Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers
Conduct hearings to recommend or make decisions on claims concerning government programs or other government-related matters. Determine liability, sanctions, or penalties, or recommend the acceptance or rejection of claims or settlements.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Writing
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Speaking
- Active Learning
- Social Perceptiveness
Key knowledge
- English Language
- Law and Government
- Administrative
- Computers and Electronics
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- Psychology
- Mathematics
What the work involves
- Prepare written opinions and decisions.
- Review and evaluate data on documents, such as claim applications, birth or death certificates, or physician or employer records.
- Research and analyze laws, regulations, policies, and precedent decisions to prepare for hearings and to determine conclusions.
- Explain to claimants how they can appeal rulings that go against them.
- Monitor and direct the activities of trials and hearings to ensure that they are conducted fairly and that courts administer justice while safeguarding the legal rights of all involved parties.
- Conduct hearings to review and decide claims regarding issues, such as social program eligibility, environmental protection, or enforcement of health and safety regulations.
- Rule on exceptions, motions, and admissibility of evidence.
- Determine existence and amount of liability according to current laws, administrative and judicial precedents, and available evidence.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Conventional, Enterprising, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Doctoral Degree (37.3% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (42.9%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (22.9%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very low | Lower on contact with others than 81% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Contact with others about half the time” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 83% of occupations compared | 58% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 98% of occupations compared | 26% of surveyed respondents chose “Important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 96% of occupations compared | 86% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 79% of occupations compared | 63% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 80% of occupations compared | 29% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 71% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 73% of occupations compared | 29% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 2.86%
- Contact with others about half the time: 37.14%
- Contact with others most of the time: 25.71%
- Constant contact with others: 34.29%
n = 35, Occupational Expert 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 6.06%
- Fairly important: 3.03%
- Important: 3.03%
- Very important: 30.3%
- Extremely important: 57.58%
n = 33, Occupational Expert 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 20.59%
- Fairly important: 23.53%
- Important: 26.47%
- Very important: 20.59%
- Extremely important: 8.82%
n = 34, Occupational Expert 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 2.86%
- Some freedom: 11.43%
- A lot of freedom: 85.71%
n = 35, Occupational Expert 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: 5.71%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 2.86%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 14.29%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 14.29%
- Every day: 62.86%
n = 35, Occupational Expert 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 5.88%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 20.59%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 29.41%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 20.59%
- Every day: 23.53%
n = 34, Occupational Expert 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 2.86%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 20%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 40%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 28.57%
- Every day: 8.57%
n = 35, Occupational Expert 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 25.71%
- Fairly serious: 28.57%
- Serious: 25.71%
- Very serious: 8.57%
- Extremely serious: 11.43%
n = 35, Occupational Expert 08/2026
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O*NET-SOC 23-1021.00 · SOC 23-1021 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8