Career Fields, Clusters & Pathways

There are thousands of occupations for you to choose from. Shifting through them all can feel impossible. Luckily, occupations are organized by skills and interests.

Beginning this year, MnCareers divided the 200 occupation descriptions in the publication into six career fields. Those six fields are subdivided into 16 career clusters, which are listed on the left navigation of this Web site. You can also download a chart of Minnesota's fields, clusters and pathways (PDF).

The career fields and clusters sort career pathways and occupations based on common skills and industry needs. Instead of researching one occupation at a time, clusters help you to know how your interests and skills fit several pathways and occupations.

By using career clusters to investigate careers, students and job seekers at any level can prepare for the training and knowledge needed for the future.

Younger students can concentrate of the general skills needed in all career clusters, while other students and job seekers ready to enter the workforce can train in the technical skills needed for the occupations in a specific career cluster.

The Minnesota Department of Education, technical colleges and many employers organize occupations by the six career field and 16 career clusters. You can start to explore career pathways and occupations in MnCareers. Then, easily continue your research using the clusters in ISEEK, MCIS and other career exploration tools.

As you think about how you want to spend the next 88,000 hours of your life,* you will need facts about each occupation. The Information About Career Clusters & Occupations PDF gives you a better understanding of the occupational data used in the MnCareers publication. You'll learn the types of data available for each occupation, why the data is important and where you can find additional information, if needed.

* 88,000 hours = Working from age 18-62, 40 hours each week, 50 weeks per year (2 weeks vacation each year)

Click here to see the Minnesota Career Fields, Cluster and Pathways chart (PDF).

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