There's a hilarious play called Avenue Q that follows the lives of several young adults as they struggle to find jobs, build relationships, and generally make it in the "real world." One of the songs in this play is called "I Wish I Could Go Back to College," where the actors show how everything is laid out for you in college, but everything is up to you once you get out into the world.
If you've ever felt like this (especially if you're new to IT), then Microsoft Learning's new Chart your Career page is for you. The page lists a number of different positions in IT (with a short roadmap showing what positions are higher tiers), then goes on to explain what type of work you'll do in that position, what skills are required, how much experience you need, etc.
For instance, the web developer page starts like this: "As a Web developer, you are a technical expert in the dynamic Web programming tools and languages that fuel the interactive Web. You may work independently or as part of an organization’s multidisciplinary team to build and integrate interactive Web sites, Web applications, and Web services for both intranet and Internet uses." Skills listed include "Using ASP or ASP.NET for server-side development," "Writing functional and design specifications for Web applications," and several others.
It may not be an academic advisor, but this site seems like a really good (and easy to understand) starting point for people looking to see where they are and where they want to go. Plus, these pages should give you a good idea of the terminology, software, and skills you'll want to address in your resume and when interviewing for jobs.
