Research Guides: Career Research: Exploring Careers

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Exploring Careers

Vault: Jobs Guides
Over 125 eBooks covering nearly all industries (from A to Z) featuring Wikipedia-like entries for dozens of jobs within each industry, for approximately 5,000 job entries total. Entries emphasize preparing for a career and getting your foot in the door, including:

what the job entails
education and licensure requirements
work environment
tips for entry
professional associations

BLS: Occupational Outlook Handbook
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy. The BLS OOH has career information on duties, education and training, pay, and outlook for hundreds of occupations. [U.S. only coverage]
BLS: Career Outlook
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Career Outlook articles provide data and information on a variety of topics, including occupations and industries, pay and benefits, and more. These articles are helpful for students, career counselors, jobseekers, and others planning careers. [U.S. only coverage]
CareerOneStop
From the U.S. Department of Labor. Learn about careers, find career info, and locate career resources and advice. [U.S. only coverage]
Climbtheladder
In-depth guides for every professional job title that provides details on duties, skills, trends, job growth, advancement opportunities and more. [U.S. only coverage]
O*Net OnLine
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration. The O*NET database includes information on skills, abilities, knowledges, work activities, and interests associated with over 900 occupations. [U.S. only coverage]

Pro Tip

Salaries

Employers rarely disclose specific salaries, so finding salary data can be difficult. There is no federal law requiring employers to disclose salary data, and state laws vary. In addition to visiting commercial websites like Glassdoor and Payscale, try state-focused compensation databases, which might be managed either by state-sponsored institutions, or non-profit institutions, (e.g., Government Compensation in California).

Search for roles that match you interests (keep in mind that the database may use abbreviations, e.g., engr for engineer).