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Benefits of Employer Research
- Shows an employer that
you’ve done your homework.
When they ask you, “what do you know about
us?” You
can say you’ve been to their webpage and
can give them a short overview that demonstrates
this.
- Helps you create company(organization)
specific questions that make you stand out
in an interview.
- Helps you customize your “cover
letter” for
a given organization that addresses its needs
and interests. You can grab attention early on
by mentioning something
unique about them in your opening paragraph.
- You
can craft an objective statement that uses the
skill words most desired by the
company.
- Discover related positions
you did not exit before within a given company.
Areas
of Employer Research
- Who is involved? Number
of employees, employee diversity, growth or decline
in size of organization,
leadership within company, major competitors.
- What does the organization
do? Services and products offered, research activities,
key
achievements.
- Where do they operate?
Office locations, focus of organization: local vs.
national or international,
market.
- When did they begin,
and what are their future plans? History, future
projects
and expansion, projected financial growth or decline,
downsizing, outsourcing, or restructuring.
- How
do they operate? Organizational structure, environment
(formal vs. informal).
- Why
does the company exist, and what is their brand?
Values, company philosophy
or mission statement, goals.
Besides beginning your research using your
FREE
VAULT ACCOUNT mentioned in this section, consider
the following:
Glassdoor.com
Glassdoor.com gives you a free look at company salaries, reviews and interview
questions at over 27,000 companies.
The Riley
Guide
One
of the best beginning points for employer information,
this site includes numerous links and research tips.
Hoover’s
Online
Provides
free company profiles.
WetFeet.com
An
excellent source of information that provides brief overviews
of companies in several industries
and interviews
with different employees and recruiters.
The Job Resource
Targets
recent grads and is a good site for general research
on companies. You will need to register
to use the services.
Corporate Information
Search
by company name or industry type.
The National Association
of Chambers of Commerce
Select
Chambers of Commerce in your preferred geographical
areas and search for information on member companies.
SuperPages.com
Access
Yellow Pages listings nationwide.
Idealist
Enables
you to search nonprofit organization profiles.
NewsDirectory.com
Links to national
and international newspapers.
General
Directories:
- Directories in Print lists available directories
for the field you are researching.
- Job Choices is
a free publication listing major employers in Science,
Engineering and Computer Science,
and Business.
- National Trade and Professional Associations lists
associations, officers and chapters by geographic area.
- Community
Resources Information Directory lists social service
providers in Santa Barbara County.
Targeted Directories Include:
- California
Job Journal
- Good Works: A Guide To Careers in Social
Change
- America’s Fastest Growing
Employers
- 150 Best
Companies for Liberal Arts Graduates
- 100 Best Companies
for Gays and Lesbians
- U.S. Directory of Entertainment
Employment
Luckily, our multi-campus library brings
us digital resources that extend our access to expensive
and powerful
databases. Librarians are also available to assist
you in your search.
The library site has links to databases,
including LexisNexis Academic and the Business Source
Premier. Click HERE to
go to the UCSB Library now.
In the library, begin in the Reference
area, and look for guides to company and career information.
For
an Overview of What Companies are in Which Field:
- The
Million Dollar Directory
- Directory of American Firms
Operating in Foreign Countries
- Try Us: National Minority
Business Directory
For Financial and Historical Information
on a Specific Company:
- Standard & Poors Corporation
Records
- International Company Histories
- Moodys Handbook of
Common Stock
For Current Trends, See Journals such as:
- The Wall Street
Journal
- Barrons
- Black Enterprise
Check out the Career
Connections Networking Program through
the UCSB
Alumni Association.
Alumni have volunteered to speak with students and
other alums about their career paths. Ask family,
friends, and acquaintances if they can refer you to employers.
Ask advisors, TAs, and professors in your department
for names of companies that have hired students with
your background in the past.
Annual Reports
Corporations, colleges,
agencies, foundations, and associations all have annual
reports. They can often
be obtained free by writing or calling the organization.
The Davidson Library also has some annual reports in
the reference area.
“Spying” or
Casing out Potential Employers
This is one of our favorite modes of employer
research—going
to the employer for an unannounced visit. For most
companies and organizations, this is very easy and very
ethical.
For example, if you wanted to work at the UCSB Davidson
Library, think how much you could learn by merely walking
up and down the stacks, talking to student users, testing
the computer systems—the whole place is open
to you.
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