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~ Use of the - J Dictionary of Occupational Titles by the U.S. Employment Service Chapters 3 and 4 describe the uses of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Chapter 3 summarizes the uses of the DOT within the U.S. Employment Service (ES); chapter 4 presents a summary of the uses of the DOT outside the Employment Service. This chapter is intended to provide the general reader with some information about the primary uses made of the DOT by the Employment Service. Detailed descriptions of Employment Service use of the DOT have already been collected and are reported elsewhere. ~ The major use of the DOT within the Employment Service is as a placement tool in local Employment Service offices for the matching of workers and jobs. It is also used in a variety of counseling and guidance activities. Secondary users of the DOT include the Division of Testing and the Division of Labor Certification, which are the two other subdivisions (in addition to the Division of Occupational Analysis) of the Office of Technical Support in the U.S. Employment Service. Each of these users of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles is described in turn. Thoughout the chapter, reference is made to data gathered from site visits to local lithe Employment Service has conducted several surveys of its use of the third edition DOT: in 1967-1968 the Wisconsin occupational analysis field center conducted a four-question, open- ended survey; a second survey was made in 1973 in nine state ES agencies by the occupational analysis field centers; in 1972 the California occupational analysis field center also conducted a study of DOT use in local ES offices. 31
32 WORK, JOBS, AND OCCUPATIONS Employment Service offices as well as to the committee's surveys of DOT purchasers and state-level DOT users. Given the nature of the samples, the ES stab responding to the surveys cannot be regarded as representative of all ES employees.2 Still, the responses to these surveys provide supplemen- tary information about Employment Service use of the DOT. USE OF THE DOT IN PLACEMENT AND COUNSELING A SOURCE OF OCCUPATIONAL INFORMATION Employment Service placement interviewers and counselors need definitions of those occupations for which employers need workers as well as of those occupations in which workers have previously been employed. It was this need that led to the production of the first edition DOT in 1939. To understand the current need for the DOT by the Employment Service, committee members and staff observed the operations of local Employment Service offices in various parts of the country and discussed the use of the DOT with experienced interviewers and counselors. Because we did not visit a large number of offices and because the offices we did visit were not specifically selected for their representative character, the descriptions provided do not necessarily represent all, or even the average, Employment Service office. The committee was also briefed at its first meeting by senior officials of the national office of the U.S. Employment Service on the use of the DOT and benefited from published Employment Service documents. Many of the ES staff with whom we spoke suggested that there was an enduring need for a comprehensive set of definitions for the occupational titles that are commonly used to describe jobs in the U.S. economy. Our observation of local ES offices indicated that even highly experi- enced Employment Service interviewers may encounter unfamiliar occupa- tional titles. For example, in one local office, committee staff observed a counselor, whose experience was mainly in hotel service occupations, interview an applicant who had recently emigrated from the Soviet Union. The applicant spoke fluent English but did not fully understand the 2 The DOT purchaser and the state-level surveys carried out by the committee staff were intended to solicit responses from users of the DOT outside the Employment Service (see chapter 4 for details on the sampling design for these surveys). However, because of the lack of specificity in the list of purchasers used as the sampling base, and because of the way the state-level users were chosen, 76 Employment Service employees were inadvertently included as respondents to the survey of external users. These responses were deleted from the analysis of external use of the DOT and used as supplementary information for this chapter (see also footnotes 2 and 5 of chapter 4).
Use of the DOT by the U.S. Employment Service 33 nuances of American occupational titles. After reviewing his application the counselor established that the applicant had been employed in the Soviet telephone system. The interviewer then worked his way through a variety of technical occupations in the telephone industry involving duties similar to those described by the applicant. The counselor began with the occupation Telephone Installer and then proceeded from Telephone Repairer to Electronics Technician. He and the applicant finally settled on the title Electronics Technician as the best description of the job tasks that the worker had performed for the Soviet telephone system. The interview was largely conducted by having the applicant respond to the definitions of various occupational titles in the telephone industry. In this case the availability of a comprehensive set of definitions for the occupational titles used in the U.S. telephone industry was an essential part of assisting the job applicant; the availability of a dictionary of occupational titles enabled an interviewer whose experience was largely confined to hotel service jobs to assist the applicant in finding a suitable job in another industry. While the foregoing example may be unusual, it does parallel a number of other cases that are more common. Situations may arise in which workers are employed in relatively rare occupations or the occupational titles used in one area of the country are not the same as those used in another area. The Dictionary of Occupational Titles is also used to facilitate the training of ES personnel in occupational areas in which they have no direct experience. PLACEMENT In addition to the use of its definitions and titles to inform interviewers, counselors, and applicants about the nature of jobs, the DOT classification structure provides a mechanism for job-worker matching. Each worker applying for a job and each job opening placed with the Employment Service is assigned a DOT code number designating the relevant occupa- tion. These codes are used to match job openings in a particular occupation with workers seeking employment in that occupation as well as to report aggregate operating statistics on the types of workers served and the types of job vacancies existing in various local labor markets. The committee staff visited a number of Employment Service offices, both automated and nonautomated. A composite picture of the typical job search procedure is presented below, drawn from local office visits and Employment Service documents. For the job-seeking client entering the employment office, there are three basic methods of job search or referral once the initial reception and application work is completed. Most of the applicants (75 percent in one center visited) are sent directly to microfiche
34 WORK, JOBS, AND OCCUPATIONS viewers through which they can review existing job openings, sorted by DOT code. If they find jobs that are of interest, they then meet with a placement interviewer. Certain clients are referred immediately to place- ment interviewers, because either their skills are in great demand or they require special help in completing their application (e.g., they cannot read or lack sufficient proficiency in English). Other clients usually the very young, very old, disabled, or non-English-speaking- are usually routed directly to guidance counselors. The first two of these methods of job search are described in this section; the counseling process is described in the subsequent section. Self-Referral Most local Employment Service offices have set aside a portion of the office as a job information service, which provides job search information. The existence of a job information service system rests on the premise that many job seekers can secure employment with minimal assistance from interviewers. The Employment Service has set up a self-help unit to which job applicants can go to review existing job openings. In addition to job search information (e.g., pamphlets and career brochures) this unit contains microfiche viewers listing job openings by DOT code. Clients are directed to appropriate viewers on the basis of their past employment experience, as indexed by the nine-digit DOT code. The job bank microfiche contains all the job orders submitted through the previous day; in automated centers it contains keywords (discussed in Appendix G) as well as the DOT code. When a job seeker has found one or more jobs of interest, he or she meets with a placement interviewer who consults the microfiche as well as the application form to determine whether the client meets the employer's specifications. The interviewer then checks to be sure that the employer is still accepting referrals and if so sets up an interview. Interviewer Referral Some of the clients using the job information service may also be directed to placement interviewers who help them search for jobs. Other applicants are referred directly to interviewers upon entry to the employment office, either because their skills are in great demand or because they encounter problems in filling out the application forms or using the microfiche viewers. The method of job search employed by the placement interviewers depends on whether the employment office is automated. In a nonautomat- ed once each interviewer generally specializes in a certain group of jobs
Use of the DOT by the U.S. Employment Service 35 (i.e., a particular range of DOT codes). Duplicate copies of a client's application must therefore be placed in separate files, one for each DOT code assigned to the client. In assisting a client in finding employment the interviewer manually searches through job orders and through the job information service microfiche in order to find a suitable job-worker match. Finding such a match, the interviewer sets up an interview for the applicant. The client's file is kept for 60 days, during which time the interviewer attempts to fill new job orders with past applications. Although many placements are found this way (in one center this type of placement was 3 times as likely as same-day placements), the interviewers complained that it is hard to find time for such searches when long lines of applicants await service. In automated offices the interviewer-assisted job search is conducted in a different way. Two types of computer-assisted matching techniques are employed: an applicant-oriented procedure and an employer-oriented procedure. The former procedure typically makes an immediate referral, while the latter is done in an "overnight batch match." In the applicant- oriented search, the interviewer searches the job bank via computer to find jobs matching the client's skills and requirements for time, pay, and location. The matching jobs are usually printed out with an estimate of the degree to which the match satisfies the employer's requirements. The interviewer assists in choosing among the matching jobs and makes a referral. If no referral is made via the applicant-oriented search procedure, the client may still receive a job referral from the employer-oriented matching procedure. In this method of job-worker matching, a computer is used to find the best-fitting applicants for each job in the job bank; for each job, applicants are ranked by fit to the job. Before moving on to a description of counseling, mention should be made of how job orders from employers are handled in Employment Service offices. Special interviewers, not involved in placement, accept job orders by phone, recording in a standardized way information on place, limitations on the number of referrals, salary, benefits, and job require- ments. In automated centers this information is coded directly into the computer via a keyword language so that the jobs are available for immediate referral. In both types of centers a DOT code is assigned to each job order by the order taker. COUNSELING Certain Employment Service clients including veterans and disabled, illiterate, very young, very old, or non-English-speaking people-are usually routed directly to vocational guidance counselors rather than to
36 WORK, JOBS, AND OCCUPATIONS the job information service unit or a placement interviewer. Employment Service counselors assist job seekers with problems related to vocational choice, occupational change, and job adjustment. Since the counseling program is ultimately designed to result in occupational placement, Employment Service counselors may serve the dual role of placement interviewer/counselor. The counselor, when interviewing individual clients, attempts to assist the job seeker in developing an occupational plan, identifying both short- range and long-range vocational goals. In developing such a plan, the counselor collects relevant identifying information, a summary of the applicant's vocational situation, and additional facts that may be relevant (e.g., vocational likes and dislikes, work experience, educational back- ground). As part of the counseling process the counselor may use ES- approved tests, such as interest inventories, interest checklists, and aptitude tests, to assess the individual's skill level, aptitudes, or interests. With this information the counselor can then work with the job seeker in developing an occupational plan to be followed. The overall purpose of the counseling program is to evaluate, with the applicant, his or her current qualifications and potential occupational aptitudes and to compare them with job requirements and opportunities as indexed by the DOT code and other worker trait data. A new automated system has been designed to assist in the counseling/placement function: the systems exploration and research for career help (SEARCH) is a computer-assisted system that compares the interests, aptitudes, and abilities of a client with those required by the jobs in which he or she has expressed an interest. The national office and the state occupational analysis field centers of the U.S. Employment Service have also engaged in a variety of counseling and guidance support activities. A recent major effort was the publication of the Guide for Occupational Exploration (U.S. Department of Labor, 1979a).3 This guide, written in simple language, groups together occupa- tions that are "homogeneous in terms of worker characteristics." The worker characteristics that define these worker trait groups derive from job analysis schedules completed for the DOT and include general educational development (GED); specific vocational preparation (svP); the DATA, PEOPLE, and THINGS ratings; aptitudes, interests, temperaments, physical demands, and working conditions. This information is reformatted to facilitate counseling. The Guide for Occupational Exploration, which stems from an ES tradition of publishing career guidance material based on the DOT, illustrates a major and continuing use of DOT material. The 3An adaptation of this work was published commercially (Appalachian Educational Laboratory, 1978).
Use of the DOT by the U.S. Employment Service 37 Employment Service has also published a number of books and pamphlets describing occupations and employment possibilities in various industries, such as Occupations in Library Science, Career Opportunities in the Trucking Industry, Health Careers Guidebook (see Appendix D for a listing of occupational analysis publications). In general, these publications reformat information from the DOT with basic information about an industry, its organization, and its hiring practices. EVALUATION OF DOT USE Several assessments of local office use of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles in placement and counseling have been conducted by the Employ- ment Service. This section provides a summary of these evaluations as well as supplemental information provided by the committee-sponsored surveys of DOT purchasers and state-level DOT users. The Employment-Service- sponsored surveys of DOT use were carried out before 1974 and describe the use of editions prior to the fourth edition, whereas the committee- sponsored surveys cover both the third and the fourth editions. The ES studies include (1) a survey conducted by the Wisconsin occupational analysis field center in 1967-1968, (2) a small survey conducted in 1972 by the Los Angeles occupational analysis field center, and (3) a 1973 survey of DOT use in nine state Employment Service offices, conducted by the occupational analysis field centers. The 1973 study, more comprehensive in scope than the previous surveys, surveyed 569 employ- ment personnel in more than 220 local offices in New York, North Carolina, Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, Missouri, Arizona, and Washington. Those surveyed included placement interviewers, counselors, job development and training specialists, unemployment personnel, and technical, support, and management staff. While some of the information gathered by this survey is limited because the referent is the third edition DOT, many of the essential features of the DOT and its use by the Employment Service have not changed. All three Employment Service surveys suggest that the DOT job titles and definitions are the most frequently used DOT components. Of the 1973 respondents, 97 percent reported using the titles and definitions at least occasionally. Respondents reported less frequent use of the occupational group arrangement, the industry designation, worker functions, and worker trait information. In the 1973 survey, approximately 60 percent of the placement interviewers reported that they never used the worker trait information, and another 37 percent reported that they used it only occasionally. Employment Service counselors are more likely to find the worker trait
38 WORK, JOBS, AND OCCUPATIONS information useful: 12 percent of the counselors reported frequent use, and another 68 percent reported occasional use of the worker trait information. Three quarters of the counselors found the worker trait information useful in helping clients explore vocational and occupational options. Two thirds of the counselors and 82 percent of the interviewers reported that they used the occupational group arrangement (the DOT classification structure) at least occasionally. Those who used the occupational group arrangement reported that they did so for order taking, to classify occupations and applicants, to find appropriate occupational titles, to assign codes to entry-level workers, or to relate occupations to the aptitude and the general aptitude test battery (GATB) scores of applicants. Seventy percent of the counselors and sixty-two percent of the interviewers found the industry designations useful for their work. The counselors used the industry designation for differentiating among similar titles and identifying related occupations for counseling and job develop- ment, while interviewers employed it for finding similar jobs in related fields, coding jobs and applicants, defining industries and defining jobs within them for job development, and as help in identifying applicant skills. The majority of counselors and interviewers also found the worker function information (the fourth, fifth, and sixth digits of the DOT code) helpful in their work. Two thirds of the counselors reported that the worker function data were of significant value in their work; 60 percent of the interviewers expressed similar sentiments. These survey data are in general agreement with the observations made during committee-sponsored site visits to local Employment Service offices. In particular, it was observed that order takers, interviewers, and unemployment insurance personnel usually consult the dictionary to locate an occupational title and DOT code; they less frequently use it for other purposes. In visits to offices made while the third edition DOT was still being used, we observed that typically, Volume 1 was consulted; that volume contains occupational titles arranged in alphabetical order, with a definition and a DOT code number for each title. The DOT supplement containing three-digit suffix codes was also usually consulted to provide a unique nine-digit code. Ordinarily, placement staff did not consult the worker trait and occupational group information published in the second volume. This volume appears to be used in unusual cases (e.g., involving applicants with special counseling needs or for job development or testing work). In many offices it is impossible for an interviewer to serve a new applicant or employer without using the title and definition sections of the DOT. Some offices have an explicit policy that requires the consultation of
Use of the DOT by the U.S. Employment Service 39 the DOT to verify all occupational titles and codes. In other offices there is no explicit rule, and, occasionally, one observes interviewers using personal lists of DOT codes for common occupational titles, a practice that is more common in nonautomated offices in which ES personnel specialize in a particular industry or a range of occupations. In the 1973 survey, respondents were also asked to assess the usefulness of the various components of the DOT. Many respondents drew attention to the need for cross-references between similar occupations in the DOT as well as to the DOT'S inconsistency in the detail of its occupational definitions; 63 percent of the ES counseling personnel believed that related DOT definitions should be cross-referenced to facilitate career exploration. In addition, complaints were voiced about the placement of dissimilar jobs in the same group in the DOT'S occupational group arrangement, which meant that the grouping arrangement could not be relied on to locate occupations with related skills. The Employment Service respondents to the committee-sponsored survey of DOT users (see note 2) provide interesting supplementary and corroborating information to the evaluation of use described above. Of the 76 respondents, 28 are placement personnel; another 28 are involved in the development of labor force projections and occupational information dissemination; 8 are in counseling work; the remainder conduct research or are located in vocational education or managerial positions. Of these respondents, 92 percent reported that they had used the fourth edition DOT in the past year; 67 percent were also still using one of the two primary third edition volumes (i.e., Definitions of Titles (U.S. Department of Labor, 1965a) and Occupational Classification and Industry Index (0J.S. Department of Labor, 1965b)~. As suggested by the Es-sponsored surveys, Employment Service staff find the titles and definitions as well as the DOT codes themselves particularly useful; 91 percent of the ES respondents reported that they use the titles and definitions and 87 percent use the codes. About half the respondents report using the industry designations (placement personnel more often than counselors) and the worker trait information (counselors more often than placement interviewers). Although the DOT appears to be quite important to local ES employees (at least specific component parts of the DOT), the career-related brochures sponsored by the Division of Occupational Analysis are apparently not so important. The occupational analysis career guides and brochures are generally used by fewer than a third of the Employment Service respondents. This finding is surprising, given that the local ES offices are the primary distribution point for these publications. By contrast, the job search monthlies published by the Job Search Branch of the Division of Occupational Analysis (e.g., Job Bank Openings Summary, Frequently
40 WORK, JOBS, AND OCCUPATIONS Listed Openings, and Occupations in Demand are widely used. Nearly two thirds of the ES respondents (primarily employment placement personnel and those involved in labor force projections and the dissemination of occupational information) reported regular or occasional use of these products in the past year. Although the casual nature of our sample of ES personnel precludes strong inferences from their responses, the lack of use of career products within local ES offices is consistent with the observations of the committee and staff made in the course of visits to ES offices and is corroborated by the findings of Booz, Allen & Hamilton, Inc. (1979:IV-17~. Booz, Allen & Hamilton asked ES employees about career publications of the Occupation- al Analysis Branch but not about the products of the Job Search Branch. They concluded that the production of career brochures by the national office was poorly directed and not cost effective. In interviews with local Employment Service staff, including job information service unit supervi- sors, career counselors, and office managers, the Booz, Allen & Hamilton stab did not find anyone familiar with the national career publications. The state-produced brochures, in contrast, were considered valuable and were in heavy demand at the local offices visited. Although not a publication of the Employment Service, the Occupation- al Outlook Handbook (U.S. Department of Labor, 1978a), published every 2 years by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, exemplifies one other major use of the DOT within the Department of Labor. This large document is a major source of vocational guidance used by school and career counselors. For each DOT occupation the Handbook collects and reformats DOT and other information describing what workers do in that occupation, the training and education required, and projections of the likely availability of jobs in the future. This publication is evidently used often by local ES office employees; 90 percent of the Employment Service respondents to our survey of DOT users reported regular or occasional use in the past year. OTHER USES OF THE DOT TESTING As mentioned earlier, Employment Service counselors and interviewers may recommend that their clients take one or more tests designed to assist both job seekers and employers in maximizing job-worker placement. These tests, designed by research psychologists in the Division of Testing of the Employment Service, assess applicant aptitudes and interests with respect to a variety of occupational options; they are intended to measure basic achievement levels, interests, proficiencies, and potential. Counselors
Use of the DOT by the U.S. Employment Service 41 can use this information in exploring career opportunities and options with ES clients. The testing program is also seen as benefiting prospective employers by permitting the referral of applicants who have demonstrated potential or interest in a particular occupation. A variety of tests, developed by the Division of Testing, are currently being employed in local ES offices. General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB). The GATB, published in 1947 after extensive occupational validation and factor analysis studies, mea- sures the vocational aptitudes of individuals who possess basic literacy skills but who have requested help from ES counselors in selecting an occupation. The test battery contains 12 tests measuring 9 vocational aptitudes, including general learning ability; verbal, numerical, and spatial aptitudes; form perception; clerical perception; motor coordination; finger dexterity; and manual dexterity. The test is intended to measure an individual's vocational aptitudes, and scores are interpreted as indicating qualifications for a wide range of occupations. Non-Reading Aptitude Test Battery (NATB). The NATB iS an analogue of the GATB for individuals with insufficient reading skills to take the GATB. In this test battery, 14 tests measure the same 9 aptitudes measured by the GATB. Specific Aptitude Test Batteries (SATB). The SATB are subsets of the GATB, with associated cutoff scores, used to measure an applicant's potential to acquire skills relevant to specific categories of occupations. Clerical Skills Test. The clerical test is designed to measure proficiency in typing, dictation, and spelling for clerical occupations. Basic Occupational Literacy Test (BOLT). The BOLT iS a measure of the literacy skills of educationally deficient applicants that can be related to the literacy requirements of specific occupations. Interest Check List. The Interest Check List was developed by the Division of Testing for use during the counseling process in order to obtain information on the occupational interests of the job seeker. The checklist contains 173 sample tasks that represent a wide range of occupational activities. In addition to these counseling aids, the Division of Testing has also been partly responsible for the development of a new occupational interest inventory that was recently published in the Guide for Occupational Exploration, a supplement designed to be used with the fourth edition DOT. The purpose of the research was to make available to counselors an interest inventory that directly relates the job seeker's capabilities, occupational interests, and adaptabilities to the requirements of occupa- tions. The Division of Testing relies on the DOT for information on
42 WORK, JOBS, AND OCCUPATIONS occupations and occupational requirements both in producing their tests and, as described above, in applying the tests in counseling and placement uses in local ES offices. According to the Division of Testing their development and research program is guided by several concepts (U.S. Department of Labor, 1977g:1-2~: The tests developed must be occupationally oriented if they are to be useful in vocational counseling and selection in the Employment Service. To the extent possible, the tests developed should be oriented to the U.S. Employment Service's Dictionary of Occupational Titles used by placement interviewers and counselors in the Employment Service. Specifically, these Es-produced tests are related to the DOT coding structure, in which occupations are identified by DOT codes. The reliance of the testing program on the DOT iS seen most strongly, however, in the use of the DOT to define the occupations for which test norms are produced. For example, the basic literacy test (BOLT) establishes literacy standards for DOT occupational groups by reference to the general educational development (GED) levels defined in the DOT. LABOR CERTIFICATION One other use of the DOT in the Employment Service is in the job placement of alien workers. As amended in 1965, the Immigration and Nationality Act allowed foreign workers to enter the United States if they offered a skill that U.S. workers could not provide. This provision ensured that foreign workers would not be competing with U.S. citizens for jobs. The Division of Labor Certification is the office within the Department of Labor charged with making such determinations, and the DOT iS the primary source document used in the certification process. The division does not generally make any statements regarding surplus or shortage job areas; all work to be certified concerns a specific job opportunity, as indexed by a nine-digit DOT code. The foreign worker must be sponsored by an employer, who contacts the division for certification once the employer has attempted to fill the job through normal Employment Service procedures. If the job, indexed by the nine-digit DOT code, is certified, the Immigration and Naturalization Service gives the worker a temporary visa. The division also maintains a list of occupations that are found to be in short supply nationally. In addition to the work of the Division of Labor Certification the field centers of the Division of Occupational Analysis have also been involved in labor certification work. The New York field center was called on to determine whether French Canadian workers in Maine were performing
Use of the DOT by the U.S. Employment Service 43 logging operations not done by American workers. If an occupation not performed by American workers was found to exist, this fact could be used as justification for allowing the Canadian workers to remain in the country. The foreign workers evidently performed all three of the operations normally involved in logging work, while American workers traditionally specialized in only one of the three. The contribution of the occupational analysts to this project was to provide documentation justifying the creation of a new, more general occupation to be included in the DOT, thus providing the alien loggers the certification they needed to remain in the country. The Arizona field center is currently (at the time of writing) involved in a similar labor certification case. The state's citrus growers want to import Mexican pickers, since they claim that U.S. workers with the 1-2 years of experience necessary to do the work are not available. On the basis of the existing svP score for citrus workers (svP = 1, short demonstration only) the state Employment Service has denied the growers' request for labor certification of alien workers. To resolve the controversy, the Arizona field center has been asked to ascertain whether the svP rating is appropriate. SUMMARY This chapter briefly summarizes the primary uses of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles within the U.S. Employment Service. The major use of the DOT iS as a placement and counseling tool for matching workers and jobs in Employment Service offices. Information from a variety of sources suggests that the major use of the DOT for placement purposes involves its dictionary capacity: the great majority of ES employees indicate that they make primary use of the job titles and definitions. Another substantial percentage indicate heavy use of the DOT coding structure. Less use is generally made of the other components of the DOT, including the industry designation, the worker function scales, and the worker trait information. Counselors were more likely than placement interviewers to find the worker trait information useful; 75 percent reported using this information in helping clients to explore vocational and occupational options. In addition to its use as a placement and counseling tool the DOT also provides the factual base for a series of career brochures and monthly labor force information publications prepared for use by counseling and guidance personnel in local ES offices. With the exception of the job search monthlies (`Job Bank Openings Summary, Frequently Listed Openings, and Occupations in Demand) the career guides and other occupational information produced by the Division of Occupational Analysis are apparently almost never used by ES personnel.
44 WORK, JOBS, AND OCCUPATIONS The DOT iS also used by the Division of Testing and the Division of Labor Certification, two subunits of the Employment Service. The testing program uses the DOT in the development of tests for the ES counseling process. The tests are designed to measure occupational aptitudes, clerical skills, and literacy. The use in labor certification is for indexing occupational opportunities for which the demand for workers exceeds the supply of eligible U.S. workers, thus permitting the certification of foreign workers.
