What is a Career Path?

Explore your career options by looking at which jobs can lead you to better jobs. Do you know which career path you are on?

Discover How to Start and Move Up in a Career Path

A career cluster is group of careers that share common features. A career path is a smaller group of jobs within a career cluster that use similar skills. Each career cluster contains several career paths.

You can start in a lower-lever job in a career path and, with more education and experience, move up within that path.

A career path helps you find out how you might move from one job to another within a career cluster.

Here are a few examples of career paths:

• "Patient Care" is a path within the "Health" career cluster
  • Home Health Aide → Nursing Assistant → Licensed Practical Nurse
• "Administrative Support" is a path within the "Business" career cluster
  • Receptionist → Office Clerk → Office Manager
• "Safety" is a path in the "Public Safety" career cluster
  • Security Guard → Fire Fighter → Fire Inspector

Next Steps:

• To find out which career paths might fit your goals, use the Find Careers Tool.