Career Management Your own job security is what you create for yourself. Most corporations and even government agencies are restructuring for leaner operations. Major trends in the workplace include "pay for performance," lateral career moves, contingency employment, part-time employment, and temporary employment. Temporary agencies are among the largest employers. In this type of uncertain work environment, you need to take responsibility for creating your work opportunities. Career Planning Concepts A career is the sum total of all the work-paid and unpaid-you have done and will do in your lifetime. Any time you have exerted conscious effort to provide goods or services to benefit yourself or others, you have been engaged in work. An occupation is a group of similar jobs found in different industries or organizations. A job is a paid position. Career development has been defined as the interaction of psychological, sociological, economic, physical, and chance factors that shape the sequence of jobs, occupations, or careers that a person may engage in throughout a lifetime. Career development is a major aspect of human development. Aptitude is a prediction of how well you will do. Abilities are things you are able to do, or have a natural talent for, even if you have never had any training in those areas. Skills are things you have already learned to do well. Transferable skills are those learned in previous experiences that will help qualify you for new jobs. Assessment is a means of finding out what interests, strengths, skills, and personality style you already have. Values are the things that are most important to you, things that motivate and energize you. Labor force is the sum of all civilians classified as employed and unemployed and members of the Armed Forces stationed in the United States. Sellers are individuals seeking work (a component of the labor supply), and buyers are employers offering wages and other benefits in exchange for work (labor demand). Career information is generally used by career decision-makers and career guidance professionals to discover and explore occupational opportunities, related educational programs of study and training, the institutions that offer the programs, and other related information. Labor market information is data about workers, jobs, industries, and employers, including employment, demographic, and economic data.