O*NET OnLine Help Specific Vocational Preparation (SVP)
Specific Vocational Preparation is a component of Worker Characteristics
information found in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (U.S.
Department of Labor, 1991).
Specific Vocational Preparation, as defined in Appendix C of the
Dictionary of Occupational Titles, is the amount of lapsed time required
by a typical worker to learn the techniques, acquire the information, and
develop the facility needed for average performance in a specific job-worker
situation.
This training may be acquired in a school, work, military, institutional, or
vocational environment. It does not include the orientation time required of a
fully qualified worker to become accustomed to the special conditions of any new
job. Specific vocational training includes: vocational education, apprenticeship
training, in-plant training, on-the-job training, and essential experience in
other jobs.
Specific vocational training includes training given in any of the following
circumstances:
- Vocational education (high school, commercial or shop training,
technical school, art school, and that part of college training which is
organized around a specific vocational objective)
- Apprenticeship training (for apprenticeable jobs only)
- In-plant training (organized classroom study provided by an employer)
- On-the-job training (serving as learner or trainee on the job under the
instruction of a qualified worker)
- Essential experience in other jobs (serving in less responsible jobs, which
lead to the higher-grade job, or serving in other jobs which qualify).
The following is an explanation of the various levels of specific vocational
preparation:
Level Time
- Short demonstration only
- Anything beyond short demonstration up to and including 1 month
- Over 1 month up to and including 3 months
- Over 3 months up to and including 6 months
- Over 6 months up to and including 1 year
- Over 1 year up to and including 2 years
- Over 2 years up to and including 4 years
- Over 4 years up to and including 10 years
- Over 10 years
Note: The levels of this scale are mutually exclusive and do not overlap.
U.S. Department of Labor. (1991). Dictionary of Occupational Titles (Rev.
4th ed.). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
