HUMAN RESOURCES Transition to Business By Paul Falcone PaulFalconeHR.com
Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ “Occupational Outlook Handbook” in Your Private Sector Job Search
Occupational Outlook
Transitioning from the military to the private sector can feel like an overwhelming and daunting challenge, but there are certain tools available to help you navigate the hurdles. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ website is a good place to start to gain a 30,000-foot view of the terrain, especially their Occupational Outlook Handbook (www. bls.gov/ooh). Why? Because it projects job growth over the next decade, which is one of the most important considerations in your job search strategy. You can browse “Occupations” that are the highest paying and fastest growing as well as where the most “new jobs” will be created. You can also browse “Resources” that show the ten-year growth projections of particular roles by industry. If I have your attention at this point, it’s because this tool actually projects the “hidden job market” and anchors where you might want to spend your time and efforts in launching your job search. Specifically, the “Occupational Groups” you’ll find on the main page cover everything from construction to transportation to healthcare to education and protective services, and more. (The “Military Careers” section also provides some interesting insights.) And when you click on a particular role (for example, Human Resources Manager), you’ll find a treasure trove of additional information, including 36
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median pay, educational requirements, work experience in related occupations, and most important, the “Job Outlook” from 2022 – 2032. These projections are developed from payroll data and economic research collected and updated on an ongoing basis. When it comes to career management, industry trumps company and position. In other words, industries dictate job growth and security more than just about anything else these days. Since I come from the HR world, we can look at human resources as a prime example. HR, as a discipline, has become significantly elevated in the eyes of business owners and senior corporate executives because of its focus on talent management. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, talent availability has become a key driver of company growth. Thanks to the talent scarcity that we continue to face in this postCovid reintegration phase, organizations realize that people are not expendable and that accessing talent through new sources is the key, not just to beating the competition but to keeping the doors open. Yet, HR may still be regarded as an “overhead” discipline in times of economic slowdown or other challenges. Your greatest career defense mechanism as an HR professional will lie in knowing where the jobs are across industries. Job Outlook Tool: The Best Kept Job Search Secret in Town When you click on the “Job Outlook” tab for the “Human Resources Manager” classification, you’ll see at the top of the page the job growth prospects for “All Occupations” (for example, three percent). You’ll then see that the job growth prospects for HR Managers come in at a different number (for example, five percent). That’s a healthy trend for an HR management career path relative to the overall job market because it shows HR growing faster than average. Next, on the “Job Outlook” page, scroll down to the “Get Data” link under the heading “Employment Projections Data for Human Resources Managers, 2022 – 2032.”