Get the low down on top jobs

Most job seekers are pretty savvy about how to research careers on-line. Two of the more popular sites for generic employment information are the O*Net and the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Here, you can evaluate jobs according to industry, function, education, working conditions, compensation, trends, and projections.

However, sometimes it's helpful to hear from someone who actually works in the field -- a first-hand account, so to speak. That's the beauty of The Career Project. This site features profiles of professionals who are working in the very positions you're interested in. Want to know what a Chief Technology Officer does every day? Curious how she got the job? How much money she makes? What kind of training she had? Enter the job title you're researching (or click on the industry you'd like to learn about) and, voila! Complete profiles -- including work histories and words of advice -- appear!

Granted, the site is new, so the database is not complete by any means. But it's growing. And, true, The Career Project protects each professional's identity, so you can't use the site for networking. But it does tell you the person's age and gender, so you you can speculate and make comparisons. Of course, nothing beats the real thing -- talking with someone face-to-face. However, when the informational interview is not an option, The Career Project is a nice alternative.