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.
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.
Detailed Work Activities — Detailed types of job behaviors occurring on multiple jobs
Detailed Work Activities List
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 |