SkillTRAN Restores the CBP Linked Data in Job Browser Pro

Yesterday, I alerted you to a problem with the CBP hyperlink in the Estimated DOT Employment Numbers embedded on the industry line for Job Browser Pro.  After posting alert, I reached out to Jeff Truthan at SkillTRAN.  Jeff advised me that it was a coding problem that SkillTRAN had thought it had resolved but did not.  

A short while after I reached out, Jeff sent me a message that SkillTRAN fixed the problem.  The rule of life applies, "if you don't ask, the answer is always no."  

The next step requires that we verify.  I looked at advertising material distributor (DOT 230.687-010).  JBP reports 2,006 jobs in two industries, the larger being Temporary Help Services with 1,973 jobs.  Advertising, public relations, and related services industry group accounts for 33 jobs.  The WT. link states 10 occupations.   The CBP takes me to the SkillTRAN Industry Analyzer for County Business Patterns, NAICS 56132.  I click on Staffing Patterns.  That gives me the list of occupational groups (SOC-OEWS (they are the same thing for our purposes)) sorted by number of jobs largest to smallest.  I click twice on the OEWS Group filter button to sort by occupational code, largest to smallest.  That allows me to look for the code I want in numerical order.  SOC-OEWS group 51-9198.  

The SkillTRAN Industry Analyzer lists 11 DOT codes.  This number is different than the WT. report of 10.  The different DOT code is Bundler, Seasonal Greenery in the forestry industry.  I care because Job Browser Pro uses an equal distribution method at the occupation-industry intersection.  See https://www.skilltran.com/pubs/DOTempnum_method.pdf. The larger the denominator, the smaller the quotient.  

Instead of dividing the occupation-industry total of 19,727 by 10, we divide by 11.  Instead of 1,973 jobs, we get 1,793 jobs.  SSA and the Courts have not established bright lines for the significant number of jobs test.  Eroding the number of jobs by 10% makes a difference.  I attack vocational witness testimony seeking to achieve death by a thousand cuts.  This inquiry represents 180 of those cuts.  

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Suggested Citation:

Lawrence Rohlfing, SkillTRAN Restores the CBP Linked Data in Job Browser Pro, California Social Security Attorney (July 21, 2022)  https://californiasocialsecurityattorney.blogspot.com

The author is AV rated for over 20 years and listed in Super Lawyers for 14 years. 

SkillTRAN Industry Analyzer No Longer Shows DOT Codes

One of the most useful tools in checking Job Browser Pro was to click on the CBP hyperlink in the Estimated DOT Employment Numbers embedded on the industry line.  With version 7.4 and update 7.4.1, JBP stopped the inconsistent use of three, four, and five digit industry codes (NAICS).  That CBP hyperlink still takes the user to the SkillTRAN Industry Analyzer.

The useful data that representatives need and vocational witnesses should use was and is on the Staffing Pattern button.  The Industry Analyzer describes the NAICS code, title of the code, and narrative.  The Industry Analyzer then lists the occupational groups employed in that industry.  A green + button used to give a drop down list of DOT codes.  A red + button meant that although the Department of Labor estimates jobs within the occupation existing in that industry, SkillTRAN could not identify an appropriate DOT code.  

As of today, that DOT code list is empty.  The Industry Analyzer does not list the DOT codes resident at the occupation-industry intersection for the 50 or so intersections checked.  I hope that SkillTRAN restores that useful data.  

In the meantime, JBP still has the internal WT. that brings up the list of DOT codes assigned within the program.  Users cannot retrieve a list of all occupations in that industry, just the ones at the occupation-industry intersection. The internal link does not have convenient internal cross-check against the SkillTRAN Industry Analyzer.  

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Suggested Citation:

Lawrence Rohlfing, SkillTRAN Industry Analyzer No Longer Shows DOT Codes, California Social Security Attorney (July 20, 2022)  https://californiasocialsecurityattorney.blogspot.com

The author is AV rated for over 20 years and listed in Super Lawyers for 14 years.