The O*NET Program is the nation’s primary source of occupational information. Valid data are essential to understanding the rapidly changing nature of work and how it impacts the workforce and U.S. economy. From this information, applications are developed to facilitate the development and maintenance of a skilled workforce.
The O*NET database is publicly available at no cost and is continuously updated using a wide variety of sources and methodologies. Millions of individuals, businesses, researchers, and developers rely on O*NET each year through platforms such as O*NET OnLine, My Next Move, My Next Move for Veterans, Web Services APIs, and numerous other public and private applications. These resources play a vital role in helping individuals identify training and job opportunities, and enabling employers to connect with the skilled workers needed to remain competitive.
Content Model: Anatomy of an occupation
Every occupation requires a unique mix of knowledges, skills, abilities, activities, and tasks. These defining features are structured within the O*NET Content Model, which organizes information into a detailed taxonomy with multiple levels of granularity.
For example, within the Work Activities hierarchy, more than 19,000 task statements are linked to over 2,000 detailed work activities, which are organized into 325 intermediate activities and ultimately nested into 41 generalized activities.
Explore the interactive Content Model to see the comprehensive range of occupational information and their organizing structures.
O*NET-SOC Taxonomy: A spectrum of occupations
While the Content Model defines the information collected for a single occupation, the O*NET-SOC taxonomy establishes the broader structure of occupations across the labor market. Updated in 2019 to align with the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC), the taxonomy now includes 1,016 occupational titles, of which 923 are O*NET data-level occupations, collectively representing over 55,000 jobs.
With guidance and sponsorship from DOL, ongoing research ensures the taxonomy remains current, incorporating new and emerging occupations to reflect changes in the workforce.
Data Collection: Real-world information
The O*NET-SOC taxonomy defines occupations, and the Content Model specifies the information to be collected. The Data Collection program brings these frameworks to life through a multi-method approach that draws on a wide variety of sources. As new tools and methodologies emerge, O*NET continually adapts, ensuring the data remains accurate, comprehensive, and relevant to the evolving world of work.
Updated quarterly, the O*NET Database ensures the most current occupational information is available. For information on data currency see: Occupation Update Summary. You can access the latest release on the O*NET Database page. For those interested in tracking how occupations have changed over time, the O*NET Database Releases Archive offers a complete history.
Get started on a new career
My Next Move, My Next Move for Veterans and Mi Próximo Paso (targeted for Spanish-speaking career explorers) helps new job seekers, students, and other career explorers investigate over 900 occupations. These interactive web-based tools have easy ways to search careers:
Explore O*NET data from your browser
O*NET OnLine is a comprehensive web application for exploring the O*NET database, offering:
The O*NET Interest Profiler (IP) is a family of self-assessment career exploration tools that can help clients discover the type of work activities and occupations that they would like and find exciting.
O*NET-SOC classification made easy
Trying to find the correct O*NET-SOC code for job orders, applicants, and UI claimants? Use O*NET OnLine's interactive job coding guide to leverage O*NET OnLine for your job-coding task.
O*NET information is relevant to many different audiences. Below you'll find some suggestions for different types of visitors:
Counselors: Connect people to appropriate occupations with resources like the Interest Profiler and O*NET OnLine. For self-directed career exploration, My Next Move is a great starting point. Mi Próximo Paso offers career exploration for Spanish speakers. My Next Move for Veterans supports veterans transitioning to the civilian workforce.
Students: Discover occupations you might enjoy, by taking the Interest Profiler assessment online or from your phone. If you've already got an occupation in mind, learn more about it from My Next Move.
Human Resources: Visit Resources for Business to discover data, tools and implementation examples for job analysis, developing apprenticeship opportunities, or helping your employees with their career goals. Or, visit O*NET OnLine to dive into the details about occupations now!
Researchers: Our Reports and Documents section contains over 100 papers on the development and evolution of the O*NET database and tools. For detailed study, download the database itself to directly view the data, as well as statistical metadata describing the quality of the information.
Developers: Incorporate O*NET information into your application through O*NET Web Services. Find graphics and URLs for linking directly to O*NET sites. See related Crosswalk files for connecting other systems to the O*NET-SOC taxonomy.
If you have questions about using O*NET, feel free to contact O*NET Customer Service (onet@onetcenter.org).
