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Employers interviewing students and recent graduates nationwide frequently
complain about the lack of research and preparation for interviews and cover
letters. Students, in turn, have been known to bemoan the loss of time that it
takes to thoroughly research individual companies. Fortunately, there is no
need to gripe further: the following resources provide easy access to
comprehensive information on employers.
Generally, your research in applying for any position will consist of two
parts: the first, is researching the company; the second, is to ask yourself
"How do my work experience, knowledge and skills make me a good fit for
this company? How should I market myself?" The resources below should help
you complete the first stage of this process.
All of the resources listed on this page are great for researching
employers, but CareerSearch is the best at providing contact information so
that you'll know where to apply. Accessible in Career Services, CareerSearch
provides 6.5 million key contacts, including: company descriptions, addresses,
names, titles and many e-mail addresses.
Bottom Line: When you're looking for information on how to apply, stop
here first. Great place to search for companies by industry and to find basic
contact information (i.e. who to call to see if a position is
available).
A Dow Jones & Reuters product, Factiva offers an "intelligent
indexing service" which allows you to easily search for current company
news, key financial indicators, and information about competitors. Factiva is
similar in information content to the Global Business Browser listed below, but
has a different layout that enables advanced users to temporarily save their
search data.
To access, perform a keyword search for "Factiva" in the e-resources section
of Dartmouth's Digital
Library.
Bottom line: Great way to do your homework for an interview quickly,
particularly in providing up-to-the-minute key financial performance
indicators. A good source for background reading.
Available through the Feldberg
Library's "Best Bets in Business" resources, the Global
Business Browser is a one-stop source for company information, allowing you to
search by company, industry, or location. Each company record contains
information about company holdings in different geographical locations, the
number of employees per location, as well as primary work functions. You can
also find links to recent articles in the press, as well as summary and
extended profiles of company performance. This database is password-protected
and access is limited. For access information, please stop by Career Services
and sign up for a walk-in appointment (hours are posted on the Career Services
Blitz Bulletin). Note: You can also find the Global Business Browser through
searching the e-resources
section of Dartmouth's Digital
Library.
Bottom Line: The best place to quickly find recent news articles and
summaries of recent company developments. Very useful in determining how
subsidiaries of a corporation differ in job function/industry sector by
specific location.
Hoover's
is widely regarded to be one of the premier resources for researching companies
for both employment and investment purposes. Find up-to-date key financial
indicators, comprehensive company profiles, summaries of recent business
activities. Each company profile also provides you with information about
"key competitors," thus allowing you to get a bigger picture of how
the company is performing within its industry. You can even search the "
Business
Boneyard" to find information on thousands of companies that no longer
exist. (Note: this may sound like a futile exercise, but it can provide you
with valuable information about a company's history since many boneyard
residents are not completely dead but rather have been absorbed into another
company's holdings. (For example Compaq is in the boneyard since it is now part
of Hewlett Packard). Dartmouth provides premium subscriber access to the
Hoover's Online service within the campus network, giving you access to
resources that you'd have to pay plenty for otherwise. For access, visit the Digital
Library homepage and search by resources for "Hoover". If
you are off-campus, visit hoovers.com to
access general site information. Hoover's also offers weekly
e-mail newsletters with information on significant business news which site
visitors can subscribe to receive. The company publishes Hoover's
Handbooks for American Business, Private Companies, and World Business. The
most recent copies of these Handbooks are available in Feldberg Library.
Bottom Line: Comprehensive, particularly strong in providing information
that allows you to compare companies with one another.
Plunkett's directories provide profiles, statistics, and performance
information for specific industries and are available in e-journal format
through searching the e-resources
section of Dartmouth's Digital
Library. These directories contain a wealth of information that can help
you both in identifying potential employers and in preparing your application
materials.
- Airline, Hotel & Travel Industry Almanac
- Automobile Industry Almanac
- Biotech & Genetics Industry Almanac
- E-Commerce & Internet Business Industry Almanac
- Energy Industry Almanac
- Engineering & Research Almanac
- Entertainment & Media Industry Almanac
- Financial Services Industry Almanac
- Food Industry Almanac
- Healthcare Industry Almanac
- Retail Industry Almanac
- Telecommunications Industry Almanac
Bottom Line: The best source you'll find for industry-specific
information.
Career Services has partnered with Thayer Career Services to offer students
full access to Vault's Online Career Library which includes:
- Occupational Profiles (50+ popular career paths)
- Industry Overviews (Book Publishing to Nonprofit to Investment
Management)
- Career Advice Articles (e.g. Interviewing Tips)
Vault's
subscription service allows you to download all publications on the
site.
Bottom Line: Although we think Vault is an invaluable resource for those
wishing to learn more about specific fields, organizations and companies,
please note that much information is contributed to Vault's Online Career
Library by readers of the site and is, therefore, highly subjective. This
anecdotal information, however interesting, should be read with a
discerning eye and weighed accordingly.
Also known as Wet Feet Press,
this site is a virtual gold mine of information. In addition to providing
profiles of both potential career paths and
"real
people," Wet Feet publishes profiles of the
nation's largest employers in high technology, management consulting, and
financial services.
Bottom Line: Terrific resource for career exploration. Great for
"big picture information" and seeing who's who among industry
leaders.
Special Thanks to Chandlee Bryan and Thayer Career Services for
compiling this information.
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