Career Ladder

FAQs

What methodology was used to create the career ladder?
What is wage range?
How were the wage ranges determined?
What are the +/- percent values in the scales next to the career ladder occupations?
What are the Education and Training Requirements and how are they determined?
What is the Strength of the Link to the target occupation?

What methodology was used to create the career ladder?

Data for over 350,000 workers was analyzed over a six-year period, 2001 through 2006. Each worker's occupation was compared to the subsequent quarter and for each instance when the worker's occupation changed, the combination of the prior and successive occupation was counted as an occupational transition. If a worker made the same occupation-to-occupation transition more than once, only the first instance was counted.

The basic method was to compare movement to and from a pair of occupations. When there was a significant number of transitions from occupation A to occupation B (relative to the total of all transitions to occupation B or the total of all transitions from A to any other occupation); and very little movement in the opposite direction (relative to the total of all transitions to occupation A), the pair of occupations had a high likelihood of a career ladder relationship and was considered for inclusion. Wage estimate data, comparison's of education and work experience requirements and occupation descriptions and characteristics were used to verify hierarchy and relevance.

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What is wage range?

The estimated wage range of the Target Occupation appears at the upper right of the Target Occupation box ( shaded purple). The estimates are based on 2006 data and occupations are placed into one of the following 12 wage range groups:

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How were the wage ranges determined?

Wage ranges, levels and the percent differences in wages are primarily based on 2006 Occupational Employment Survey hourly wage estimates for the U.S. and California. In some cases, the results of our worker movement analysis, and other variables-such as average years of education and average years of work experience-were also utilized to help determine the relative difference in wage levels. For a more complete explanation click here [methodology PDF link (still under construction)].

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What are the +/- percent values in the scales next to the career ladder occupations?

The values in these scales indicate the approximate percent difference in wages between the Target Occupation (the occupation you selected that appears in the widest box) and the occupations on each rung. When there is more than one occupation on a rung, the percent difference is an average of the occupations on that rung.

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What are the Education and Training Requirements and how are they determined?

Education and Training Requirements are based on the U. S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The education groups are as follows:

• Short Term On-the-Job Training typically requires less than one month of training to attain average job performance.
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• Moderate Term On-the-Job Training typically requires between one and twelve months of combined on-the-job experience and informal training.
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• Long Term On-the-Job Training typically requires more than 12 months of on-the-job training or combined work experience and formal classroom instruction for workers to develop the necessary skills to attain average job performance.
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• Work Experience in a related occupation is generally required to meet these job requirements. Some occupations are supervisory or managerial in nature.
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• Vocational training at the postsecondary level, with program durations from several weeks to more than a year, is required to attain average job performance.
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• An Associate Degree, requiring completion of a degree program of at least two years of full-time equivalent academic work, is required to attain average job performance.
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• A Bachelor's degree, requiring completion of a degree program of at least four years but no more than five years of full-time equivalent academic work, is required to attain average job performance.
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• Work experience plus bachelor's or higher degree is required to attain average job performance in these occupations.
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• A Master's Degree, requiring completion of a degree program of 1 or 2 years of full-time equivalent study beyond the bachelor's degree, is required to attain average job performance in these occupations.
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• A Doctoral Degree, requiring completion of a degree program of at least 3 years of full-time equivalent academic work beyond the bachelor's degree, is required to attain average job performance in these occupations.
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• A First Professional Degree, requiring completion of an academic program of at least 6 years of full-time equivalent academic study, including college study prior to entering the professional degree program, is required to attain average job performance in these occupations.
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What is the Strength of the Link to the target occupation?

Strength of Link to the Target Occupation indicates the strength of the link to the Target Occupation based on our analysis of movement of workers to or from the Target Occupation and the relevancy of the two occupations to one another (located at the top right of the occupation box and shaded in yellow). I t is on a 4 level scale, ranging from "Marginal" to "Very Strong". The Strength of Link rating should be an important consideration when assessing alternative paths of advancement to or from the Target Occupation. Those with a "Strong" or "Very Strong" rating show a definite history of advancement to or from the Target Occupation and are preferable to occupations with a lower rating.

Those rated "Very Strong" have shown very clear movement in one direction (to the Target Occupation for an occupation below the Target Occupation's level and from the Target Occupation for an occupation above the level of the Target Occupation). These occupations often showed the highest rate of movement compared with all other occupations associated with the Target Occupation. The occupation is clearly and directly relevant to the Target Occupation.

Those rated "Strong" also showed convincing evidence of one-way movement of workers in the direction indicated by the ladder rungs, but not as exclusively as those rated "Very Strong"; these occupations are directly relevant at least in some important aspect(s) to the Target Occupation.

Those rated "Moderate" show some evidence of a likely link to the Target Occupation, but the movement of workers was not as clear-cut as those rated higher; these occupations may also be less directly related than those with a higher rating.

Those rated "Marginal" had enough movement to or from the Target Occupation to warrant consideration or were the best possible fit, but the data was not conclusive and/or the relevancy to the Target Occupation was questionable or too indirect to show a definitive relationship. In some cases, the occupations are clearly related "on paper" and are at different wage levels, but the "real world" data over the period studied did not convincingly support the assumed relationship.

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Source: Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Research and Analysis Section
Last updated: 25-Nov-08. Memorandum of Agreement, College of the Sequoias July 2009

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