Licensed occupations are those occupations in which jobholders or practitioners are governed by a licensing authority.
In most cases, licensing authorities are created by acts of the state legislature to ensure that education and preparation standards, as well as professional conduct are upheld when entering or holding a licensed position.
Most licensed occupations have clearly defined training or preparation criteria. In addition, many have application and continuing participation fees. In most cases, conviction of a felony offense precludes applying for or holding a licensed position.
There is no officially designated clearinghouse of information on licensed occupations in West Virginia. What information that is available on them as a whole must be gleaned from legislative acts from licensing authorities or regulatory boards, or from state agencies which may have oversight of their functions.
This compilation makes no claim to being a definitive source of information on licensed occupations or licensing standards in the State of West Virginia, but is hoped to be as comprehensive as possible at the time of its release date. It has been compiled to be a guide as to which occupations require licensing and what are the educational, vocational, or practical standards for these occupations. In every case, further inquiry should be made of the licensing authority when investigating a licensed occupation as a potential career.
Employment estimates and occupational employment projections appearing with these occupations were developed by the Office of Research, Information and Analysis, West Virginia Bureau of Employment Programs and are available on the internet at West Virginia Occupational Projections: 1998-2008 . Wage information given for the occupations was derived from West Virginia Occupational Wages: 2000 , prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor and the Office of Research, Information and Analysis, West Virginia Bureau of Employment Programs.
Each occupation listed in this directory may be listed with up to two occupational codes. These are the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) code and the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code which derive from the Occupational Employment Statistics federal-state cooperative survey program, administered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor. Employment and wage estimates are based on the former OES occupation codes. The SOC has superceded the OES and all future employment and wage estimates as of 1999 will be based solely upon the SOC occupation codes.