How we work out our signals

The exact rules behind "Opportunity" and "Getting in" — no black box.

Around the site you'll see two verdicts on every occupation: Opportunity (is there real demand?) and Getting in (how much training stands between you and starting?). These are our analysis, not the government's. The Australian Government's Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) publishes the underlying shortage ratings; we turn them into a plain-English read a family can use. This page shows the working, so you can disagree with us intelligently.

Opportunity — is there real demand?

Three bands, from two questions: is it in shortage now, and has the shortage lasted?

• Strong — in shortage nationally on the current (2025) list, and in national shortage in at least 3 of the last 5 years. Employers have struggled to find people year after year — that's demand you can plan around, not a blip.
• Fair — in shortage somewhere this year (nationally, or in at least one state or territory), but without that multi-year national persistence. Real demand, but patchier — check the state-by-state picture for where you live.
• Limited — not in shortage anywhere this year. Employers are generally finding the people they need. That doesn't make it a bad career — just don't pick it because of demand.

Inputs: JSA's current-year shortage rating for every jurisdiction (national + 8 states/territories), and the national rating for each of the last five years. Nothing else — no survey vibes, no job-ad scraping.

Getting in — how much training first?

Three bands, straight from the occupation's ANZSCO skill level — the classification the government uses for the typical qualification needed:

• Big commitment — skill level 1: a bachelor degree or higher. Several years of full-time study (and usually a HECS debt) before you're earning in the field.
• Steady build — skill levels 2–3: a diploma, or a Certificate III/IV. This is the classic apprenticeship territory — a few years, but you're paid to learn on the job.
• Quicker start — skill level 4: a Certificate II or III. Months rather than years, so you can be working sooner.

Where an occupation has no stated skill level, we show no Getting-in band rather than guess.

"Why it's in shortage" — JSA's driver, our words

Occupation pages also explain why a shortage exists, using JSA's shortage-driver typology: Long training gap (the training takes years, so people can't appear quickly), Short training gap (short training, still too few people doing it), Suitability gap (enough qualified people, but employers say they lack experience or job-ready skills), Retention gap (people get in, then leave), and Uncertain (no single clear cause). The driver classification is JSA's; the plain-English explanation of what it means for getting in is ours. JSA assigns drivers at the occupation-group level and only for groups in national shortage, so some occupations won't show one.

What these signals are not

• Not predictions. They describe demand now and over the recent past. Nobody can tell you what the market looks like in ten years — including us, and we won't pretend to.
• Not job guarantees. "Strong" opportunity means the odds are in your favour, not that a job is waiting.
• Not about pay or enjoyment. A shortage says employers can't find people — it says nothing about whether the work pays well or suits your kid. Weigh those separately.
• Deliberately blunt. Three bands, simple rules, so you can check our working. A precise-looking score out of 100 would be false confidence.

The data behind it

Everything above is computed from JSA's Occupation Shortage List (ratings, five-year history, drivers) and the ABS ANZSCO classification (skill levels). The lists refresh once a year; our signals refresh with them. More on sources and what's official versus ours: About the data.