 Career planning. Career. Your career is your job or a set of jobs you do over many years. The occupation you choose is your career. Your career includes your work experience and achievements. Opening. Some stores hang help-wanted signs in their windows when they have a job opening available. A job that a company wants to hire a worker to fill is an opening. Future. The future is a time after the present. Things in the future have not yet happened. Yesterday is the past. Today is the present. Tomorrow is the future. Employer. Boeing is an example of an employer in Washington State. An employer is any company that pays people to do work for them. If you work for a company, you are an employee. In demand. When something is in demand, it means that it is needed or wanted by many people. Occupations with a lot of job growth will be in high demand. Average. An average is the usual or typical amount of something. The average salary for a profession is the amount someone is normally paid to do that job. Wage. The wage you earn is the amount of money you are paid to do a job over a period of time. Wages are most commonly paid by the hour. Salary. A salary is a fixed amount of money paid to a worker. If you are on salary, you will be paid the same amount every year, no matter how many hours you work. Growth. Growth is the amount something gets bigger over time. Occupations with a lot of job growth will be in high demand. Field. A career field is an area or type of work. It is the industry that a career is in. If your job title is Nursing Assistant, you work in the medical field. Minimum wage. Some jobs only pay minimum wage. Minimum wage is the lowest possible rate a person can be paid. Minimum wage varies by state. The end.