What is O*NET?
O*NET describes what people do at work and what their jobs require. It covers tasks, skills, knowledge, activities, and work conditions.
- Full name
- Occupational Information Network
- Published by
- U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- Edition in EduInsights
- 31.0
- Current availability
- Used in the current EduInsights data release.
Why it matters
Why we use O*NET
O*NET explains what different jobs involve and which knowledge, skills, abilities, and working conditions matter.
What people do all day
Task statements get specific. Activities group that work into broader themes shared across jobs.
What people need to know and do well
O*NET rates skills, knowledge, abilities, interests, and work styles for each detailed job.
How people prepare and where they work
You can see education, training, experience, common software, and working conditions.
Good to know
What to keep in mind
- Something can matter without being hard
- Importance asks whether a skill matters. Level asks how advanced that skill needs to be.
- One federal job can hide several specialties
- O*NET may split a broad job into specialties with quite different day-to-day work.
- Your workplace may look different
- The ratings summarize a job group. One employer's version of the role can still vary.
On its own
Questions this source can answer by itself
These questions need no facts from another source.
- What does someone in this career do each day?
- Which skills are important for this job?
- Which careers have similar tasks or skills?
With other sources
Questions this source helps answer
We use another source only when it describes the same college, field, career, place, or time.
- Which important job tasks show observed AI use?
- What are the pay and outlook for skill-similar careers?
Where it stops
What this source cannot tell you
- O*NET describes jobs, not one employer's exact role.
- Its ratings do not measure current hiring or pay.
- Detailed O*NET jobs can be narrower than federal job categories.
Use this source in a real question.
Ask about a college, field, career, place, or change over time.
