The wider field
Top Occupations — the largest pools in one month
A ranking is the fastest way to see where the weight of a subclass sits. This view lists the occupations with the largest submitted pools in the month you choose, which is useful context — and easy to over-read if you treat size as difficulty.
What this view measures
Bars are occupations, ordered by submitted count in the selected month on the selected subclass. Change the month to see how the ranking looked earlier.
Reading the chart
Look at the shape of the distribution as well as the order. A few very tall bars followed by a long flat tail is a concentrated stream; evenly stepped bars are a broad one.
Stepping back a year and comparing rankings is often more informative than the current top ten, because it shows which occupations are climbing.
What the figure represents
A large pool reflects how many people hold an assessment for that occupation and chose to lodge — labour demand, migration marketing and course enrolments from years earlier all feed into it.
In the dashboard
Pick the visa and the month, then read the top of the list. Clicking a bar opens that occupation in Occupation Trends so you can see whether it has always been large.
The guest trial opens this view for 189 and 190, so the ranking is available without an account.
The guest trial covers 189 and 190 for this view. Subclass 491 asks you to sign in.
For applicants
Finding your occupation near the top is normal for popular fields and is not a verdict. What matters is the trend and the invited side, not the rank.
For migration professionals
A good scene-setting chart, provided you say what it ranks. Clients hear “top occupations” as “most successful occupations” unless you correct it immediately.
Limits of this view
It is a single month with no trend, no invited dimension and no points. Occupations whose counts fall under 20 do not appear at all.
Common questions
Does a top ranking mean the occupation is hard to get invited for?
Not by itself. Size is not speed. Invite Activity shows whether a large pool is also a busy one.