ABSTRACT
Traditionally within the careers professions distinctions are made between various types of information about the world of work. There is occupational knowledge (what you actually do in particular jobs, what qualifications you need, what you might earn), labour market information (facts and figures about employment trends, what industries are in decline, what regions in the country have high unemployment) and labour market intelligence (an interpretation of these facts). These classifications were devised by careers information professionals to help them structure their libraries and their own research, but were of little benefit to clients. For individuals trying to make sense of the complexities of the world of work, it doesn’t really matter how the information is classified; we just want to know whether the job would suit us and if (and how) we would get it. So for the purposes of this chapter, I am eschewing these distinctions and favouring a structure that better reflects the interests of the practitioner and client.
