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RESEARCHING COMPANIES and INDUSTRIES
Researching a company will help you:answer the interviewer's questions more effectively. ask questions that demonstrate your interest in the company/position. make an informed decision about whether or not to work for a particular organization.
Begin your research by trying to find the following pieces of information about the company:
- Services or products
- Divisions and subsidiaries
- Competitors within the industry
- Location
- History and Age (length of time established)
- Financial status/assets and earnings
- Reputation within the industry
- Size - number of employees
- New products, projects or developments
- Foreign operations
- Recent company and industry news/occurrences
There are several ways of gathering information about a company. Consider the following suggestions below:
- Internet - Search the company's website and career-related websites such as Vault.com, Wetfeet.com, and Hoovers.com, or idealist.org for nonprofit groups; also search for up-to-the-minute news and daily information
- Career Development Center - Corporate literature for companies that participate in the On-campus Recruiting may be available in our office
- Internship Fair, Career Days, and Job Fairs
- Word of mouth - Talk to current or previous interns and other employees who may have contact with companies
- Public Relations/Human Resource Departments - Call to request corporate literature and/or annual reports
- Newspapers and magazines - Stay abreast of current events by searching through recent print materials
- College Library, public library and Chamber of Commerce
Researching Salaries
Salary information is important so that you are aware of what is a reasonable salary for someone with your level of experience in your chosen industry.
There are several sources of information for researching salaries. It is recommended that you use more than one of the resources listed below to get a clearer estimate of the "going rate" in New York City for a given position.
Resources include:
- Job listings that list salaries
- Networking with people in your field (often your best source)
- The Occupational Outlook Handbook , published by the United States Department of Labor (these are national averages which tend to be somewhat lower than salaries in New York City).
- Certain websites may have information, such as salary.com (salary levels may be inflated in these websites).
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