The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
Get To Know Your Employer
People who are currently in the stage of their job search, may hardly know anything about their employer, but all the same, nothing stops them from thinking that it’s all going successfully. Well, they’ve used some help with resume writing, received a perfect resume and now it seems like they’re 100% ready to hit the job interview. Yet “war” for employment, like any other war, requires a proper preparation in order to know your personal “enemy”. The expression “know your enemy” in a job search applies to the process of gathering and analyzing data about your potential employers in order to select companies with best opportunities and perspectives; find out the best way to land on a desirable job position; search for people that may help you get through and finally make a deliberated decision at the end, when accepting the job offer.
From now on, your targeted employers become the main subject of study. To begin with, use these 3 most essential sources in order to start more elaborated search later.
The employer’s webpage
The key source for learning the most useful information about the employer is his website. When you’re researching online, you must find answers to questions, like “What does the company do?”, “Is it local, national or international organization and where is the headquarter, if it’s spread out in several locations?”, “How big is the company?”, “What services and products are produced?”, “When and where do they post job vacancies?”, “What are the main requirements to your potential job?”. Learn more about the company and its CEO and other people, who work there. Perhaps, you won’t be able to answer all of those questions, but at least most of them. Don’t keep everything in your head – note the answers down. This is to make sure you would be confident when a job interviewer asks if you know anything about the company and its work.
LinkedIn
If you’re still underestimating the power of this social media and haven’t yet registered in, you might be missing the excellent source of information. Almost any company/organization/firm has its LinkedIn profile for better networking with potential employees and their partners, therefore it will be more than useful for you, as a potential worker. To search for a company in LinkedIn, just put its name in a search bar. You can not only research for the company’s profile, but also explore several of its current employees, related to the company groups and even job postings. If you became interested in the company, you can click to the “Follow” button and then you will be able to see its latest updates. In case you’re being connected with some of the company’s workers, you can review info about their education or past job experience and make conclusions. If you know someone well enough, contact him or her to ask about the employer and his/her experience working there so far, or you may simply ask for a job search advice.
Why is googling important? Usually Google results can show you much more about the employer, than he tends to post on his website or LinkedIn profile. What does Google suggest reviewing when you make a query with the employer’s name? Search for everything that show the company’s prosperity of decline. Click the Google’s news to analyze its latest activity. Look for customers’ feedback about the company’s provided products/services. And finally, what does Google Maps show you when you request the company’s address. What can you say about its location: is it a center of a big city in a good area or is it in the outskirts of a bad neighborhood?
One more hint: if you figure out how to use Google Finance, than you can keep track of the company’s profits, sales and stock performance. It can say much about the company growth.
