The Job Search:
How to Research Companies
Recruiters expect you to do company research and will ask questions to gauge how well you’ve prepared.  How much you find out about a company is an indication of your interest in working for that company as well as your research skills.  Plus, what you uncover about a company will help you to evaluate if you want to work for that employer. If you have questions about how to use any of the resources listed here, a Reference Librarian will be glad to assist.

What to Research Before Your Interview:

           Look in:
  Lexis-Nexis Business News - Full text of business magazine and newsletter articles.
              Business Source Premier - Indexes nearly 3800 journals on management, economics,
                            finance, accounting, international business, and more.  Lots of full text.
                            On the green bar at the top of the search screen, you can click on the
                       Company Profiles button to get both brief and long profiles.  This is a good place
                                     to find names of top competitors, too.            Look in:
              Lexis-Nexis Industry News
              Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys.  Ref. HG4915.S651   Updated every six months,
              this service discusses current environment, trends, and how the industry operates.
              Also includes statistics and a section on Comparative Company Analysis within
              the industry.            Look in:
                Lexis-Nexis Company Financial Information
                          Includes Hoover's Online, with company profiles,  their competitors, & financials
                            for of nearly 50,000 public and private companies,
                   Mergent's Handbook of Common Stocks - Ref. HG4501 .M59
                Value Line Ratings and Reports - Ref. HG45-1 .V26
                            This service gives brief industry profiles and then analyses of major companies
                            within that industry.            Look in:
              Jobstar.org/tools/salary/index.htm -
              Salary.com - http://salary.com/ -
                Homefair - http://www.homefair.com/
              American Salaries & Wages Survey (in Clark County Public Library)
              American Almanac of Jobs & Salaries  (also in Clark County Public Library)
 

Resources for Tapping Into the Hidden Job Market
The visible job market represents jobs that are advertised.  The hidden job market represents
unadvertised openings, which are generally the majority of job openings at any given time.
Research is the key to penetrating the hidden market.

              In Thomas Library:
                 Standard & Poor's Register - Corporations   Ref. HG4057.A4 2003
                    or online at Lexis-Nexis/Business/Company Financial Information.
                    Lists publicly owned companies, their major product, key personnel, and contact information.
                Company Profiles for Students - Ref. HG4057.A27
                American Business Source - Ref. HF5035 .A44 2001
                    Contains the Business to Business Yellow Pages, which is an alphabetical listing,
                        by product, of companies across the country.
                Ohio Industrial Directory - Ref. HD9727.O3 O37 1997
                    Lists companies geographically as well as by product.

            In the Career Center:
                  Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce 2003 Membership Directory
                  2001 Financial Yellow Book (a who's who at leading U.S. financial institutions)
                  2001 Ohio Industrial Directory
 

Other Resources for Job Hunters

  In Thomas Library:

                                                                                                             Return to the Career Center Web Page
Created by Regina Entorf, Wittenberg University Library
Last updated 11-22-06/RPE
© 2006 Wittenberg University