Getting What You Paid For: Occupational Outlook and Hoover’s

Hoovers1.jpgIn last week’s blog, I promised to give you more information about two of my favorite sources of information for job search preparation: the Occupational Outlook Handbook and Hoover’s Online. Both of these reliable sources are available through the Penn State University Libraries.

You can easily find them by going to the Business Library online and clicking “Career Information.” The “Career Resources” page will be displayed. Under the category, “General Career Guide for all Majors,” click the first link (Explore Careers & Internships). Here you will find the links to many valuable career information websites. When you enter these sites through the PSU Libraries, you are making use of your tuition dollars! (Abridged versions of some of these sites are available with a Google search.)

The third link on this page is the Occupational Outlook Handbook. The Handbook is compiled by the Bureau of Labor of our federal government. It contains information about types of jobs, educational and training requirements, advancement opportunities, job growth, career descriptions and more.  It also has salary information collected from a large sample of businesses and individuals; this can be an excellent source of information, particularly when negotiating your salary.

Scroll down the page farther to find another wonderful source of information–Hoover’s. Dun & Bradstreet, a business research company, uses an in-house staff to compile information and sells it as a subscription to businesses and individuals. You’ll find information about companies, industries, and people. One of the best features is the contact information, including phone numbers and mailing addresses, of personnel at specific companies you may be interested in exploring.

Here’s how it worked for one student. He came to my office this week and wanted to find out what companies might employ him. He’s a petroleum and natural gas major, and although he’s only a freshman, he was curious who were some prospective employers. He knew about Exxon Mobil and Chevron, but when I showed him how to select the industry tab at the top of the page  and search “oil and gas exploration,” he learned Anadarko Petroleum, Apache Corporation, Devon Energy, ConocoPhillips, and Marathon Oil might be good matches too. In addition, he could search under each of these individual companies and become better informed and get contact information for each.

I love watching your reactions as you discover how valuable this information is, but amazingly only a few students use these tools. Aren’t you tired of paying for something you never use? Begin today by using your PSU Libraries in your job search, and you’ll be making those tuition dollars pay off. 

This entry was posted in Professional Development and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply