These days, it’s never been easier for employers to find suitable talent and it’s not uncommon for many workers to be offered jobs without ever performing a job search. Your digital footprint provides ample data for companies to capture and analyze your profile for possible job matches. And many employers are turning to Applicant Tracking Systems – which search and rank resumes based on keywords and other factors – to actively recruit prospective employees online.
Likewise, job seekers can submit their resume and employment info to sites like LinkedIn and ZipRecruiter and receive relevant listings matching their particular skills and experience. But so far these tools are still limited in their level of customization. And in most cases, predictive analytical tools (which seek to match suitable candidates with prospective jobs) currently help recruiters more than job seekers.
Sometime in the near future, it will be easier for job seekers to input their data (not only their skills and experience, but also intangible personality traits such as conscientiousness and introspection) into a program and find jobs that are suitable matches, both professionally and personally.
In the meantime you can become your own data scientist by culling statistics from websites such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in order to plan your ideal career and find the perfect job. The site’s Occupational Outlook Handbook gives you an overview of particular occupations including educational requirements, working conditions, and employment projections. You can search specific jobs or industries.
From there, you can go to the site’s Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) page to find areas and industries with the highest employment for distinct occupations and their wages. Updated annually, the site features a searchable list of 800 occupations organized into specific occupational categories such as “Legal,” “Computer and Mathematical,” and “Protective Services.” Here are some ideas on how to focus your job search using OES data:
Focus on Skills
You can search for occupations and industries with the highest levels of employment based on your particular background. For instance, a search for “writers” will show that “Advertising” and “Public Relations” are the industries with the highest level of employment
Alternatively, if you’re interested in a particular industry, the site can help you narrow down your choice of occupations. For example, if you’d like to work in healthcare but are unsure of what to do, the site breaks down the variety of jobs available including orderlies, surgeons, and medical records technicians.
Broaden Your Horizons
It may surprise you to find many occupations in unexpected industries. For instance, 15 percent of paralegals work in government industries rather than law firms. Exploring the data can help you broaden the scope of your search and perhaps find openings for your occupation in unlikely places.
Look Into Wages
Wages vary based on skills, experience, geographic locations, and industry. Although the OES data gives a mean figure for hourly wages, it at least enables you to get a general comparison of jobs based on pay. Just remember that areas where wages are significantly higher can also have significantly higher costs of living.
Target Your Location
Some occupations have higher employment levels clustered in smaller, rather than larger, metropolitan areas. For example, Seattle, Portland, and San Diego offer the highest levels of employment for aspiring zoologists and wildlife biologists. The data enables jobseekers to focus on where employment levels for their occupation are highest.
To get started, click on an occupation to see its profile, which includes the industries, states, and areas with the highest pay and employment concentrations.
