JOB OPENINGS BY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT LEVEL in april 2013

Of 21,639 online job postings located in Philadelphia County and coded with detailed occupational titles, 51 percent required education at a Bachelor's degree or higher.

Educational attainment levels can be considered in two principal ways: education and experience required for an occupation and education and experience reported by employed workers in an occupation. An occupation may vary in the required educational level based on the technical requirements of the job and the region. In 2012 the US Bureau of Labor Statistics proposed a new educational attainment classification that describes occupations in the following ways:

• Entry level education represents education required to enter the occupation. Classifications are: doctoral or professional degree; master's degree; bachelor's degree; associate's degree; postsecondary non-degree award; some college, no degree; high school diploma or equivalent; less than high school.
• Work experience in a related occupation is work experience considered by employers necessary to enter the occupation, or an accepted substitute for formal types of training. Classifications for this category are: more than five years, one-five years, less than one year, or none.
• Typical on-the-job training indicates training needed to attain competency in the occupation. Classifications are internship/residency; apprenticeship; long-term, moderate-term, or short-term on-the-job training; or none.

Individuals may draw upon their knowledge, skills, and abilities for occupations from a combination of formal education, on-the-job training, and previous experience. More mature workers may bring experiences accepted as substitutes for formal education, while younger workers may primarily rely on formal education to enter the occupation.

We observed that several occupations in our region have national educational requirements that do not match the educational levels of those workers actually employed. For example 62 percent of Retail salespersons had some postsecondary education though nationally this is not required. To cite another example, 56 percent of Registered Nurses in our region reported a bachelor's degree, meaning that applicants with associate's degree are facing greater competition on the basis of education.

Download top Philadelphia occupations advertised online with education levels and salaries.