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Course 69 · Work course 22

Compare Local Careers With Real Data

Compare local jobs using tasks, wage ranges, training needs, and travel assumptions, then choose what to investigate next.

Before you start

Choose paper or a basic document for a comparison table.

See everything you’ll need
What you’ll leave with

A practical comparison of local career options and a clear next step for exploring the one that fits you.

Start course Start without an account. Sign in to save lesson progress across devices.

Your project

Start with the practice files. Build your project one lesson at a time.

Practice files are free without an account. Sign in to save your project record in My Proof: a description, checklist, and optional work link. Keep the original files in your own app or notebook; saving a project record does not upload them.

  1. Get your materialsDownload the practice worksheetUse the downloadable worksheet or toolkit alongside the lesson instructions.
  2. Make your projectView the project checklist Work in your own notebook, document, or software. Use the supplied practice examples when you prefer.
  3. Keep a private recordSave a project record Sign in to save a description and checklist, then return to update them.
Course handbook

Know the route before you begin.

Here’s what you’ll need and what you’ll make. You can return to this guide during any lesson.

Who this is for

Learners aged 14+ exploring local work, including adults changing fields; fictional cases support practice without working or applying.

Prepare before lesson one
  • Choose paper or a basic document for a comparison table.
  • Open the public source pages or use every supplied fictional dataset.
  • Choose a real area without personal addresses, or use River County and its stated route limits.
Your final project

Finish with proof you can use.

Assemble a local career evidence brief using the six lesson outputs.

Save a project record in My Proof
See project checklist and review criteria

Keep your working files in your own notebook or software. Save a private description, checklist, and work link in My Proof.

What to include

  • Define two or three occupation matches and the statistical and practical areas.
  • Compare dated wage measures and show two gross-pay scenarios.
  • Distinguish employment, projections, and a checked posting sample.
  • Include task evidence and an access comparison with unresolved questions.
  • Provide source links, a weighted decision, sensitivity check, and review trigger.

Review and revise

Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.

  • Comparability: occupation matches, geography, period, and wage statistic remain visible and incompatible data are flagged.
  • Numeracy: pay, growth, travel-time, and weighted-score calculations can be reproduced from the stated inputs.
  • Interpretation: employment, projections, postings, and personal access are kept distinct without promises.
  • Decision quality: the conditional recommendation follows the evidence and changes appropriately in the sensitivity check.
Three ideas to help you along the way
Three useful ideas

The rules behind the steps.

01

Keep the labels

Occupation, area, period, and measure travel with every number.

02

Respect uncertainty

Unavailable data and unverified access remain visible.

03

Make the decision revisable

A next research step is more useful than an unsupported promise.

What do these words mean?
Key words

Key terms worth knowing.

Occupation code
A standard identifier for a defined kind of work.
Median wage
The middle value when measured wages are ordered from lowest to highest.
Employment estimate
An estimate of jobs within a stated scope and period.
Projection
A conditional estimate of future change over a stated period.
Sensitivity check
Repeating a comparison after changing an uncertain assumption.
Your route

6 lessons.
One useful project.

Work in order the first time. Each lesson makes something the next lesson can use.

  1. 1
    Up next

    Define a local question before collecting numbers

    Specify a commuting area and match job titles to occupation codes.

  2. 2
    29 min

    Read wages as distributions and assumptions

    Compare wage measures without treating an estimate as an offer.

  3. 3
    29 min

    Separate employment, growth, and openings

    Classify labor-market measures and compare growth with actual access questions.

  4. 4
    29 min

    Connect occupational data to real tasks

    Build a task-and-requirement matrix that distinguishes broad profiles from listing requirements.

  5. 5
    29 min

    Test the assumptions behind local access

    Compare practical reach, paid hours, and preparation time using explicit assumptions.

  6. 6
    33 min

    Write a comparison that survives a changed assumption

    Bring your career research together with its sources. Explain which option you would explore, what that choice depends on, and when you would review it.

Use the tools

Tools to help you practice.

See all tools
Text worksheet

Your course project worksheet

A downloadable text worksheet with each lesson’s working output, space for your answers, and the shared final-project checklist. Save your own copy.

Source transparency

Sources and further study.

Explore the references behind the lessons and take your learning further. Source notes explain access and reuse.

BLS — Metropolitan and nonmetropolitan occupational estimates
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-10

Opened the current area directory, headed May 2025 on review. Verified that areas can cross state boundaries and have defined county coverage. No fictional practice wage is represented as a BLS estimate.

Access: The specific BLS directory or methods page is public and free. Optional data-table downloads need no paid subscription; supplied fictional data make the exercises usable without downloads.

Reuse: This specific BLS — Metropolitan and nonmetropolitan occupational estimates resource supports the cited lessons. Life Starter’s scenarios, calculations, scripts, and questions are original; no source worksheet, logo, or endorsement is reused. Free reading is not a general reuse license.

BLS — OEWS frequently asked questions
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-10

Read geography, wage definitions, median/mean, and data-not-collected sections. OEWS describes employment and wages, not current vacancies; benefits and self-employment coverage have limits.

Access: The specific BLS directory or methods page is public and free. Optional data-table downloads need no paid subscription; supplied fictional data make the exercises usable without downloads.

Reuse: This specific BLS — OEWS frequently asked questions resource supports the cited lessons. Life Starter’s scenarios, calculations, scripts, and questions are original; no source worksheet, logo, or endorsement is reused. Free reading is not a general reuse license.

O*NET OnLine — Understanding the Summary Report
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-10

Opened the report guide and reviewed its task, work-context, skills, training, and wage/trend sections. Occupational summaries are not employer-specific admission rules.

Access: This O*NET report or report guide is public and free without an account. The course does not require a separate assessment, paid tool, credential, or application.

Reuse: This specific O*NET OnLine — Understanding the Summary Report resource supports the cited lessons. Life Starter’s scenarios, calculations, scripts, and questions are original; no source worksheet, logo, or endorsement is reused. Free reading is not a general reuse license.

OpenStax, Rice University — Career planning cycle
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-10

Read career research, transferable skills, experience, and reflection sections. The course uses original decision tables and practice cases; university affiliation or approval is not claimed.

Access: This specific OpenStax chapter is freely readable in a browser without an account. All required exercises are supplied here; no enrollment, certificate purchase, or university affiliation is needed.

Reuse: Original Life Starter examples, questions, and lesson sequence are informed by this OpenStax chapter. No source exercises, illustrations, quizzes, or logos are reproduced; consult the source’s own license for separate reuse.

Ready when you are

Start with the first useful move.

You’ll always know what to do, what to make, and where to go next.

Start lesson one