How to Research Potential Employers

 |  Career Connections

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by Trevor Gelder, Corporate Director
Talent Acquisition and Deployment

As you look for a new job, it’s important that you do your due diligence. It’s extremely important that you know if the company – including its values, culture and expertise – is a good fit for you and vice versa.

Check out the company website. Explore the type of work they do, try to learn what is important to them. What is the culture? What are the ethical standards? You want to make sure the company meets your expectations in terms of working environment and values – and that you can meet the company’s expectations in turn. If ethics are very important to the company, you’re going to want to give an example of how you have demonstrated ethical behavior in the past. If the company builds health care facilities and you have worked on hospital construction projects, be sure to let them know. All that’s to say, doing this research helps you figure out whether a company is a good fit and how you can best position yourself as a good hire.

Don’t rely on the company website as your only source of information. Remember the company controls its messaging 100 percent and only shares what it wants. Spend some time online researching the company – taking time to check out industry-related rankings, media write-ups and more to get a sense of what it is known for.

Ask around! People are your biggest resources, so find out what your industry colleagues, friends and social networking connections have to say about this company. For more information on researching a potential employer, visit http://blog.resume-help.org/2011/04/when-and-how-to-research-a-potential-employer/