Researching Employers

By Elizabeth Saloom

National Cancer Institute, Office of Diversity and Employment Programs

Amidst fixing up your resume, scheduling an interview and digging out your nicest suit, one step in finding a new job often gets overlooked: exploring the employer, the job and how you'll fit in. Researching an employer will help you in two important areas when you are looking for a job, a career or even an internship. Research lets you to know if the companies or organizations that look interesting on the surface truly have the potential to fill your needs and goals. It also gives you a leg-up in the application and interview process. When I searched for jobs, I used to quickly scan job descriptions and requirements, salaries, benefits and locations. I wasn't patient enough to take that crucial next step of researching the job or the agency. I'd fire off e-mails with my resume and cover letters that were usually short and overly general, only to hear nothing back. One time I actually got a rejection letter. Even worse, one time I got an internship I applied for and it turned out to be the most boring five months of my life.

Of course you need to get the basics out of the way. Will you be able to splurge on luxuries like running water and electricity on the salary they are offering? Do you want to work in a city or in a cornfield? But it is important to keep in mind that there is a lot of other information you probably need to make an informed decision. Settling for just any job will not take you far, so use research to do some first cuts. An agency's mission statement, objectives and philosophy, for example, can be very telling. A financial review of the organization's funding, financial status and forecast for growth is a useful tool too. Accomplishments and contributions to the industry or field will indicate to you the company's priorities and strengths. The services and products the organization is responsible for and its customer demographics should be taken in to account - are these all things you will be enthusiastic about? You may be interested in descriptions of operating divisions, information about the history and culture of the organization and perhaps even perusing an organizational chart. Knowing the geographic locations of all the agency's facilities, including satellite sites, is a good idea because you can't always count on working at the headquarters.

The higher the quality of your work life, the easier success will come. What does high quality of work life mean to you? Is it important to you to believe in what you are working on? Are you very serious or more casual? If you haven't, take an inventory of your needs as an employee. Most career centers are a great help with this and offer specific tools to help you find answers to these questions. A friend of mine had a job interview recently and was told, “Our motto is: Failure is not an option.” This motivated my friend and charged him up for the job. To me, it would sound intimidating and unfriendly. Do you want to be nurtured or do you just want instructions? Take measures to find out about the work life environment and programs at the organization. If possible, a visit to the office can answer a lot of questions about its tone. Programs like childcare and mentoring may not be of interest to you right now, but are indicators of how well the agency takes care of its employees.

The information you know about a company when you go into your interview will demonstrate your interest in working for them and prove you're a serious candidate who is resourceful, independent and enterprising. Questions you may field in any job interview could be: “What do you want to know about our company?” (your chance for last minute information-gathering!) or “Why do you want to work for us?” Trust me, you'll want to be prepared!

When researching career options, look for advancement opportunities within the organization. Remember not to focus exclusively on what you need today - it is often impossible to know all the ways you might be able to use your degree. Not to mention, you will change. Often, the concept of the perfect employment opportunity evolves as you grow professionally. Additionally, opportunities change over time - not only due to new technology but also because of societal trends. If you find an interesting organization but don't quite feel ready or now just isn't the time, put it in your “future career options” file so you can come back to it later.

The above is an excerpt from The Last Job Search Guide You'll Ever Need: How to Find and Get the Job or Internship of Your Dreams, which is available for sale for $19.85 in our bookstore or $27.00 at Amazon.com but for free to those who subscriber to our free career newsletter. This hot new book contains job search secrets of the most experienced, most knowledgeable and most respected career experts. Learn career planning, job hunting tools and tactics, interviewing, cover letter and resume writing (lots of samples!), networking, and how to find an internship. Written by 149 career experts. To receive a free copy, subscribe to our free career newsletter.

Career Videos