Get the Facts to Help You Make Career Decisions 

How do you learn about jobs? Talking to people is one way or reading job announcements, but these methods can be subjective, depending on whom you talk to. If you want to learn factual information and explore different types of jobs, check out the Utah Occupational Explorer at: http://jobs.utah.gov/jsp/wi/utalmis/gotoOccinfo.do. 

The most difficult decision is deciding how you want to search for information. You may want to type in the job title (option 1). This may result in a list of many jobs that are related in some way to the title. You may decide to search through the alphabetical list of standard job titles (option 2) or you may search by selected occupational groups (option 3). 

Once you have the job title you are interested in you can find the facts in the Full Report. We will use carpenter for this example: 

Occupational Description: This information gives you an idea of what job duties a carpenter performs. Sometimes it is difficult to tell what you would actually be doing in a particular job by just reading its title. It is pretty easy to understand what a cashier does each day because we see them working. It might be less clear what an accountant does because we don’t often get to see them at work. 

Statewide Employment Outlook: DWS rates occupations on a five-star system. Carpenter is rated as a four-star occupation in Utah which means there should be a good number of job openings and decent pay. The star rating scale is designed to help you understand which jobs in Utah will have the most openings and best pay by training level. If an occupation has only one star, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will not be a good job for you. It just means there might be fewer openings, more competition, and/or lower pay in Utah. We also estimate how many carpenter jobs there were in Utah in 2006 (22,051) and project how many there will be in 2016 (29,393). We say there will be an average number of openings each year from 2006 – 2016 (1,030). Don’t use these numbers literally because they are estimates and projections to give us information about trends. For example, there could be 3,000 openings in 2007 and only 200 openings in 2008, but average out to 1,030 per year. 

Occupational Wages: The data shows the hourly median pay in Salt Lake City is about $16.50 per hour compared with about $18 nationally. You can click on the column headings for definitions of “median” and “inexperienced.” This table also shows training requirements. These are the average or general training requirements that employers across the U.S. demand. Some individual employers may have different requirements for their jobs. 

Related Occupations: This can be useful for people who are trying to make a career decision, but aren’t familiar with all of the types of jobs available. For example, if you think you are interested in being a carpenter, you can see that a related occupation is bricklayer. Simply click on “bricklayer” to get a full report on this occupation to see if it is something you might be more interested in. 

Occupational Skills Information: This can be a very helpful tool to help you understand what skills you will need to do the job.  You may already have them or you may decide you need further training. For example, the top skills required by construction carpenters are mathematics, time management, critical thinking, and active listening. 

Current Job Openings: This is a list of job openings employers have placed with DWS. The employers post their own jobs so the range of job requirements and pay may vary a bit. This list can give you an idea of what employers in Utah currently need. For example, there are many carpenter jobs listed today with pay ranging from $8 to $23 per hour. You can access some information about the job and register with DWS to apply for the job directly from this page.

 Education and Training Providers: You can find information about public training programs available in Utah. For example, training and education for carpenters include the Utah College of Applied Technology and Salt Lake Community College.  Facts and information can be very helpful to your career search, but remember, they should only be used as tools to assist you in this process.