All told, there are more than 300,000 sites of all sizes, and, yup, the number keeps rising. Along with all this growth are increasing numbers of jobs. Some can be found at Fortune 500 companies -- they've got the bucks. Fewer jobs are available with "hot" web design firms like Vivid Studios and Organic Online. Plus, more nonprofits and small businesses want to create sites -- and need help.

The women profiled here work on a variety of sites from a ski resort's page (Steamboat Springs) to a hot multimedia company's (Macromedia) to an Afrocentric community site (AFROAM Griot Online).

As they attest, working behind the scenes requires technical, design and marketing skills. Click on boldfaced terms if you need to peek at a glossary. Jump ahead to stuff to know for the nitty-gritty on finding work. Read on to see how these women did it. And let us know which other careers you'd like to know about.

Betsy Brunton
26, coordinator of electronic media, Steamboat Springs Ski Resort, Colo.

College major: BA, international politics, St. Lawrence Univ., Canton, NY

Right out of school: Adventure travel. Alaska for a few months and then on to Steamboat to be a "ski bum" and wait tables.

Then what: "I wanted something more stable and thought-provoking than working in a restaurant, so I got a job at a start-up production company where they were creating a one-hour TV special on computer graphics. The start-up flopped, but I got to go to the National Association of Broadcasters show in Vegas in '94. All the multimedia stuff there whetted my interest and a light bulb went on about the need for a web site at the ski resort. I got a spot as an assistant to the PR director. After five months part time, I created this webmistress job full-time."

What she does now: "I oversee all content on the Steamboat site to make sure it is easy to navigate and download. I design it and keep it running." The site markets the ski resort, and lets people design their entire ski vacation on line. (Since September, the 200-page site has gotten about 400,000 visits.)

Victoria Dawson
28, director of web development, Macromedia Inc., San Francisco

College major: BA, double major in philosophy and art history, Vanderbilt Univ.

Right out of school: "Moved to SF and started my own freelance graphic design business."

Then what: After three years, she got an in-house job as a graphic designer at Macromedia, which, at the time, produced multimedia software (Director, Authorware, MacroModel, SoundEdit). "Now we are a multimedia digital arts and online publishing company."

What she does now: Her graphic design job turned into web design over the past two years and now she oversees the web department, handling strategic development, content and major projects. Victoria has a five-member staff that actually creates the web site and it's growing to a dozen. She needs a producer to handle day-to-day content and manage people, one technical manager; two CGI programmers; a Shockwave designer and trafficker. "Our site is not just for marketing. I wanted to create an online community and a resource center for multimedia designers." (At 3,500 pages, hers is one of the larger company sites. It gets more than a million hits a day.)

Sandra Hall
42, publications specialist , Orincon Corp., a scientific research organization, and owner of Artronics Inc., both in San Diego.

College: One course away from a BS in information systems, University of Redlands.

Her story: Before starting college, Sandra worked as a file clerk for a large accounting firm and "hated computers." That is, until they offered to train her on an IBM system. "I turned into a computer geek within a year and realized I should go study the stuff."

Then what: Went to school at night while working full-time managing a minicomputer system for General Dynamics, the defense contractor. Oh yes, and she started her web design company, Artronics. "But once I got my first big contract, something had to go." Sandra opted to leave school and run her company. A year later, one client offered her an irresistible full-time job. "At Orincon I would have access to top-of-the line computers and get to create web pages on everything from cold fusion to underwater acoustics research projects." The sites are used to market the research house to potential funders. (Unfortunately, not just anyone can surf these sites -- access is limited.)

What she does now: Besides working at Orincon, Sandra is considered the doyenne of African-American webmistresses. Last fall, she started WebDiva's InfoCenter. The site compiles info and links related to African-American culture. In 1994, she designed AFROAM Griot Online, (griot is an African word for someone who keeps culture alive through oral histories). Add to her credits Afrigeneas, a mailing list, hosted at Mississippi State, which focuses on genealogical research and resources.