Researching Employers
Why conduct research on employers?
- Employers expect any serious candidate to be knowledgeable about their company.
Not being informed drastically reduces your chances of being considered a serious candidate.
- While often overlooked by many college-age job seekers, researching a company is
vital to the job search process and can quickly separate the serious
job seeker from the rest of the job candidate pool.
- Researching companies helps the candidate understand what he/she
wants and needs in a work environment. The process of discovering the many
different possibilities available to the candidate helps the candidate customize a "good fit"
between the company and the candidate's preferences, skills, and needs.
- Researching companies helps the job seeker customize cover letters and résumés
toward the company's needs; ensuring the placement of the résumé and cover letter
in the "yes" pile instead of the garbage.
- Being knowledgeable about a company will inform answers to questions in an
interview in addition to assisting with the ultimate goal of the interview:
convincing the interviewer why you are the perfect candidate for the job and the company!
- Think of it this way: any contact between you and the employer should be
preceded by thorough research into the company. The more you do it (assuming that you are
considering more than one company) the faster and more adept you will become with this skill.
Use the links on the left of your screen to navigate the Researching Employers pages.
