Why Research

An employer representative will know if you have researched the organization by the way you act. There is no quicker way to turn an employer off than by not reading the material employers have provided prior to interviews.

Researching an organization is an important factor in an employer's evaluation of an applicant -- it positively displays your interest and enthusiasm. Your knowledge of an organization is a valuable way of showing, in an interview, that you understand the purpose of the interview. It also establishes a common foundation from which questions can be asked and to which information can be added.

How to Research

The first place to look is the card catalog in the Career Development Center to determine if material is available such as annual reports, employer notebooks, videotapes, etc. Review all material, and before making copies, check in the Co-op Office to see if extra materials were sent for distribution.

For each organization, try to locate the following information:

	Services and/or products
	Competitors
	Age and growth pattern
	Media articles and reputation
	Divisions, subsidiaries, location and size
	Number of employees
	Sales, assets and earnings
	New products or projects
	Number of locations
	Foreign operations and products

Since printed material may only be updated every few years by the employer, information provided can be somewhat dated, (from several months to several years old). You are unlikely to find much information on very recent developments (within the last 6 weeks) unless they were newsworthy enough to be covered by national newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times. This information is available on computer programs in the library. Hard copies of some of these articles may be available in the library.

Annual Reports

Compare the annual reports of the past several years on the following:

	Balance Sheet. The difference between current  assets and current liabilities is net working  capital. Dividing the long-term liabilities by stock holders' equity will give you the debt-to-equity ratio.
	Certified public accountant report. Watch for the phrase "subject to ...", this could mean the accountant is not happy about that area. Footnotes which may contain insightful information should always be read.
	Are earnings down? determine if they are and why from the report.
	Are earnings up? determine why -- it may be just a fluke.
	Read the organizations' letters to the stockholders. This will tell you how the company fared; use of words like "Except for..." and "Despite the ..." could indicate problems.
	Check the stockholders' equity and the long term debt of the organization.
	Check the income statement for consistency of net sales.
	Net earnings per share -- check the footnotes.
	Learn About the Job

Review the job description if available. Or talk to a person who is employed in this type of work or a related field. If possible, talk to the person you are replacing or other people who work for the same organization.

Other Sources of Information

Read everything the business press has been saying about the organization. Many libraries have computerized search and microfiches systems for information on specific subjects. This will give you inside information on the organization that you would not find in an annual report.

Get information from the local community by visiting the public library, Chamber of Commerce, government offices; contact business and trade associations, local newspapers, etc.

Visit the organization and request information. Talk to key employees in person or by phone and get to know them. If the opportunity presents itself, a small portion of your conversations can be about non-business matters.

Ask acquaintances in the industry for information. If you haven't tapped into the network of your field of interest, start working on it now.

Check with professors who are involved in that organization's area of interest.

Ask the organization's neighbors, customers and competitors for information. Be cautious about this; but if you are able to talk to someone who has the time, you can learn much while also expanding your network contacts.

Call the organization and request materials they can collect for you to pick up before your interview or items that you can review.

All people you visit and/or talk with are potentially network contacts. Impress them; ask advice on how to find employment, and keep in touch with them.