My last entry discussed U.S. Government resources for career assessment. This entry will feature resources that can inform you about the world of work. An important part of career decision-making is understanding what kinds of jobs and careers reflect what you learned through self assessment, and the U.S. Department of Labor has great resources that can help you find jobs that are appropriate for you in the real world.

Occupational Outlook Handbook
The Occupational Outlook Handbook is Uncle Sam’s career bible. It provides essential information on hundreds of occupations, and each occupation is presented in its own "statement," which describes the type of work performed, the work environment, education and training requirements, possible advancement, the employment outlook, and typical earnings. The Occupational Outlook Handbook also lists professional and trade groups that you can contact for more information. This valuable resource is revised every two years and has other features of interest to job seekers. A chapter called “Tomorrow’s Jobs” discusses statistics and trends in the labor force and features easy-to-understand charts of the fastest growing and declining occupations.

Occupational Outlook Quarterly
This magazine is published four times a year and serves as an update between revisions to the Occupational Outlook Handbook. It offers the latest information on jobs and careers, and articles are written in straightforward, non-technical language and cover a wide variety of career and work-related topics, such as new and emerging occupations, training opportunities, salary trends, and results of new studies from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is the first place where the U.S. Department of Labor’s 10 year employment projections are published.

The Occupational Outlook Quarterly has two sections that appear in every issue. The “Grab Bag” has short articles on varied topics related to careers with links to agencies and organizations to contact, and “You’re a What?” offers a day in the working life of real people. Examples include a solar panel installer, an auctioneer, and a voice actor. Another great feature of this resource is the online 10 year archive of issues. You can search by topic, regular features, or charts. All of the articles and data can be downloaded to your computer.

Career Guide to Industries
A companion to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, the Career Guide discusses careers from an industry perspective and highights the relationships between different occupations and how they cooperate within industries. This allows you to see a range of opportunities and career paths within different industries. The 2008-09 edition of the Career Guide discusses more than 44 industries, including manufacturing, transportation, financial services, education and health services, leisure and hospitality, government advocacy and grant making, construction, and natural resources.

For more information on how to find a great career, check out WORKPLACE Wednesdays, which kicks off again with How to Write a Résumé on November 4 at 6:00 p.m. at the Parkway Central Library.

Don’t forget the Job Fair at Northeast Regional Library takes place on Tuesday, November 10, from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m.!