Experience requirements by field: where prior experience is, and isn't, required.
For each occupational group: the share of workers whose job did not require prior work experience, the median prior experience required where it was, and on-the-job training.
Across all civilian workers, BLS estimates 56.6% did not require prior work experience (ORS 2025, preliminary). The share is highest in healthcare support occupations (78.5%) and lowest in management occupations (3.0%).
21 rows
Data Computed by TryHired from BLS data. Download the CSV.
| Occupational group | No prior experience required | Median prior experience required | On-the-job training required | Median on-the-job training |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Healthcare support occupations | 78.5% | 365 days (about 12 months) | 86.5% | 7 days |
| Transportation and material moving occupations | 78.4% | 365 days (about 12 months) | 94.5% | 7 days |
| Food preparation and serving related occupations | 77.3% | 365 days (about 12 months) | 95.6% | 4 days |
| Educational instruction and library occupations | 77.0% | 730 days (about 2.0 years) | 49.9% | 7 days |
| Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations | 76.3% | 365 days (about 12 months) | 88.8% | 7 days |
| Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations | 74.9% | 365 days (about 12 months) | 70.1% | 27 days |
| Protective service occupations | 73.7% | 730 days (about 2.0 years) | 79.0% | not published |
| Personal care and service occupations | 66.7% | 365 days (about 12 months) | 82.1% | 7 days |
| Sales and related occupations | 66.7% | 730 days (about 2.0 years) | 92.2% | 10 days |
| Production occupations | 63.4% | not published | 89.9% | 21 days |
| Construction and extraction occupations | 50.6% | 730 days (about 2.0 years) | 71.4% | 21 days |
| Office and administrative support occupations | 44.4% | not published | 90.3% | 14 days |
| Architecture and engineering occupations | 43.3% | 1,095 days (about 3.0 years) | 74.6% | 42 days |
| Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations | 39.5% | 730 days (about 2.0 years) | 66.0% | 27 days |
| Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations | 38.1% | 730 days (about 2.0 years) | 76.5% | 27 days |
| Community and social service occupations | 37.9% | not published | 75.6% | not published |
| Legal occupations | 34.8% | 730 days (about 2.0 years) | 76.8% | 30 days |
| Life, physical, and social science occupations | 33.7% | 1,095 days (about 3.0 years) | 62.0% | not published |
| Computer and mathematical occupations | 28.4% | 1,095 days (about 3.0 years) | 66.8% | 28 days |
| Business and financial operations occupations | 23.1% | 1,095 days (about 3.0 years) | 74.7% | 29 days |
| Management occupations | 3.0% | 1,825 days (about 5.0 years) | 53.4% | 30 days |
Data Where BLS cannot publish an exact value it publishes a range, shown here in words (for example “less than 0.5%” or “more than 99.5%”). Ranges are BLS’s one-sided 90% confidence bounds; TryHired never converts them to a single number. For sorting only, a range is placed at its bound.
How this page is built
ORS 2025 preliminary estimates for 2018 SOC major groups: percent of workers not requiring prior work experience; median days of prior work experience required (among jobs requiring it); percent requiring on-the-job training; median days of on-the-job training. Group-level figures do not describe any single occupation. No causal claims: these are descriptive estimates. Data status: BLS publishes these as preliminary estimates: the aggregate of two annual samples collected between August 2023 and July 2025, part of the third ORS wave. Values may change when the full wave is final. BLS advises against comparing them with earlier ORS releases. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025 national median for the same SOC code (not published separately for some ORS occupations). Outlook: BLS Employment Projections 2025–35. BLS data are in the public domain.
- Whether a specific employer offers it: ORS estimates describe workers in an occupation nationally, not any one job opening.
- Health, disability or medical suitability: these are job requirements, not advice about whether a job suits a medical condition.
- Final values: the 2025 estimates are preliminary and may change when BLS completes the third wave.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey, 2025 estimates (preliminary: two of the third wave's samples, collected August 2023 to July 2025; released January 16, 2026), public domain.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program, occupational projections 2025–35.