Explore Careers

You can explore industries or occupations to plan your future.

Wondering what the difference is between an industry and an occupation?

Think of it like this: an occupation is what you do, and an industry is where you do it. So, if you are a nurse in a hospital, your occupation is Registered Nurse, and your industry is Health Care. If you're a nurse in a high school, your occupation is still Registered Nurse, but your industry is Education.

What if you're an accountant for a sports team? Your occupation is Accountant and your industry is Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation.

You can learn about industries and occupations by following the links below. Take a look and see what careers might fit you best!

Learn About Industries

Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction Utilities Construction Manufacturing Wholesale Trade Retail Trade Transportation and Warehousing Information Finance and Insurance Real Estate and Rental and Leasing Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Management of Companies and Enterprises Administrative and Waste Services Educational Services Health Care and Social Assistance Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation Accommodation and Food Services Other Services, except Public Administration Public Administration

Industry Profile
Explore more than 1,800 industries. Find industry descriptions, wages, employment information, and more.

What’s Hot
Find detailed information about all industries, and discover which industries are in demand, pay the most, have the largest employment, and more.

Career Guide to Industries (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Learn about careers in dozens of different industries, such as education, healthcare, motor vehicle manufacturing, and others.

Competency Model Clearinghouse
Find useful industry-specific Competency Models, which promote an understanding of the skill sets and competencies that are essential to educate and train a globally competitive workforce.

Learn About Occupations

Architecture and Engineering Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Business and Financial Operations Community and Social Services Computer and Mathematical Construction and Extraction Education, Training, and Library Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Food Preparation and Serving Related Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Healthcare Support Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Legal Life, Physical, and Social Science Management Office and Administrative Support Personal Care and Service Production Protective Service Sales and Related Transportation and Material Moving

Occupation Profile
Browse through more than 800 occupations to learn about the work activities, pay, education needed, and more.

What’s Hot
Discover which occupations are growing, fastest, employ the most people, or have the most vacancies in this CareerOneStop section.

Salary Info
Find out what you might get paid in 800+ different occupations.

Browse by STEM (O*NET OnLine)
Find details about occupations that require knowledge about science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics (STEM) classes.

Browse by Career Clusters (O*NET OnLine)
The 16 Career Clusters contain occupations that require similar skills. Use these groupings to help guide your education and career plans.

Occupational Outlook Handbook (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Explore hundreds of different types of jobs and learn what workers do on the job, what education or training they need, how much they’re paid, and more in this guide from the U.S. Department of Labor.

What Do You Like To Do? (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
You can explore careers based on your areas of interest on this site from the U.S. Department of Labor made just for students in Grades 4-8.