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Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed

O*NET job zone · preparation tier

Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed is one of O*NET's job zones — tiers that group occupations by how much preparation they typically require, combining experience, education, and on-the-job training into a single Specific Vocational Preparation (SVP) band. This zone covers 226 occupations employing about 63,262,180 workers, with a median wage of $87,955.

Preparation it takes

O*NET describes the typical path into occupations in this zone. These are descriptions of what the work usually requires — not rules, and many people enter by other routes.

Experience A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Education Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Job training Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
SVP range (7.0 to < 8.0)

What occupations in this zone pay

Median annual wage across the occupations in this zone, from BLS OEWS (national, cross-industry, May 2024). The middle range shows the 25th–75th percentile of occupation medians — it describes the zone, not a guarantee for any one person or job.

Median occupation wage $87,955
Middle range (p25–p75) $69,733 – $109,660
Occupations with wage data 216 of 226

AI exposure in this preparation tier

Two published studies estimate how exposed each occupation is to today's AI. The OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" study rates the share of an occupation's tasks a large language model (with tools) could speed up by half or more; averaged across the occupations in this zone it is 46% — 88th percentile of the job zones. The independent Felten/Raj/Seamans AI Occupational Exposure index averages 0.90 here.

Computed across the 226 of 226 occupations in this zone that carry a published exposure score.

AI exposure tends to rise with preparation — zones that require degrees and considerable experience are the most exposed, hands-on lower-preparation work the least. Exposure measures where AI could assist tasks, not a prediction that these jobs will be automated; high exposure most often means augmentation.

Highest-paying occupations in this zone

Occupations in this preparation tier with the highest median wage. Wage describes the occupation, not an individual.

Occupation Median pay
Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers $226,600
Computer and Information Systems Managers $171,200
Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers $167,740
Financial Managers $161,700
Treasurers and Controllers $161,700
Clinical Research Coordinators $161,180
Water Resource Specialists $161,180
Marketing Managers $161,030
Computer Hardware Engineers $155,020
Petroleum Engineers $141,280
Compensation and Benefits Managers $140,360
Human Resources Managers $140,030
Purchasing Managers $139,510
Public Relations Managers $138,520
Medical Dosimetrists $138,110
Sales Managers $138,060
Brownfield Redevelopment Specialists and Site Managers $136,550
Compliance Managers $136,550
Loss Prevention Managers $136,550
Regulatory Affairs Managers $136,550
Wind Energy Development Managers $136,550
Data Warehousing Specialists $135,980
Database Architects $135,980
Aerospace Engineers $134,830
Software Developers $133,080
Computer Network Architects $130,390
Electronics Engineers, Except Computer $127,590
Radio Frequency Identification Device Specialists $127,590
Nuclear Engineers $127,520
Training and Development Managers $127,090
Advertising and Promotions Managers $126,960
Actuaries $125,770
Information Security Analysts $124,910
Fundraising Managers $123,480
Chemical Engineers $121,860
Sales Engineers $121,520
Biofuels Production Managers $121,440
Biomass Power Plant Managers $121,440
Industrial Production Managers $121,440
Quality Control Systems Managers $121,440
Medical and Health Services Managers $117,960
Remote Sensing Scientists and Technologists $117,960
Energy Engineers, Except Wind and Solar $117,750
Mechatronics Engineers $117,750
Photonics Engineers $117,750
Robotics Engineers $117,750
Solar Energy Systems Engineers $117,750
Wind Energy Engineers $117,750
Business Intelligence Analysts $112,590
Clinical Data Managers $112,590
Data Scientists $112,590
Electrical Engineers $111,910
Art Directors $111,040
Fire-Prevention and Protection Engineers $109,660
Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors $109,660
Blockchain Engineers $108,970
Digital Forensics Analysts $108,970
Document Management Specialists $108,970
Information Security Engineers $108,970
Information Technology Project Managers $108,970

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 3, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/job-zones/zone-4

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/job-zones/zone-4

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-zone-4,
  title  = {Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/job-zones/zone-4}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.