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Get advice from professional resume writers on how to research prospective employers in your job search.

Know the Employer

Just as you must know yourself before you begin an interview, so too must you know your prospective employer. Knowledge of the company helps you tailor your responses to questions and gives you confidence. It shows the interviewer that you care about the company and want to make a well-informed decision, and it gives you fodder for posing impressive questions to the interviewer. All of the information you gather will help you anticipate the company culture and gauge the expectations that they will have of you.

Understanding the Mission

At a minimum, you need to discover the company's purpose and trajectory. The employer will be convinced that you do not care about the job if you have to ask what they do. Look on the company website to discover how the company presents itself. Make sure you can articulate what the company mission statement is. If the company has a tag line, memorize that as well. If available, request a copy of its annual report. For newsworthy companies, check media sources like newspapers and business magazines to find out where the company is going and what its challenges are. Discover if they have any specific goals for the near future, like the production of new products or new partnerships. Talk with someone who works there or has worked there to find out whether the company fulfills its mission.

Study the Market

You also must familiarize yourself with the company's market. If they sell a product, who are their target customers? If they provide a service, to whom is it rendered? What is the nature of the products or services? These are the kinds of things you should be conversant in when you sit down for an interview. In addition, it is useful to know who are the company's competitors. Is it a business down the street, a conglomerate, a new or established company?

Company Structure

Find out what the structure and scope of the company is. Besides identifying whether the company is small, medium, large, or enormous, you need to know its configuration. Is it a division of a larger company or owned by a parent company? Does it own other companies? What are its strategic alliances? Is it a local, national, or international company? Also discover whether the company has divisions and what they are. It is also useful to know at what stage of growth the company is. Have they recently grown or laid off employees? At what rate? Using your internet, media, and personal sources, uncover as much as you can about the internal workings of the company.

Know the Customer

Moreover, it is useful to know how the company makes its money. Who are its clients or customers and how many of them are there? Is it a family-owned business or a start-up company funded by angels? Getting your hands on a share-holders report could be very illuminating as you determine what the company's earnings or losses are. Are their profits increasing or are they mired in debt? Is there another company funding them for a period of time at a loss? Compiling this information will enable you to assess the financial stability of the company.

Employee Relations

Finally, you will benefit from knowing how the company treats its employees. Interviewing current or former employees will give you the information you need to determine whether you are likely to receive the kind of treatment you desire or require. How much of the company earnings are shared by employees? What are the salary ranges for various positions? Gaining this kind of information will help you assess a compensation packet that you can feasibly negotiate. Do not forget to uncover the benefits package offered by the company when you consider the attractiveness of compensation. In addition to compensation, discover whether employees receive training or mentoring, how many hours a week the employees tend to work, and how long employees tend to stay at the company. Finally, you might check to see if any complaints have been filed against the company.

Interview Background

Since you need to connect with the person responsible for the interview, it is helpful to discover as much as you can about that person as well. Is this your prospective boss or someone screening applicants? If possible, discover what the person is interested in and where he or she previously worked or went to college. Gather information that will help you establish an easy rapport.

Your quest for information can seem elusive without the ability to conduct an audit of the company's financial statements or at least interview employees of the company. With a bit of networking, the latter might be more feasible than you would initially think. Several other resources will help you:

• The company website
• Company statements and brochures
• Newspaper and magazine articles
• Reviews of best and worst companies
• Employees of the company
• Public records
• Information held at local job search agencies

Cover Letter Guide

Follow a guide on cover letter writing developed by professional resume writers.

Cover Letters: Your First Chance to Impress

Hiring managers routinely receive responses from hundreds, perhaps thousands, of applicants for any given job. To avoid having your resume sink in this sea of paper, it's imperative to write a cover letter that stands out from the crowd and makes a good first impression.

A compelling cover letter that follows five essential rules will convince a hiring manager to read an applicant's resume.

Rule 1 - Appearance

The resume and cover letter must be aesthetically pleasing and consistent in appearance. This would include using the same heading and fonts in each, both produced on a high-quality printer and paper (if documents are being "snail-mailed"). Save the designer stationery and stylish fonts for writing letters to friends. A professional employment package never sets a casual tone.

Rule 2 - Target Your Audience

Always use the hiring manager's name in the salutation. If the contact's name isn't provided in the job posting, a bit of Internet research or a well-structured phone call can produce results. In using the contact's name, the cover letter is personalized, while also showing the applicant's interest in the company. Remember, a letter addressed "Dear Sir or Madam" or worse, "To Whom It May Concern," has the same impact as one addressed "Dear Occupant."

Rule 3 - A Strong Opening

A dynamic opening paragraph is essential to capture and retain a hiring manager's interest. Pared down to basics, for a quick and effective read, it should include a reference to the position sought and a brief statement as to why the applicant feels qualified to fill the job. Emphasis should always be placed on what the applicant can do for the targeted company, while also providing quantifiable proof as to why this is true.

Rule 4 - Showcasing Accomplishments

Include a bulleted area to emphasize accomplishments pertinent to the targeted job. Not only does this break up large blocks of text that a hiring manager might find daunting, but it also draws the eye towards the most important part of the cover letter - what the applicant has to offer.

Rule 5 - A Proactive Closing

Always initiate further action at the end of a cover letter. A proactive closing indicates that the applicant will call within a few days to see if a time might be scheduled to meet. To wait for a hiring manager to take that first step is to risk losing the opportunity to another candidate.

Evaluating Your Current Job

So you’ve finally been offered that part-time job you’ve been wanting. Maybe it’s at the bakery down the road, maybe at the restaurant across town, maybe even at the beach nearby. Before you accept, take a minute or two to really think about the job in terms of your overall plan for life. While most students don’t know what they want to do the next week, let alone for their life, setting short- and long-term goals for yourself is a terrific way to advance your career.

If you’re interested in becoming a physician, then perhaps the job waiting on tables isn’t such a great job after all. Ask yourself: are any of the skills necessary in order to become a good server also useful in becoming a good doctor? Or better yet: which job would best prepare you for a career in medicine? Perhaps a lifeguard, who knows and applies life-saving techniques on a regular basis gets more practical experience for a medical career than a waiter or waitress does. The key in evaluating your current job or choosing a new one is to list the skills required to succeed in it and compare them with the skills required in the fields you’re interested in pursuing in life.

If you’re in a job that you realize is not furthering your career goals, there are ways to gracefully get out. See the article on how to quit gracefully. One word of caution, however, is to be certain the move will be a productive one. Job-hopping is poison to a good resume—you will be questioned about your indecisiveness if your work history reveals no consistent pattern of thought or planning. If you’ve only held one or two different jobs in your life, or if you’ve never worked before, having a career plan should be secondary to getting your foot in the door. And if the choice comes down to a job that won’t really help your career and no job at all, taking the job is a good idea, if only because it fills space in your resume and gives you experience in the working world.

Finally, don’t be afraid to change your career goals—most college students change their majors several times before they graduate. If your outlook on life changes or you realize you really don’t want to go to medical school, you’re not alone. If you think a change in jobs will further your career goals, evaluate the situation thoroughly and then make an informed decision. Hesitation may result in a job opening being filled by someone other than you, but make sure you’re convinced the move is a good one. Then go out there and make yourself better—your career deserves it.