Job Hunting Research

When you are looking for a job you should try and build up as much information about possible future employers as possible. Your local library is a good source of information on possible employers. There are often local and national trade directories kept in the reference section and the library usually has copies of the Yellow Pages, The Thomson Directory and the Phone Book for your area and other areas.

All companies who have a business line automatically get a free one-line entry in Yellow Pages. You may need to look in the classification index at the back of the Yellow Pages as there is often a choice of classification and the free entry will only go in one classification.

If you cannot find out an address/telephone number for a company try calling Directory Enquiries (dial 192 in the UK). When you are sending a letter to a company make sure it has the full and correct postal address on it including the postcode. In the UK call the Royal Mail on (08457) 111222 to find out the full address and postcode (calls to 08457 numbers are charged at local rates).

You should also keep an eye on local, regional, national and trade papers to see which companies are expanding/winning new orders in the area(s) you are interested in working in. These papers will also have details of who is leaving/joining a company. If someone is leaving a company then there may well be a vacancy which you could fill. If somebody is joining a company they may want to build their own team and clear any dead wood from the team, replacing it with new blood - you could be the new blood! Whether you are networking or making speculative applications you should be approaching companies where people are coming and going.

It is very important to keep a separate file of information on each company. Each time a new piece of information comes to light the file should be updated. You should keep press cuttings, PR material that the company distributes, a copy of their annual report and an up to date list of key company figures.

How To Use The Internet

There is an enormous amount of information available on the Internet. Most major companies and a lot of smaller companies have websites on the Internet. They often have a list of their current vacancies on their web pages and you can often find a wealth of details about company activities and a list of key company figures. The easiest way to find them is often to use a search engine like Google or Altavista or a directory like Yahoo .

We have compiled a list of sites on the Internet that you will find useful whilst you are searching for work, including national newspapers advertising jobs, recruitment agencies and other sites advertising jobs. If you want to see our list of links please click here.

Job searching companies.

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