How can labour market information help you with your job search?
- What is labour market information?
- What can labour market information tell us?
- Who produces labour market information?
- Key Labour Market Sites
What is labour market information?
Labour Market Information (LMI) tells us all about what is happening in the world of work, or the labour market.
LMI can tell us about things like:
- the number of job vacancies in each job sector
- the type of vacancies — if they are part-time, full-time, temporary, seasonal or permanent ?
- general trends in the world of work — such as which types of business are doing well or failing
- what kind of businesses are opening, or closing down, in your area
- the skills and qualifications that employers are looking for
- what qualification levels and subjects people have
- how many people are looking for work
What can labour market information tell us?
LMI can also give you a clear view of what is happening in the world of work, so you can make realistic plans for your future.
Knowing about things like the number and type of job vacancies, how work is changing and what employers are looking for can make it easier to plan what to do next.
It will also help you to find out about the qualifications and employability skills you will need for your career ideas.
You can use LMI in different ways at different stages...
- If you're still in learning
LMI can give you an idea of the job situation and help you to find out which subjects or courses you might need for your career ideas. - If you're looking for a job
The more you know about the job sector you want to go in to, the better prepared you'll be for job searching, applications and interviews. Employers will be impressed if you've got some knowledge of their sector and a career aim in mind.
Who produces labour market information?
LMI is everywhere you look — it could take the form of facts, figures and statistics or it could be a TV news story, website article or advert.
Some examples of LMI sources include...
- a newspaper article about the number of young people who are going to York University this year
- a chart showing how many people are unemployed in the North Peel area
- a flyer for a new shop opening at square 1 mall
- a job advertisement looking for people to train as IT technicians
- a conversation with a family friend about job losses at their workplace
- a story on a computer games website about the growth of the games design industry in the s
- a vacancy search on Bramptonjobs.com to see what kind of opportunities are available now
- a website with information about specific job sectors — you can find links to these in the Job sectors sections of World of work
- your own observations about a company from taking part in a work experience placement
Remember, not all examples of LMI are equally reliable — always check your facts with more than one source! For example, online discussion forums are often just one person's opinion, while a news story usually has lots of research behind it.
In Peel some reliable sources are:
Key Labour Market Sites
- www.workingincanada.gc.ca
- www.statcan.gc.ca
- www.jobbank.gc.ca
- Labour Market Monitors
- Employment Ontario
- Ontario Job Futures