Business Continuity Planners

Develop, maintain, or implement business continuity and disaster recovery strategies and solutions, including risk assessments, business impact analyses, strategy selection, and documentation of business continuity and disaster recovery procedures. Plan, conduct, and debrief regular mock-disaster exercises to test the adequacy of existing plans and strategies, updating procedures and plans regularly. Act as a coordinator for continuity efforts after a disruption event.

Most important skills

Active Listening
Critical Thinking
Complex Problem Solving
Judgment and Decision Making
Reading Comprehension
Writing
Speaking
Active Learning

Key knowledge

English Language
Public Safety and Security
Administration and Management
Customer and Personal Service
Computers and Electronics
Education and Training
Communications and Media
Administrative

What the work involves

Write reports to summarize testing activities, including descriptions of goals, planning, scheduling, execution, results, analysis, conclusions, and recommendations.
Maintain and update organization information technology applications and network systems blueprints.
Interpret government regulations and applicable codes to ensure compliance.
Establish, maintain, or test call trees to ensure appropriate communication during disaster.
Design or implement products and services to mitigate risk or facilitate use of technology-based tools and methods.
Create business continuity and disaster recovery budgets.
Create or administer training and awareness presentations or materials.
Attend professional meetings, read literature, and participate in training or other educational offerings to keep abreast of new developments and technologies related to disaster recovery and business continuity.

Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Enterprising, Conventional, Investigative.

Qualifications and licensing

Most common education: Bachelor's Degree (47.8% of respondents)
Related experience: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (26.1%)
On-the-job training: Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (33.3%)
Preparation level: O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
Licensing: Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.

Check before planning

Licensing for Business Continuity Planners is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Projection education uses SOC 13-1199 (detailed_parent); it may describe a broader group.

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.

Rankings compare typical U.S. occupation-level work conditions; individual jobs and employers vary. Data: O*NET 31.0 Work Context and BLS wages (May 2025).
Condition	Level	Compared with other occupations	Most common answer (O*NET survey)
Contact with others	Moderate	Lower on contact with others than 53% of occupations compared	52% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others”
Dealing with the public	Low	Lower on dealing with the public than 74% of occupations compared	26% of surveyed respondents chose “Important”
Teamwork	Moderate	Higher on teamwork than 57% of occupations compared	55% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Freedom to make decisions	Low	Lower on freedom to make decisions than 74% of occupations compared	52% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom”
Time pressure	Very low	Lower on time pressure than 88% of occupations compared	39% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day”
Conflict situations	Low	Lower on conflict situations than 68% of occupations compared	48% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month”
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people	Very low	Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 89% of occupations compared	62% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month”
Consequence of error	Low	Lower on consequence of error than 79% of occupations compared	32% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious”

Work-pressure profile

Time pressure: very low
Conflict situations: low
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very low
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