Job Search
Researching the Company

Whether you are researching a company for a cover letter, marketing letter, resume, interview or offer negotiation, it is important to do more than read their web site. Why? Because their web site will give you all the fluff they want you to read – not the straight poop.

Where can you find information that is free from bias? Here are 3 suggestions.

1. Stock reports
2. Talk to an insider
3. Google

Stock investor sites can be a wealth of unbiased information about a company. Stock performance is usually a good indicator of how the company is doing. Start by looking up the company name to find the company symbol at http://www.globeinvestor.com/static/hubs/lookup.html
If your company is listed, a table will come up with the symbol as a hyperlink. Click on the symbol link. The current stock price will appear and to your left a table of valuable links. Click on “chart” to look at the stocks performance over the last year. Clicking on “news” will give you links to articles and press releases. Clicking on “company snap shot” will give you financial performance information and more.

Talking to current employees will give you the straight goods. Use your connections to see if someone you know has a friend or relative working for that company or in the same industry. Learning about the company’s reputation in the industry can be very revealing.

Entering the company name into a search engine like Google can bring up interesting links to articles, postings and other information about the company that has been posted on the web. You can also Google your job title (if it is unique) and the person you are applying to or being interviewed by to gather information about them.

For fun, Google your own name or a previous company you worked for and see what comes up!

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Do you have questions or comments regarding this article? Email Joni Rose at joni@careerminded.ca