This research project set out to provide information to young people about which occupations would provide them with the most valuable experience, valuable being defined in terms of later earnings. The project attempted to measure the value of on-the-job learning in terms of future income and to identify sequences of occupations which would maximize the value of the young person's experience. Instead, the project found that the premise is not correct. Individual differences in on-the-job learning do not, on the average, result in differences in earnings. While work experience, measured as the length of time a person has worked, has a substantial positive impact on a person's earnings, the impact does not come from individual differences in job-acquired skills. Therefore, the project's first proposal for individualized simulations of young people's entry into the work force was not needed. The same advice can be given to all: Start work early in as highly paid an occupation as possible and work continuously at it; the connection between learning and earning is a loose one. (Research for the study was conducted through a literature review and longitudinal surveys. Ways were devised to use all available information in a longitudinal survey, and a method of measuring on-the-job learning was devised.) (Author/KC)