The O*NET® Content Model
The Content Model is the conceptual foundation of O*NET. The Content Model provides a framework that identifies the most important types of information about work and integrates them into a theoretically and empirically sound system.
The Content Model was developed using research on job and organizational analysis. It embodies a view that reflects the character of occupations (via job-oriented descriptors) and people (via worker-oriented descriptors). The Content Model also allows occupational information to be applied across jobs, sectors, or industries (cross-occupational descriptors) and within occupations (occupational-specific descriptors). These descriptors are organized into six major domains, which enable the user to focus on areas of information that specify the key attributes and characteristics of workers and occupations.
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Content Model Outline — Summary (PDF - 69 KB)
Content Model Outline — Detailed (PDF - 210 KB)
Content Model Outline — Detailed including descriptions (PDF - 277 KB)
Worker Characteristics — enduring characteristics that may influence both performance and the capacity to acquire knowledge and skills required for effective work performance. Worker characteristics comprise enduring qualities of individuals that may influence how they approach tasks and how they acquire work-relevant knowledges and skills. Traditionally, analyzing abilities has been the most common technique for comparing jobs in terms of these worker characteristics. However, recent research supports the inclusion of other types of worker characteristics. In particular, interests, values, and work styles have received support in the organizational literature. Interests and values reflect preferences for work environments and outcomes. Work style variables represent typical procedural differences in the way work is performed.
Abilities — Enduring attributes of the individual that influence performance
Occupational Interests — Preferences for work environments. Occupational Interest Profiles (OIPs) are compatible with Holland's (1985, 1997) model of personality types and work environments.
Work Values — Global aspects of work composed of specific needs that are important to a person's satisfaction. Occupational Reinforcer Patterns (ORPs) are based on the Theory of Work Adjustment (Dawis & Lofquist, 1984).
Work Styles — Personal characteristics that can affect how well someone performs a job.
Worker Requirements — descriptors referring to work-related attributes acquired and/or developed through experience and education. Worker requirements represent developed or acquired attributes of an individual that may be related to work performance such as work-related knowledge and skill. Knowledge represents the acquisition of facts and principles about a domain of information. Experience lays the foundation for establishing procedures to work with given knowledge. These procedures are more commonly known as skills. Skills may be further divided into basic skills and cross-functional skills. Basic skills, such as reading, facilitate the acquisition of new knowledge. Cross-functional skills, such as problem solving, extend across several domains of activities.
Basic Skills — Developed capacities that facilitate learning or the more rapid acquisition of knowledge
Cross-Functional Skills — Developed capacities that facilitate performance of activities that occur across jobs
Knowledge — Organized sets of principles and facts applying in general domains
Education — Prior educational experience required to perform in a job
Experience Requirements — requirements related to previous work activities and explicitly linked to certain types of work activities. This domain includes information about the typical experiential backgrounds of workers in an occupation or group of occupations including certification, licensure, and training data. For example, information about the professional or organizational certifications required for entry and advancement in an occupation, preferred education or training, and required apprenticeships will be documented by this part of the model.
Experience and Training — If someone were being hired to perform this job, how much of the following would be required?
Basic Skills - Entry Requirement — Entry requirement for developed capacities that facilitate learning or the more rapid acquisition of knowledge
Cross-Functional Skills - Entry Requirement — Entry requirement for developed capacities that facilitate performance of activities that occur across jobs
Social Skills - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for developed capacities used to work with people to achieve goals
Social Perceptiveness - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react the way they do- Coordination - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for adjusting actions in relation to others' actions
- Persuasion - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for persuading others to approach things differently
- Negotiation - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for bring others together and trying to reconcile differences
- Instructing - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for teaching others how to do something
- Service Orientation - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for actively looking for ways to help people
- Complex Problem Solving Skills - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for developed capacities used to solve novel, ill-defined problems in complex, real-world settings
- Problem Identification - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for identifying the nature of problems
- Information Gathering - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for knowing how to find information and identifying essential information
- Information Organization - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for finding ways to structure or classify multiple pieces of information
- Synthesis/Reorganization - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for reorganizing information to get a better approach to problems or tasks
- Idea Generation - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for generating a number of different approaches to problems
- Idea Evaluation - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for evaluating the likely success of an idea in relation to the demands of the situation
- Implementation Planning - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for developing approaches for implementing an idea
- Solution Appraisal - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for observing and evaluating the outcomes of a problem solution to identify lessons learned or redirect efforts
- Technical Skills - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for developed capacities used to design, set-up, operate, and correct malfunctions involving application of machines or technological systems
- Operations Analysis - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design
- Technology Design - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs
- Equipment Selection - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job
- Installation - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications
- Programming - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for writing computer programs for various purposes
- Testing - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for conducting tests to determine whether equipment, software, or procedures are operating as expected
- Operation Monitoring - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly
- Operation and Control - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for controlling operations of equipment or systems
- Product Inspection - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for inspecting and evaluating the quality of products
- Equipment Maintenance - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for performing routine maintenance and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed
- Troubleshooting - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for determining what is causing an operating error and deciding what to do about it
- Repairing - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for repairing machines or systems using the needed tools
- Systems Skills - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for developed capacities used to understand, monitor, and improve socio-technical systems
- Visioning - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for developing an image of how a system should work under ideal conditions
- Systems Perception - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for determining when important changes have occurred in a system or are likely to occur
- Identifying Downstream Consequences - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for determining the long-term outcomes of a change in operations
- Identification of Key Causes - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for identifying the things that must be changed to achieve a goal
- Judgment and Decision Making - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for weighing the relative costs and benefits of a potential action
- System Evaluation - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for looking at many indicators of system performance, taking into account their accuracy
- Resource Management Skills - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for developed capacities used to allocate resources efficiently
- Time Management - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for managing one's own time and the time of others
- Management of Financial Resources - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures
- Management of Material Resources - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work
- Management of Personnel Resources - Entry Requirement
— Entry requirement for motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job
Licensing — Licenses, certificates, or registrations that are awarded to show that a job holder has gained certain skills. This includes requirements for obtaining these credentials, and the organization or agency requiring their possession.
Primary occupational information source for Content Model items:
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U.S. Department of Labor O*NET Data Collection Program |
Supplemental sources of information:
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U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics  |
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U.S. Department of Labor America's Career InfoNet |
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U.S. Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship |
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U.S. Department of Education Classification of Instructional Programs |
Other indicators:
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Data not currently available |
Occupation-Specific Information — variables or other Content Model elements of selected or specific occupations. Occupation-specific information details a comprehensive set of elements that apply to a single occupation or a narrowly defined job family. This domain parallels other Content Model domains because it includes requirements such as work-related knowledge, skills, and tasks in addition to the machines, equipment, tools, software, and information technology workers may use in their workplace. Labor market information defined by the industry or occupation is also provided here. This domain is particularly important when developing specific applications of O*NET information. For example, it is necessary to refer to occupation-specific descriptive information to specify training, develop position descriptions, or redesign jobs.
Tasks — Occupation-Specific Tasks
Tools and Technology — Machines, equipment, tools, software, and information technology workers may use for optimal functioning in a high performance workplace.
Workforce Characteristics — variables that define and describe the general characteristics of occupations that may influence occupational requirements. Organizations do not exist in isolation. They must operate within a broader social and economic structure. To be useful, an occupational classification system must incorporate global contextual characteristics. O*NET provides this information by linking descriptive occupational information to statistical labor market information. This includes compensation and wage data, employment outlook, and industry size information. Much of this information is collected outside of the O*NET program's immediate scope. Collaborative efforts with organizations such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Defense, Career One Stop, the U.S. Bureau of the Census, and the Employment and Training Administration facilitate these labor market information linkages.
Labor Market Information — Current labor force characteristics of occupations
Occupational Outlook — Future labor force characteristics of occupations
Occupational Requirements — a comprehensive set of variables or detailed elements that describe what various occupations require. This domain includes information about typical activities required across occupations. Task information is often too specific to describe an occupation or occupational group. The O*NET approach is to identify generalized work activities (GWAs) and detailed work activities (DWAs) to summarize the broad and more specific types of job behaviors and tasks that may be performed within multiple occupations. Using this framework makes it possible to use a single set of descriptors to describe many occupations. Contextual variables such as the physical, social, or structural context of work that may impose specific demands on the worker or activities are also included in this section.
Generalized Work Activities — General types of job behaviors occurring on multiple jobs
Detailed Work Activities — Detailed types of job behaviors occurring on multiple jobs
Organizational Context — Characteristics of the organization that influence how people do their work
Work Context — Physical and social factors that influence the nature of work