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Out of Date
The U.S. government updated the DOT in 1991, but that was only a partial update. Then in 1998, 20 more occupations were added to the DOT, for a total of 12,761. But many of these occupations are considered outdated and incomplete.
Example: Because the last full-scale review and rewrite of the DOT was in 1977, it does not take into account how personal computers have reshaped the workplace.
Even the latest DOT does NOT reflect today's economy.
- Numerous 'high-tech' positions are missing, particularly in the information sciences, software, and telecommunications (wireless) specializations that emerged after 1977.
- Service positions are grossly underrepresented compared to farm and factory jobs.
- Additionally, DOT job descriptions rarely reflect the current tools used to accomplish occupational requirements.
Here's what one job analyst has to say about the DOT:
"I cannot trust the DOT. SVP of 7 for Painter? I could give a zillion examples. Titles. I have to eliminate so many DOT titles "nut sorter" etc. Too much garbage, too easy to make fun of computer generated reports listing pages of useless job titles, especially for geographic area. My hope is O*NET will continue to refine to useful titles. DOT lacks all the computer jobs."
– SSA Chat Board
The Future
No future releases of the DOT are planned; the last release, with minor changes, was in 1999. Most governmental organizations have embraced O*NET (discussed in a later section). The SSA is now working on the replacement for the DOT called the Occupational Information System (OIS).
Memory Jogger
The DOT is best used for: