short- education and training, such as a high school
term on-the-job training. diploma and an apprenticeship. The new
None. Some occupations do not require system allows an occupation to be assigned
any occupation-specific on-the-job training. to multiple categories—unlike the previous
Professional occupations, which usually have system, which allowed assignment to just one.
educational requirements, are especially likely But no classification system is perfect.
to have this assignment. For example, geogra- Because many occupations have multiple
phers and pharmacists can perform their work paths to entry, assigning only the most com-
competently without getting any additional mon path in each category necessarily leaves
training on the job. out other, often important, ways that people
enter occupations. In the education category,
Developing the for example, registered nurses have the assign-
ment of associate’s degree because it is the
new system most common education for entry-level regis-
tered nurses; however, some registered nurses
When BLS was developing the new education enter the occupation with a higher degree,
and training system, its goal was to provide such as a bachelor’s.
18 Occupational Outlook Quarterly • Fall 2011
Development process. The process of related to education, work experience, and
developing a new education and training training. These O*NET surveys are produced
system began with a team of BLS economists by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employ-
who met to discuss possible alternatives to the ment and Training Administration.
previously existing categories. The team also After considering all of their research,
considered input from reviewers outside BLS, economists determined category assignments
including comments received from Federal for each occupation. In cases with more than
Register notices in 2008 and 2010. After one path to entry within an occupation, econo-
much discussion, the team developed a system mists assigned the education, experience, or
involving three categories of education and training categories that best described the
training as previously described: path that most workers need to enter or gain
• Typical education needed for entry competency in the occupation.
• Work experience in a related
occupation
For more information
• Typical on-the-job training needed to
attain competency.
To learn more about the new system, see
Each of these categories would offer mul-
“Education and Training Classification
tiple assignments. The additional information
System Update—Final System” online at
should be even more helpful to career seekers,
www.bls.gov/emp/ep_finaledtrain.htm. The
educators, and others interested in occupa-
page includes links to the Federal Register
tional entry requirements.
notices, answers to frequently asked questions,
Education and training resources.
and system codes representing the new assign-
Assigning education and training categories
ments.
involved considerable effort: BLS provides
As mentioned previously, education and
information on about 750 occupations.
training requirements vary significantly from
To make category assignments for each
one job to another, even within an occupa-
occupation, BLS economists researched
tion. And some occupations require licensure,
and analyzed a variety of information. Two
which is not covered in these categories or
sources of data important for the analyses
assignments.
were the American Community Survey
State-specific requirements, such as
and the Occupational Information Network
licensure, can be obtained by contacting state
(O*NET).
licensing boards. In addition, the 2012–13 edi-
The American Community Survey, con-
tion of the Occupational Outlook Handbook
ducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, is a house-
(OOH), available in spring 2012, will include
hold survey that measures the educational
licensure information along with discussions
attainment of people currently in an occu-
of the education and training assignments.
pation. Economists used information from
this survey to look at workers’ educational The current OOH provides information
attainment for three groups—18 to 29 years about the many paths to entry that an occu-
old, 30 years and older, and all workers in an pation might have. Read the OOH online at
occupation. They compared the distribution of www.bls.gov/ooh, or look for it in your local
educational attainment among workers in an library or career center.
occupation, mindful that educational attain- The new education and training category
ment differs from educational requirements. assignments will be published in a table in
These comparisons helped economists get a fall 2011 and as a searchable database with
glimpse into whether an occupation might additional tables in winter 2012. Visit the BLS
have multiple paths to entry. Employment Projections website, www.bls.
The surveys conducted for O*NET asked gov/emp, for announcements about publica-
workers and occupational experts questions tion.
Fall 2011 • Occupational Outlook Quarterly 19
