CareerCatalyst > Career Ref. Center > Career Planning: III. Career Exploration  [I] [II]

[Career Planning Part I: General Advice]
[Career Planning Part II: Self-Assessment]

Job Profiles & Employment Trends

•  2000-01 Occupational Outlook Handbook
Revised every two years, the Handbook describes what workers do on the job, working conditions, the training and education needed, earnings, and expected job prospects in a wide range of occupations. A staple for job hunters from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

•  California Occupational Guides
Provide statewide information about job duties, working conditions, employment outlook, wages, benefits, entrance requirements, and training on approximately 300 occupations. Though the guides are California-specific, much of their information is relevant nationwide.

•  Occupational Employment, Training and Earnings
Compare occupations in terms of employment size, projected employment growth, earnings, education and training requirements, opportunities for self-employment and part-time work, and unemployment rates.

•  The 10 occupations with the largest job growth, 1998-2008

•  The 10 fastest-growing occupations, 1998-2008

•  General Outlook of the U.S. Job Market
Lists the occupations which are: fastest growing; have the most openings; are the highest paying; have the largest employment; have declining employment.

•  The Princeton Review: Career Search
Comprehensive profiles for most professions, including information -- such as "Quality of Life" -- not found in the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Registration is required, but it's quick and free.

•  The College Board: Career Browser
Select a career to learn what to expect from a job and what to do in school so that you can work toward the job you want. You'll find out about training and qualifications, what earnings to expect, and what the future holds for each occupation.

•  Hot job tracks for the 21st century
For bold job seekers, U.S. News & World Report lists 20 hot careers that could really take off.

•  Christian & Timbers Hot and Not-So-Hot Executive Jobs Report
What may be surprising is that virtually every hot job on Christian & Timbers’
list of the hottest executive jobs in 2000 is related not just to technology, but
specifically to e-commerce.

•  Career Resource Library
Career videos for almost 200 occupations; must have RealPlayer installed to view.

•  JobProfiles.com
Experienced workers share: rewards of their job; stressful parts of the job; basic skills the job demands; challenges of the future; and, advice on entering the field. Over 200 profiles are available.

•  Getting There
Advice and tips for more than 40 different occupations.

•  Stymied on which career path to follow?   
See how the ''Jobs Rated Almanac'' ranks 250 of the best -- and worst -- jobs in the country.

•  State of the Job Market Around the World
Up-to-date tidbits on employment trends in the U.S. and beyond.

•  Guides for Specific Careers
List of links to information on dozens of career fields.

•  Good pay without a B.A.
Hot jobs abound for those without a four-year degree.

•  WorkSeek.com: Research Jobs
Get detailed information on hundreds of jobs. Includes "Nature of the Work," "Working Conditions" and "Job Outlook."

•  Career Exploration Links
Dig deeper into 18 general career fields with this resource.

•  Aging baby boomers will mean a surge in health care jobs

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Salary Information

•  CareerJournal.com: Salary & Hiring Info
Simply put, a terrific resource.

•  Abbott, Langer & Associates: Salary and Benefits Survey Reports
Free summary data on salaries and bonuses for several professions.

•  Employment Review: Annual Salary Survey
Average earnings for professionals in more than 20 industries and throughout the U.S. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.

•  Wageweb: Salary Survey Data On-Line
Over 170 benchmark positions with compensation data.

•  Salary.com: Look Up Salaries
Huge collection of links to online compensation information for dozens of industries and occupations.

•  JobStar: Salary Surveys
Over 300 links to online salary surveys, both general and occupation specific.

•  Monster.com: Salary Center
Extensive salary research and advice.

•  AIP: 2000 Internet Industry Compensation and Benefits Survey
Executive summary of "the most comprehensive survey of the Internet industry of its type ever undertaken." Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.

•  CareerZone.com: Real-Time Wage Data
Find out how your salary stacks up against your industry peers or explore how factors including education, gender, age and geography impact your salary. Free registration required.

•  Bureau of Labor Statistics: National Compensation Survey
Several salary and wage surveys, including 1999 & 2000 Occupational
Employment and Wage Estimates broken down by state and major metropolitan areas. The 2000 Wage Query System has fantastic data but can be an extremely slow download. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view some pages. Be sure to consult the BLS' Occupational Outlook Handbook for occupation-specific compensation data as well.

•  America's Career InfoNet: Wages and Trends - Occupation Search
Find detailed compensation info by occupation and state. Salary data is from 1998 but may be useful for comparative purposes.

•  Economic Research Institute: College Student Consumables Cost of
   Living Calculator
Not just for students! Complete cost of living analyses (consumables, housing, taxes, services, and transportation) for any earnings level between any two cities. Find out how far your salary will go in over 6,700 U.S., Canadian and international locations.

•  Homefair.com: International Salary Calculator
Compare the cost of living in hundreds of U.S. and international cities.

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Industry Profiles & Forecasts

•  StudentCenter.com: Industry Book
Basic information on all standardized industry types. Groupings are by Division, Major Group, Industry Group and Industry, each relating to a more detailed level of description.

•  Bureau of Labor Statistics: National Industry-Occupation Employment
   Matrix
Identify those industries in which job prospects for employment in that occupation may be best. This site presents 1998 and projected 2008 employment data showing the distribution of total employment for over 500 detailed occupations within more than 240 industries.

•  U.S. Department of Labor: Career Guide to Industries, 2000-2001
Provides information on available careers by industry, including the nature of the industry, working conditions, employment, occupations in the industry, training and advancement, earnings and benefits, employment outlook, and lists of
organizations that can provide additional information. This edition of the Career Guide discusses over 42 industries.

•  U.S. Business Reporter: Industry Reports
Detailed reports on 50 industries, including current trends and issues. Market
share reports for many industries are also available.

•  WetFeet.com: Industry Research
Get the big picture on your career picks with industry overviews, personal perspectives, and no-holds barred exchange.

•  Vault.com: Industry Channels
Reams of detailed info on many industries, including overviews, outlooks, additional research resources and much more.

•  Business.com: Industry Profiles
Incredible amount of info on 26 key industries including history, basics, events & conferences, timelines and trivia, plus related links.

•  Financial Times: Industry Surveys
Find out the top business issues facing major global industries today.

•  experience.com: Industry Profiles
If you want to break into a new industry, nothing is more valuable than experience. Insider reports on how to get into over 20 of the most competitive fields.

•  WorkSeek.com: Research Industries
Profiles for dozens of industries. Unfortunately, many of the listed industries do not yet have profiles.

•  Hoover's Online: Industry Group Snapshots
Hoover's has researched and written over 45 in-depth overviews of various industry groups. Each snapshot may cover one or more industries or sectors.

•  U.S. Census Bureau: Current Industrial Reports
Dozens of manufacturing industry reports. Adobe Acrobat Reader required to view.

•  The 10 industries with the fastest wage and salary employment
   growth, 1998-2008

•  BusinessWeek: Industry Outlook 2000
2000 should be a good year for everyone from retailers and drugmakers to securities firms and metals producers. Software should have a blowout year. In some hot industries, forecasted growth rates are simply staggering.

•  The New York Times: Outlook 2000
A comprehensive look at the economy ahead, including articles on several specific industries.

•  Electronics 2000
Issues and trends that are changing the electronics industry. Adobe Acrobat
Reader required to view.

•  PriceWaterhouseCoopers: Technology Forecast 2000
From semiconductors to wireless to knowledge management, Technology
Forecast: 2000 delves deep into specific topics and offers a detailed analysis of
what's happening now and what we think will happen in the near future. Learn about some of the hot trends covered in the book.

•  Today's biotech, tomorrow's careers
According to one Wall Street guru, "Biotechnology today is as important as the development and evolution of chips were 20 years ago." Opportunities for high-paying and extremely fulfilling careers are limitless in the field of genomics for as far into the future as analysts can foresee -- and then some.

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Other Industry Resources

•  Industry research         
To understand a company and its competition, you need to understand the industry of which it is a part, even if you are looking for information about a niche industry.

•  Industry Research Desk: Industry Portals/Home Pages
Portals and home pages for more than 50 industries. Also see the detailed guide, How to learn about an industry or a particular company.

•  CareerCity: Industry Resources
Valuable leads on associations, directories, magazines and online services for 36 key industries.

•  ASEA: Gateway to Associations Online
Directory lists thousands of industry-related associations.

•  TrainingForum: Associations Database
Database of over 10,000 business organizations.

•  IndustryLink
Lists several resource sites for each of 20 industries.

•  Fuld & Co.: Internet Intelligence Index
Includes industry-specific Internet resources for 24 industries.

•  CNNfn: IndustryWatch
Daily news from 21 industries.

•  Northern Light: Business Search
Specialized searching of Web pages, market research and economic analysis covering 41 industries.

•  Excite.com: Industry News
Daily news from 38 different industries.

•  Yahoo!: Industry News
Industry-specific, 7-day collection of news stories from several wire services.

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U.S. Labor Markets

•  State Labor Market Information Pages
Links to labor market info for all 50 states.

•  State Profile Search
Learn the highest-paying and fastest-growing occupations for any state, and more. Most data is from 1996 and 1997 but this is still an outstanding resource.

•  BLS Regional Information
Hundreds of detailed reports on regional wage and employment trends.

•  ERISSWorks
In-depth, local job market information. Review local salaries, jobs in highest demand, largest employers and more for 20 locations in eight states.

•  State Occupational Projections 1996-2006
Projections of occupational employment growth for all states and the nation as a whole. Allows for projected employment growth for an occupation to be compared within a state and among states.

•  Key Markets
Find out which parts of the country employ the most workers who share your occupational specialty.

•  Demographics Daily
This Web-only publication is devoted to useful demographic news from around the country. Free registration required.

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Informational Interviews

•  Informational Interviewing Tutorial
An excellent step-by-step guide to the process.

•  Informational interviewing questions
The key to informational interviewing is to draw as much information from your resource as possible. To do this, you will have to tailor your questions to each individual you interview. There are some basic questions, however, that can be used as a model.

•  Informational interviewing
Four rules for finding out the information you need when researching a prospective employer.

•  Informational interviewing
A concise summary of the process.

•  Informational interviewing
Reasons to conduct informational interviews, steps to take and sample questions to ask.

•  Networking: The informational interview
Some helpful informational interview techniques.

•  How to write letters for informational interviews
The objective of an approach letter to a senior manager or head of a functional area is simple: To get yourself a meeting with the person to whom the letter is addressed or with a hiring manager in the person's organization who would be
even more appropriate for you to see.

•  Find good career advice from headhunters
Conduct an informational interview with an executive recruiter to gain invaluable insights.

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[Career Planning Part I: General Advice, Part II: Self-Assessment]

CareerCatalyst > Career Ref. Center > Career Planning: III. Career Exploration