Work Context Index
Jobs where mistakes have the least serious consequences
O*NET asks people in every occupation "How serious would the result usually be if the worker made a mistake that was not easily correctable?" and publishes the mean answer on a 1-to-5 scale. This page lists the 25 occupations whose mean sits lowest, with the BLS wage, education and outlook for each.
In which jobs is the consequence of an error least serious?
Across the 894 occupations O*NET 30.3 rates, the 25 lowest for Consequence of Error average between 1.33 and 1.77 on O*NET's 1-to-5 scale, where 1 means "Not serious at all" and 5 means "Extremely serious"; the median across all occupations is 2.97. Lowest are Substitute Teachers, Short-Term (1.33), Tutors (1.38), Bartenders (1.42). Their median BLS wage is $46,170 (2025, 25 of 25 with a BLS line item), and 15 of the 25 with BLS education data typically need less than a bachelor's degree.
- Occupations compared
- 894 O*NET 30.3 occupations with published Work Context ratings
- What O*NET asks incumbents
- Consequence of Error: "How serious would the result usually be if the worker made a mistake that was not easily correctable?"
- Scale
- 1 = Not serious at all; 3 = Serious; 5 = Extremely serious. Values are mean incumbent ratings.
- Wage and outlook source
- BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, Table 1.2 Occupational projections, 2025–35, and worker characteristics, 2025 (Employment in thousands). 7 of the 25 occupations listed have a dedicated RoleSprint page.
Source and method
O*NET 30.3 Database (Work Context), U.S. Department of Labor, and BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2. Verified 2026-09-05. Ratings are reproduced from O*NET as published mean incumbent responses on each question's own 1-to-5 scale. Percentile ranks, composite averages and the resulting order are RoleSprint's computation and are described on the methodology page. Wage, education and outlook fields are reproduced from BLS for the matching SOC code and left blank where BLS publishes no line item.
The 25 occupations
Ordered by mean rating for Consequence of Error, lowest first. Scale: 1 = Not serious at all; 5 = Extremely serious.
| # | Occupation | O*NET value | Rank | BLS wage and education |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Substitute Teachers, Short-Term O*NET-SOC 25-3031.00 | 1.33 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 99% of 894 occupations | $41,670 median (2025) Bachelor's degree · +2% 2025-35 |
| 2 | Tutors O*NET-SOC 25-3041.00 | 1.38 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 99% of 894 occupations | $43,350 median (2025) Some college, no degree · -0.2% 2025-35 |
| 3 | Bartenders O*NET-SOC 35-3011.00 | 1.42 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 99% of 894 occupations | $34,340 median (2025) No formal educational credential · +5% 2025-35 |
| 4 | Directors, Religious Activities and Education O*NET-SOC 21-2021.00 | 1.44 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 99% of 894 occupations | $52,100 median (2025) Bachelor's degree · +3.3% 2025-35 |
| 5 | Mathematical Science Teachers, Postsecondary O*NET-SOC 25-1022.00 | 1.44 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 99% of 894 occupations | $79,940 median (2025) Doctoral or professional degree · +1.7% 2025-35 |
| 6 | Door-to-Door Sales Workers, News and Street Vendors, and Related Workers O*NET-SOC 41-9091.00 | 1.46 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 99% of 894 occupations | $41,380 median (2025) No formal educational credential · -10.4% 2025-35 |
| 7 | Gem and Diamond Workers O*NET-SOC 51-9071.06 | 1.49 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 99% of 894 occupations | $52,540 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · -3.2% 2025-35 |
| 8 | Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary O*NET-SOC 25-1065.00 | 1.52 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 99% of 894 occupations | $98,070 median (2025) Doctoral or professional degree · +2.5% 2025-35 |
| 9 | Library Assistants, Clerical O*NET-SOC 43-4121.00 | 1.55 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 99% of 894 occupations | $36,910 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · -6.4% 2025-35 |
| 10 | Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers O*NET-SOC 27-3043.05 | 1.57 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 99% of 894 occupations | $76,910 median (2025) Bachelor's degree · -0.3% 2025-35 |
| 11 | Baristas O*NET-SOC 35-3023.01 | 1.60 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 99% of 894 occupations | $31,200 median (2025) No formal educational credential · +5.8% 2025-35 |
| 12 | Order Clerks O*NET-SOC 43-4151.00 | 1.61 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 99% of 894 occupations | $46,170 median (2025) Some college, no degree · -17.5% 2025-35 |
| 13 | English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary O*NET-SOC 25-1123.00 | 1.61 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 99% of 894 occupations | $78,760 median (2025) Doctoral or professional degree · 0% 2025-35 |
| 14 | Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary O*NET-SOC 25-1021.00 | 1.64 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 98% of 894 occupations | $96,980 median (2025) Doctoral or professional degree · +4.9% 2025-35 |
| 15 | First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers O*NET-SOC 41-1011.00 | 1.67 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 98% of 894 occupations | $48,520 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · -3.7% 2025-35 |
| 16 | Training and Development Managers O*NET-SOC 11-3131.00 | 1.68 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 98% of 894 occupations | $133,000 median (2025) Bachelor's degree · +6.4% 2025-35 |
| 17 | Manicurists and Pedicurists O*NET-SOC 39-5092.00 | 1.69 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 98% of 894 occupations | $35,760 median (2025) Postsecondary nondegree award · +9.2% 2025-35 |
| 18 | Locker Room, Coatroom, and Dressing Room Attendants O*NET-SOC 39-3093.00 | 1.69 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 98% of 894 occupations | $36,300 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · +6.4% 2025-35 |
| 19 | Instructional Coordinators O*NET-SOC 25-9031.00 | 1.71 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 98% of 894 occupations | $77,440 median (2025) Master's degree · +1.6% 2025-35 |
| 20 | Waiters and Waitresses O*NET-SOC 35-3031.00 | 1.72 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 98% of 894 occupations | $35,230 median (2025) No formal educational credential · +2% 2025-35 |
| 21 | Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers O*NET-SOC 39-3031.00 | 1.72 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 98% of 894 occupations | $32,910 median (2025) No formal educational credential · +0.9% 2025-35 |
| 22 | Shoe Machine Operators and Tenders O*NET-SOC 51-6042.00 | 1.72 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 98% of 894 occupations | $35,650 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · -6.9% 2025-35 |
| 23 | Timing Device Assemblers and Adjusters O*NET-SOC 51-2061.00 | 1.75 of 5 between "Not serious at all" and "Fairly serious" | Lower than 97% of 894 occupations | $62,620 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · -6.1% 2025-35 |
| 24 | Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners O*NET-SOC 37-2012.00 | 1.76 of 5 Fairly serious | Lower than 97% of 894 occupations | $35,510 median (2025) No formal educational credential · +0.6% 2025-35 |
| 25 | Sustainability Specialists O*NET-SOC 13-1199.05 | 1.77 of 5 Fairly serious | Lower than 97% of 894 occupations | $83,050 median (2025) Bachelor's degree · +3.9% 2025-35 |
Values are mean ratings from O*NET 30.3; most come from surveys of people in the occupation, some from occupational experts, and some for newer occupations from O*NET analysts. Wage, education and outlook are from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 for the matching SOC code and are blank where BLS publishes no line item.
How this was measured
Consequence of Error (O*NET element 4.C.3.a.1). The question put to incumbents: “How serious would the result usually be if the worker made a mistake that was not easily correctable?”
- 1
Not serious at all
- 2
Fairly serious
- 3
Serious
- 4
Very serious
- 5
Extremely serious
894 of 894 occupations have a published, unsuppressed value for this element. The percentile beside each occupation is its position among them.
The full method, including how ties are broken and what the data cannot tell you, is on the methodology page.
Narrow the list with BLS data
Each variant keeps the same measure and restricts the occupations by a published BLS threshold. A variant exists only where the restriction actually changes the list rather than the heading; the combinations that left the answer much as it was were not published.
Combine this with other conditions
The explorer ranks all occupations on any set of measures you choose, with the same values and the same arithmetic as this page.
Open the explorer with this selectionThis page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. RoleSprint has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Wage, education and outlook figures are reproduced from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
What to do next
These rankings describe occupations in general. The next question is whether a specific opening in one of them actually matches what you can show, and that is answered by comparing the posting with your resume.