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Choosing an employer
is very much an individual thing and develops from your investigations
of individual employer brochures and discussions with your Careers
Adviser.
Before you begin searching
for background information about your potential employers, it is
wise to ascertain exactly what kind of information you are trying
to find.
Then determine where
you will find that information.
It is a mistake to assume
that you know enough about the organisation without doing any research.
For example, you may
know that Company X makes sweets, but do you also know what else
they make? What are their brand names?
You may well be being
interviewed by the subsidiary of a much larger company and not realise
it if you don't do your research.
Some of the facts you
may need to know about an organisation include:
- Size of the organisation
within industry
- Its potential growth
- Complete product line
or services
- Potential new products
or services
- Competitors
- Geographical locations
- Location of corporate
headquarters
- Number of plants,
stores and outlets
- Organisational Structure
- Type of training programmes
- Promotional path
- Recent developments,
via newspapers and other journals
- Typical career path
in your field
- History of the organisation
- Whether the company
making a profit or loss
- Its annual growth
rate
While you may not be
able to find all this information, try to find as much as you can.
Because there is so much
background information to try and locate, it is important to have
what you do find organised in a logical manner.
Researching an organisation
can be accomplished through a variety of sources.
The primary source should
be annual reports and employment brochures, most of which can be
found in the University Careers Service. Whilst this information
is prepared by the organisation, and therefore usually has a positive
bias, it is a good starting place.
In addition to brochures
and reports, the University Careers Services have a number of different
business publications and newspapers that will be of help to you
when conducting your research.
This may seem a lot of
trouble to go through just to be prepared for an interview. Finding
the right job is hard work and should be approached in such a manner
as to stack the odds in your favour.
There is keen competition
for many jobs and you are trying to market a product yourself successfully!
Remember that you are
trying to create a positive impression by appearing informed and
goal directed. One way to demonstrate your goals is to indicate
during the interview what interested you in that specific organisation,
and how your goals, qualifications and personality fit that employer's
opportunities.
Remember you only get
one chance to leave the right impression during an interview, so
take the time to do your homework and research the organisation,
and you will increase your chances of leaving a positive impression
from the initial interview.
This content
is © The University of Hull.
Edited and reproduced with kind permission from John Franks - Head
of Hull University Careers
Service. All Rights Reserved.
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