The Development and Evaluation of a New O*NET Related Occupations Matrix

This report describes the research and methodology developed to generate two new Related Occupations Matrices (ROMs) for O*NET users. The first is geared toward Career Changers, individuals who are looking to easily transfer into a new occupation that best match their existing skills, education and work experience. The second is developed for Career Starters, individuals entering the job market who are looking for occupations that match their interests and other personal characteristics. Given the evolution of the O*NET taxonomy that has occurred since its initial development and with abundance of new occupational data available, the O*NET project embarked on an effort to update the ROMs using a methodology that would allow for future updates as new versions of the O*NET database are released. This was accomplished by (a) reviewing current O*NET user needs, (b) developing a framework for the ROMs that best meets those needs, (c) developing and testing multiple matching algorithms, and (d) evaluating the new ROMs in terms of other descriptors.