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Researching a Company |
Length: 50 minutes
- Lesson Review: 10 minutes
- Research Workshop: 30-40 minutes
- Q&A throughout
- Reviewing Previous Modules' career development curriculum on company research
- Create a plan to research companies and industries that are important to you
- Develop strategies to find information about these companies
- Gather information to refine your job search
Open each of the following pages in a new tab and leave them open for the workshop portion below. Take just a few minutes to review each of them before moving on to the workshop.
- Outreach & Networking Plan, 2 minute review
- Outreach and Networking II, 2 minute review
- Job Search Strategies, 3 minute review
Now that you've found some companies where you'd like to apply for work, you need to research employees for cold outreach (or warm outreach if someone can make an introduction for you).
- Questions to Ask when Networking, 2 minute review
Open the following Google Spreadsheet and make a copy for yourself. Follow the instructions on the "Intro" tab.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wd4Yvz0GCKi-ktUUdD76SuBFq-cSFnkjfYwPaPBpF5E/edit#gid=0
Use the search tools in those previous Career Development curriculum notes that you opened in other tabs. Refer to these often as you're researching companies.
It's easy to have grand ideas about where we'd like to work, but we really need to research those companies.
Maybe during your research you'll find that that particular industry is so competitive that the salaries are lower because so many people want that kind of job (ie, gaming).
Maybe you find that a particular industry you're passionate about has most companies working in an area of the country where you'd rather not live (weather, too far from family, etc)
Maybe a particular industry harbors more toxicity in the workplace than others.
Maybe, once you drill down into companies, you find that a company's biggest clients are companies or corporations with whom you might not want to associate. What if your dream job signed up "Big Tobacco" as their #1 client -- are you okay with this?
As passionate as you might be about the job, you DO need to ask yourself these hard questions.
Fill out everything you can find online from LinkedIn, blog articles, Google searches, etc. Leave gaps where you can't find information.
Keep track of your progress in your career journal, talk to the careers team about things that stand out as being important to you for your job search.