Policies  |  Forms  |  Directory
U.Va. Human Resources
How to Use the Career Guides
The purpose of the Career Guides are to help you understand your occupation, your career path, and what you may personally need to do to develop, advance, or even change your career. The Guides can help you learn more about the careers that are available to someone with your skills and training and identify the path you need to take to get there.

A career path is the road that will lead you to your career goals. Seniority and years of experience alone will not guarantee promotions. That's because a career path represents increasingly more skilled, difficult, and responsible work within an occupation. Becoming familiar with the typical path for your occupation, learning as much as you can about your profession and deciding on an individual path that's right for you are steps that you can take to improve your ability to advance your career.

Career Guides have been developed for all major occupations within the Commonwealth's Job Structure. These road maps identify the typical Commonwealth career path but also provide important occupational information for anyone interested in developing their careers and improving opportunities for advancement in any work environment.

Before you begin exploring the Guides you should know that:
  • Guides are based on your occupational title and may be different from your role or work title. For example, your role title may be Building Trades Technician III, but your occupation may be Carpenter, Electrician, etc.
  • The Guide describes work that typically is performed by employees in a given occupation in any work environment, not just within State Government.
  • The Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) described in the Guide are based on the technical expertise commonly recognized by most employers, and may vary from what is required of the job you currently hold.
Understanding the Contents of the Guide Standard Occupational Title and Code
The Guides are based in part on the Federal Standard Occupational Classification System, known as the "SOC". Most government and private sector employers recognize the SOC as a reliable source for describing the characteristics of an occupation and the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for successful performance.
  • Pay Band
    The Guide identifies the Pay Band(s) to which jobs in your occupation are assigned in the Commonwealth's salary structure and provides a link to current pay charts.
  • Standard Occupational Description
    This section provides a brief description of the type of work generally performed by workers in a specific occupation.
  • Role Titles and Descriptions in the Commonwealth's Job Structure
    Here you will learn about the specific state Career Group, Role Title(s) and Pay Band(s) where positions in your occupation are assigned. This information helps you identify "where you are" in terms of the typical career path.
  • Other Career Group(s) that may be of interest
    Some occupations, and those that are closely related to them, may appear in more than one Career Group. (For example, Electricians and Electronics Technicians are assigned to different Career Groups.) This section of the Guide identifies Career Groups where related technical or managerial occupations can be found and helps identify the additional skills that may be necessary for career advancement or a career change.
  • Skills, Knowledge, Abilities And Tasks
    This section describes the technical and functional skills generally required for your occupation by most employers and gives examples of work tasks that you may be expected to perform. Typically, you will not be required to have all of the skills listed to be a successful performer, and some of the tasks will not apply to every work environment.
  • Interested?
    How do you know if a certain career is right for you? This section describes the characteristics of an occupation and helps you match your own personal interests to that specific occupation. When you choose a job in an occupation that matches your own interests you have taken an important step in planning a successful and rewarding career.
  • Licensure, Registration, Or Certification Requirements
    You may not need a license to be successful in your chosen career. Licensure, registration, or certification usually depends upon laws governing the occupation and/or the preference of the employer. But even if it's not required for your specific occupation or job, you should consider the advantages of becoming certified or licensed. This section of the Guide identifies where licensing information can be found.
  • Educational, Training, And Learning Opportunities
    This section describes the education and training that typically qualifies someone for employment and advancement in a specific occupation. It also provides sources of continuing educational, training, and learning opportunities that can help you develop a plan for advancing your career.
  • Commonwealth Competencies
    Competencies are a set of behaviors, knowledge, skills, and abilities that directly and positively impact the success of employees and the organization. Competencies can be observed and measured. When consistently demonstrated, competencies make employees particularly effective in their work. Competencies help lay out a road map to career success. You can use the Commonwealth Competencies to help improve your individual performance by adopting behaviors that make high performing employees successful in their jobs. In this way, you can use the Commonwealth Competencies for your further professional development.
  • Commonwealth Career Path
    A "picture" and brief description of the typical career path for workers in a specific occupation within State Government is provided in this section. It shows that career advancement in the Commonwealth is not limited to moving "up" to the next highest role and pay band, changing positions, or to becoming a supervisor. That's because most roles describe a broad group of occupationally related positions that perform a range of work that requires increased knowledge and skills.
Additional Information
The Guide provides links to several reliable sources of information and/or direct assistance that can help you understand occupations, test your interest in a particular career, develop a career plan, and search for job opportunities.

Please refer questions or comments to the DHRM webmaster at webmaster@dhrm.state.va.us

List of Career Guides (Launches new window)

How to Access the Career Guides
The career guides can be found at the UHR Faculty & Staff Career Services website.
You may also access then through the Virginia Commonwealth Dept. of Human Resource Management at http://jobs.state.va.us/cc_careerguides.html

Questions? Contact Emily Bardeen, Director, UHR Faculty & Staff Career Services at ebardeen@virginia.edu or 434-924-4343.