PREPARING FOR THE INTERVIEW

RESEARCHING COMPANIES

Questions you should be able to answer

“Why do you want to work for our organization?”

“What do you know about our company?”

                           

Be prepared to answer the above questions with enthusiasm.  Find out as much as you can BEFORE THE INTERVIEW about THE POSITION, THE EMPLOYER, and the INDUSTRY OR FIELD where you want to be considered. It’s not necessary to memorize data, rather the value is having an overall understanding of the organization so you can answer and ask relevant questions during the interview.

Outstanding job seekers set themselves apart by thoroughly researching the organization where they want to work, and by showing how their qualifications FIT with the employer’s needs!

WHAT SORT OF INFORMATION SHOULD YOU TRY TO FIND?

Here are some ideas…

Complete job descriptions

Services and products

Benefits for employees

Advancement opportunities                        

Reputation

Length of time established

Number of employees

Financial status

Sales/assets/earnings

New products or projects

Number of locations

Foreign operations

Names of top executives

Company’s history and how it was founded

Competitors within the industry

Key competitive pressures facing the organization

Recent news items about the company              Relevant industry terms and issues

Detective Image - Research

 

Where should I look for information?              

FIRST LOOK FOR COMPANY SOURCES…


  • Check out the company website
  • Talk directly to company representatives at Career Fairs
  • Talk directly to company employees - check our MENTOR list of alumni in UCareerLink, at http://careers.utah.edu, who are willing to answer questions
  • Call and talk to the Human Resources division of the company/organization
  • Talk directly with the Administrative Asst. or Director of a small organization
  • Read Annual Reports from publicly owned companies –

              Click “Investors” or Investor Relations” at the company’s own website

  • Read company newsletters and other publications

 

LOOK FOR MEDIA SOURCES…

Internet:
  • CareerSearch – to help you in your quest for information, Career Services has purchased a nationwide database of over one million companies!  After you login to UCareerLink at http://careers.utah.edu, click the CareerSearch logo to find information. For example, click “US Search” and click Banking under industry and Utah under location.  You will find local banks listed; select Zions Bancorporation and you will find the address, phone number, name of the Chairman, President & CEO, year founded, assets, number of employees, the SIC (Standard Industrial Classification), current loans, deposits, equity, income, and even the growth history.
  • The New York Times at www.nytimes.com has two features to research companies.  One which invites interested individuals to register free to investigate 50,000 publicly-traded companies is found if you look under BUSINESS and click COMPANY RESEARCH.  The 2nd way is to look under JOB MARKET on the left bar THEN Under Career Resources you will find RESEARCH COMPANIES.
Publications:
  • UTAH BUSINESS – BOOK OF LISTS, Career Library
  • UTAH BUSINESS magazine, Career Library
  • UTAH MAJOR EMPLOYERS GUIDE, Career Library
  • THE ENTERPRISE (weekly Utah business news), Career Library
  • WET FEET INSIDER GUIDES [industry/large company information 60 firms], Career Library
  • HOOVER’S MASTERLIST OF U.S. COMPANIES, Career Library
  • WALL STREET JOURNAL, School of Business Library
  • FORTUNE MAGAZINE, Career Library
  • THE PRINCETON REVIEW-BEST ENTRY-LEVEL JOBS, Career Library
  • JOB CHOICES MAGAZINES, Career Services
  • DIRECTORY OF CORPORATE AFFILIATIONS, Salt Lake City Public Library
    • The company you are seeking may be a subsidiary.  This directory of public and private companies reveals who owns whom or corporate affiliations to aid your research.

 

SELECTED UNIVERSITY OF UTAH  “FREE”  LIBRARY RESOURCES…

 

www.utah.edu>Marriott Library>Article Databases & More>

  • HOOVER’S ONLINE
    • Choose “H” and scroll down to Hoover’s Online.  Profiles usually list company descriptions, strategy, history, location and contact information, officers, products and services, and financials.  More than 3,000 public and private companies around the world are profiled. http://premium.hoovers.com/subscribe/  (free when accessed through the Marriott Library databases)
  • ASSOCIATIONS UNLIMITED – contains information for approximately 460,000 International and U.S. national, regional, state, and local nonprofit membership organizations in all fields including IRS data on U.S. nonprofit organizations.
  • OTHER BUSINESS GUIDES such as the following are available by selecting “BUSINESS” as the subject under Article Databases & More:
    • 10-K WIZARD (tools for searching information about companies)
    • BUSINESS SOURCE PREMIER (popular business publications)
    • CAREER SEARCH (also available at http://careers.utah.edu)
    • CCH BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL NETWORK
    • ReferenceUSA (Information for over 10 million companies)
    • Regional Business News (75 U.S. business journals/newspapers)
    • THOMAS REGISTER  (company/product information for more than 170,000 manufacturers, links to company websites)