Job Search News

Or… Know the EMPLOYER!

Right after college, I joined the United States Marine Corps.  Many people considered it an odd thing for a college-educated woman to do (particularly my college advisor!), but, coming from a family comprised of WW II veterans (including both of my parents), it seemed like a good option to me.  And it was.

I learned many things my 3 years in the USMC that have helped me in civilian life, and one of the most useful was -

“Know the enemy!”

I’ve applied that advice to many aspects of my civilian career, translating it to “know the adversary” or “know the other side” in business, and I’ve always been glad that I did.

Know the Enemy => Know the Employer

In a job search, ”Know the Enemy” morphs into ”Know the Employer,” and it means collecting information on potential employers so that you can focus your job search efforts on organizations where you will have the best opportunities. And making an informed decision when you accept a job offer – NOT a fingers-crossed, please-let-this-work-out decision!

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In a job search, your adversary (hopefully not your enemy) is the employer – the hiring manager, the recruiter, everyone who interviews you, and everyone who works there.  Find out all you can about them.

5 Important Sources of Information

We have tons of information available online now, and ignoring that information is ignoring an excellent opportunity to pick the best potential employers as your job search targets while avoiding the worst, to stand out from the competition by leveraging that information, and to land that job.

1. Employer’s website.

Visit their website, and learn as much as possible from it.  What they do.  Where they are (local, national, or international).  Who leads the company.  Who else works there.  What are the products and/or services.  How big is it (employees, sales, profit).  What do they show as “news”?  You won’t find all of those answers on the employer’s website, but hopefully you will find some of them.

2.  LinkedIn

• Check for a Company Profile on LinkedIn.  LinkedIn shows – number of employees, industry, headquarters location, your connections to anyone who works there (now and in the past), and more.
• If the employer website has indicated some major clients, business partners, and suppliers, look for LinkedIn Company Profiles on those organizations.  LinkedIn will show you any connections you may have.
• Check the LinkedIn Profiles of company employees to see what LinkedIn Groups they belong to.  Join those Groups.  You may pick up interesting information from those observations, and you may also be able to ask questions to elicit responses directly from employees of your target (or possible target) employers.
• Search the LinkedIn Answers to find questions asked by employees of your target (or possible target) employers.  Again, look at the information shared, and evaluate it in terms of the kind of organization you want and the colleagues, bosses, and/or subordinates you prefer.

3.  Google.

• If they sell products or services, search for reviews of those products or services.
• If you find the names of a parent organization, business partners, major customers, or contracts on their website or in news about them, search for information about those organizations, too.
• What does Google “suggest” about them when you start a query with the company name?
• Does Google Maps show you a “street view” of the organization’s location?  Is it large or small? Does it look well-maintained and prosperous or in disrepair?  Good neighborhood or bad?  What you want/expect, or not?

Look for signs of prosperity or decline.  New or pending contracts, product roll outs, and/or locations could mean new hires.  A contract loss or closure of a location could mean the opposite.  What’s in the news section of the website and in Google’s news search?

4.  Yahoo Finance.

If the employer is a publicly-traded company, Yahoo Finance is a treasure trove of information about the company.  Most of it is aimed at investors, but that information is very helpful for job seekers as well.  Profits going down – maybe a cutback (with layoffs) is pending?  Sales skyrocketing – maybe a big increase in staff is pending?

Look at the stock performance.  If the stock price is jumping much higher than competitors, the market is expecting some good news.  But, be careful - good news to the stock market may not be good news for your job search.  The news could be a hot new product or service being introduced, OR it could mean the company is being sold and investors expect to make a killing.  See what the stock analysts think.

5.  Direct information collection

If possible, talk to current and former employees about the organization and what it’s like to work there.  Which are the best departments/divisions, best locations, best products/services, etc.  Who are the best managers?  And, conversely, what are the worst departments/divisions, etc.

How long do people stay?  Why do they leave?  Where do they go when the leave?

Applying the Intelligence

Once you have gathered and analyzed the information, apply it for your job search:

• Discard the employers who appear shaky, have poor reviews, or don’t “feel” right to you.
• Focus your efforts on the most positive employers and the most positive sections of those organizations as well as the managers with the best reputations.
• Develop good questions for the formal job interview process.
• Use the information you have collected to approach the employer – LinkedIn may be best for an employer who values skills with LinkedIn, for example.
• Consider what accomplishments, skills, and experiences you have that would be of value to that employer, and how to package them for that culture.

Bottom Line

Once you have collected the information, you will find more ways than I can describe to use that information for your job search.  Just take the time to collect the information, analyze it, and consider how to apply it.

To all the Marines out there, Semper Fi! And to everyone, good luck with your job search!

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Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce, USMC veteran, has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @JobHuntOrg.

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Posted Sunday, March 13th, 2011 at 11:25 pm in Job Search.