Researching Employers Online
There are three major employment sectors that you will need to research to determine the best fit for you:
- The private sector consists of profit-making businesses.
- The public sector refers to federal, state, and local government.
- The non-profit sector is made up of those organizations where the bottom line is mission and purpose rather than profit.
Understanding the key information about a company or organization will help you determine if it is the type of organization you'd like to work for.
You should try to answer these questions:
- To what industry does this company/organization belong?
- What is its product or service?
- What is the overall working environment of the organization?
- How are the company's functions organized?
- What is the typical work environment?
- What is the typical management style and philosophy?
- What are the career paths within the company?
- How stable is the company and what are its long-term prospects?
- How have technology and economic trends affected this company/organization?
- Where are the positions that interest you located with the organization?
- What are your prospects for employment and how could you enter the company?
Finding company web sites is simple! Go to a basic search engine such as Yahoo!, or Google and type in the name of the company in quotes. Keep in mind that if a company doesn't have a website these days, or it's been "Under Construction" for a while, the company is probably not legitimate!
Other sites of interest are: