Attend to children at schools, businesses, private households, and childcare institutions. Perform a variety of tasks, such as dressing, feeding, bathing, and overseeing play.
Sample of reported job titles:
Caregiver, Child Care Worker, Child Caregiver, Childcare Provider, Childcare Worker, Daycare Teacher, Daycare Worker, Infant Teacher, Toddler Teacher
Also see: Nannies
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Tasks
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Maintain a safe play environment.
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Observe and monitor children's play activities.
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Communicate with children's parents or guardians about daily activities, behaviors, and related issues.
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Support children's emotional and social development, encouraging understanding of others and positive self-concepts.
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Care for children in institutional setting, such as group homes, nursery schools, private businesses, or schools for the handicapped.
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Sanitize toys and play equipment.
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Dress children and change diapers.
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Keep records on individual children, including daily observations and information about activities, meals served, and medications administered.
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Identify signs of emotional or developmental problems in children and bring them to parents' or guardians' attention.
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Instruct children in health and personal habits, such as eating, resting, and toilet habits.
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Organize and store toys and materials to ensure order in activity areas.
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Perform general administrative tasks, such as taking attendance, editing internal paperwork, and making phone calls.
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Create developmentally appropriate lesson plans.
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Perform housekeeping duties, such as laundry, cleaning, dish washing, and changing of linens.
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Read to children and teach them simple painting, drawing, handicrafts, and songs.
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Assist in preparing food and serving meals and refreshments to children.
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Discipline children and recommend or initiate other measures to control behavior, such as caring for own clothing and picking up toys and books.
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Regulate children's rest periods.
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Organize and participate in recreational activities and outings, such as games and field trips.
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Sterilize bottles and prepare formulas.
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Help children with homework and school work.
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Provide care for mentally disturbed, delinquent, or handicapped children.
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Operate in-house day-care centers within businesses.
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Perform general personnel functions, such as supervision, training, and scheduling.
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Accompany children to and from school, on outings, and to medical appointments.
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Technology Skills
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Calendar and scheduling software — Scheduling software
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Computer based training software — Educational software; Schoology
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Desktop communications software — Tadpoles
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Internet browser software — Web browser software
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Multi-media educational software — Nearpod; Seesaw
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Project management software — Google Classroom
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Word processing software — Microsoft Word
Hot Technologies are requirements frequently included in employer job postings.
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Work Activities
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Assisting and Caring for Others — Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
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Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
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Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
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Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
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Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
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Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
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Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
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Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
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Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
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Performing General Physical Activities — Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
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Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others — Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks.
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Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
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Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
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Developing and Building Teams — Encouraging and building mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.
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Developing Objectives and Strategies — Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.
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Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
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Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials — Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
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Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
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Training and Teaching Others — Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
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Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
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Scheduling Work and Activities — Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
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Detailed Work Activities
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Arrange childcare or educational settings to ensure physical safety of children.
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Monitor activities of individuals to ensure safety or compliance with rules.
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Discuss child development and behavior with parents or guardians.
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Assist individuals with special needs.
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Provide counsel, comfort, or encouragement to individuals or families.
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Clean tools or equipment.
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Provide for basic needs of children.
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Maintain client information or service records.
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Monitor health or behavior of people or animals.
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Arrange items for use or display.
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Teach health or hygiene practices.
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Teach daily living skills or behaviors.
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Perform administrative or clerical tasks.
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Care for patients with mental illnesses.
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Develop educational or training programs.
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Perform housekeeping duties.
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Develop daily schedules for children or families.
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Assign duties or work schedules to employees.
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Perform human resources activities.
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Organize recreational activities or events.
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Accompany individuals or groups to activities.
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Work Context
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Contact With Others — 83% responded “Constant contact with others.”
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Face-to-Face Discussions — 81% responded “Every day.”
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Work With Work Group or Team — 65% responded “Extremely important.”
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Physical Proximity — 51% responded “Very close (near touching).”
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Indoors, Environmentally Controlled — 77% responded “Every day.”
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Structured versus Unstructured Work — 42% responded “Some freedom.”
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Freedom to Make Decisions — 54% responded “Some freedom.”
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Responsible for Others' Health and Safety — 42% responded “Very high responsibility.”
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Spend Time Standing — 48% responded “About half the time.”
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Coordinate or Lead Others — 34% responded “Important.”
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Responsibility for Outcomes and Results — 31% responded “Very high responsibility.”
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Time Pressure — 30% responded “Once a month or more but not every week.”
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Frequency of Conflict Situations — 31% responded “Every day.”
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Deal With External Customers — 34% responded “Extremely important.”
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Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — 35% responded “Very important.”
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Telephone — 41% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
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Frequency of Decision Making — 47% responded “Every day.”
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Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — 34% responded “Important results.”
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Letters and Memos — 29% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
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Spend Time Bending or Twisting the Body — 38% responded “About half the time.”
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Spend Time Kneeling, Crouching, Stooping, or Crawling — 33% responded “About half the time.”
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Job Zone
- Title
- Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed
- Education
- These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
- Related Experience
- Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
- Job Training
- Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
- Job Zone Examples
- These occupations often involve using your knowledge and skills to help others. Examples include orderlies, counter and rental clerks, customer service representatives, security guards, upholsterers, and tellers.
- SVP Range
- 3 months to 1 year of preparation (4.0 to < 6.0)
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Training & Credentials
- State training
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- Local training
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- Certifications
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- State licenses
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- Apprenticeships
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Have a career path or location in mind? Visit Apprenticeship.gov
to find apprenticeship opportunities near you.
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Skills
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Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
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Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
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Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
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Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
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Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
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Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
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Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
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Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
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Complex Problem Solving — Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
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Instructing — Teaching others how to do something.
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Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
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Learning Strategies — Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
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Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
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Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
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Knowledge
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Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
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English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
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Education and Training — Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
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Public Safety and Security — Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
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Psychology — Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
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Education
How much education does a new hire need to perform a job in this occupation? Respondents said:
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Abilities
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Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
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Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
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Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
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Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
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Far Vision — The ability to see details at a distance.
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Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
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Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
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Category Flexibility — The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
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Fluency of Ideas — The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
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Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
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Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
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Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
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Selective Attention — The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
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Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
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Time Sharing — The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
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Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
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Interests
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Social — Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
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Artistic — Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.
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Work Values
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Relationships — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
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Support — Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
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Independence — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
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Work Styles
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Self-Control — Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
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Concern for Others — Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
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Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical.
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Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
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Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
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Attention to Detail — Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
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Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
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Social Orientation — Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
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Adaptability/Flexibility — Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
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Independence — Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
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Initiative — Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
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Leadership — Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
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Innovation — Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.
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Persistence — Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
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Analytical Thinking — Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
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Achievement/Effort — Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
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Wages & Employment Trends
- Median wages (2021)
- $13.22 hourly, $27,490 annual
- State wages
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- Local wages
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- Employment (2020)
- 992,400 employees
- Projected growth (2020-2030)
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Average (5% to 10%)
- Projected job openings (2020-2030)
- 150,300
- State trends
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- Top industries (2020)
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Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2021 wage data
and 2020-2030 employment projections
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“Projected growth” represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2020-2030). “Projected job openings” represent openings due to growth and replacement.
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Job Openings on the Web
- State job openings
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- Local job openings
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