Researching potential employers can be time-consuming, but it's well worth the effort. To use your time effectively, however, you should divide your research into two distinct phases. The first phase should involve gathering only basic information about many different companies, including:
- Company name, address, phone and fax numbers
- Names and job titles of key contacts
- Whether the company is privately or publicly held
- Products and/or services
- Year of incorporation
- Number of employees
Where to Look
To find the information you need, you'll have to dig into every resource you can find. Libraries are a fantastic source of both publicized and hidden job opportunities. Most have a vast array of resources, including major newspapers like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and trade journals like Advertising Age and Publishers Weekly. To identify publications in your field of interest, consult the Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources or Predicasts F&S Index.
There are a number of other resources you can use to find listings of companies, most of which can also be found at your local library. Ask the reference librarian to help you locate the many directories that list basic information about companies in your field of interest. Be sure not to overlook these great tools:
Dun and Bradstreet's Million Dollar Directory is a good place to begin your research. It lists approximately 160,000 companies that are both publicly and privately held and is updated annually.
Standard & Poor's Register of Corporations lists fewer companies than the Million Dollar Directory (about 45,000) but provides valuable biographical information on thousands of company officials.
Corporate Technology Directory (Corporate Technology Information Services) focuses on the products of approximately 35,000 companies. This is a great resource for job seekers interested in high-tech industries, including computers, biotechnology, environmental engineering, chemical and pharmaceutical, and transportation.
Personnel Executives Contact book (Gale Research) lists key personnel and other contacts at 30,000 publicly and privately held companies and government agencies.
The National Job Bank (Adams Media) lists key contacts at over 17,000 small and large companies. It includes information on common positions filled and educational backgrounds desired, and is updated annually.
Directory of Human Resources Executives (Hunt-Scanlon) names human-resource executives and provides information on number of employees and area of specialization of 5,000 public and private companies.
Directory of Corporate Affiliations (National Register) is one of the few places where you can find information on a company's divisions and subsidiaries. This particular book lists information on approximately 4,000 parent companies.
Also, don't overlook the countless industry-specific directories that are available, such as Dunn's Directory of Service Companies, Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, and Standard Directory of Advertisers. These are a terrific place to find potential employers and often include information on professional associations and industry trends.
Many of these resources can also be found on CD-ROM at your library. These "books on disk" are easy to use and can save you a lot of time. They are often attached to printers, so you can print the information you need. Usually, libraries will provide free access to CD-ROM databases.
Your local library is not the only place to look for valuable company information. Why not go straight to the source? Call the investor-relations departments of companies you're interested in and request their annual report. (This approach will generally work only with larger companies.) Call the sales office or PR office of the parent company to get a copy of any literature distributed to consumers, including product literature, recent press releases, or even annual reports (for public companies). If the company is public, call a stockbroker and ask for additional information to supplement what's already in your file. If the firm has a human-resources department, ask for a recruitment package or any other information available to job seekers. If you're interested in a smaller company that doesn't have a human-resources department or publish annual reports, don't panic! Most companies have brochures or catalogs of their products or services that they'll send to you upon request. If possible, speak to someone at the firm before the interview. If you can't do this, speak to someone at a competing firm. The more time you spend the better.
Use all of your research to develop educated, informed opinions. You'll be better prepared to exchange ideas, create interesting conversation, and make a positive impression on the interviewer.
