Alternate Titles

Purpose:Provide alternate occupational titles for O*NET-SOC occupations.
Table Name:alternate_titles
Structure and Description:
ColumnTypeColumn Content
onetsoc_codeCharacter(10)O*NET-SOC Code (see Occupation Data)
alternate_titleCharacter Varying(250)Alternate occupational title
short_titleCharacter Varying(150)Short version of alternate title (if applicable)

This file contains alternate, or "lay", occupational titles for the O*NET-SOC classification system. The file was developed to improve keyword searches in several Department of Labor internet applications (i.e., Career InfoNet, O*NET OnLine, and O*NET Code Connector). The file contains occupational titles from existing occupational classification systems, as well as from other diverse sources. When a title contains acronyms, abbreviations, or jargon, the “Short Title” column contains the brief version of the full title. The “Source(s)” column contains a comma delimited list of codes which indicate the source of the title information; the codes are identified below:

01Associations [i.e., National Retail Federation, Environmental Career Centers (ECC), etc.]
02Incumbent Data – O*NET Data Collection
03Occupational Code Assignment (OCA)
04SOC (i.e., SOC Index, SOC Volume 2, etc.)
05State Agencies
06US Bureau of Census (e.g., Census Index)
07USDOL – BLS (e.g., IT to SOC)
08USDOL – ETA (i.e., OPDER, OATELS, ACINET/Fu Associates, DOT, O*NET Center, etc.)
09USDOL – User input, web applications (Code Connector, OnLine, and ACINET)
10Employer Job Postings

The file is displayed in four tab delimited fields with the columns named O*NET-SOC Code, Alternate Title, Short Title, and Source(s). The four fields are represented by one row. There are a total of 59,401 rows of data in this file.

For more information, see:

File Structure Changes:
Release NumberDescription of Change
20.1Added as a new file
20.2 - 21.3No structure changes
22.0increased "Alternate Title" column from 150 to 250 characters

Data Example - alternate_titles:
onetsoc_​codealternate_​titleshort_​titlesources
15-1133.00Certified Novell Engineer (CNE)CNE06
11-3031.02Bank AdvisorNULL04,06
29-2099.00Sleep TechnicianNULL09