Read your daily newspaper for information about companies in your industry and executives you can write to about possible employment. Read magazines such as Business Week, Forbes y Fortune, and Inc. The Wall Street Journal is also a valuable source of information, as is the National Employment Weekly, which contains help-wanted advertisements and short, practical articles on how to get a job. Chances are good that your library subscribes to these publications.
Trade journals that are available at your local library are also excellent sources of information about specific industries. A good place to look for information about industries or companies is in industry associations. The Encyclopedia of Associations lists virtually every association of any importance in the United States. It contains association names, contacts, and telephone numbers. A letter or telephone call to a staff member or director of an association will bring you contacts and information.
Another excellent source is Standard & Poor’s. This book is published in several volumes and lists executives' names, and the addresses and telephone numbers of companies throughout the United States. In addition, there is a brief synopsis of what business the company is in, including information about its sales and income.
Once you have decided what companies you'd like to contact for potential employment, you can research specific ones in the library. Many different books summarize information about specific industries. For example, Standard Rate Data lists all the consumer and trade magazines in the United States in separate volumes. In the front of each volume is an alphabetized list of every magazine mentioned, by category.
Turn to the category you're interested in to find the name and address of each company, telephone number, list of executives, a synopsis of the material published, frequency of publication, and the circulation and advertising rates. If special issues are published, they are also listed.
A list of multiple publishers, those that produce several magazines, is also available. You don't have to be a writer, editor, or publisher to use such a book in your job hunt.
Occupations such as accountants and auditors, business managers, circulation personnel, engineers, computer professionals, public relations and promotion experts, salespersons, human resource professionals, lawyers, nurses, and doctors are employed in many of these businesses.
Talk to the librarian and ask for resource books geared to your specific needs. You'll be amazed at the number and variety of books that can provide information and help in your job hunt.
Software Resources
If you have a computer with a modem, you can research companies through data bases from the comfort of your home. A data base is available for virtually every subject you can imagine. Here is a brief description of four major companies that offer a great variety of helpful data base information about companies and people:
- Dialog. The data base on this system contain more than 175 million records of directory listings for companies, associations, and famous people, in-depth financial statements for companies, citations with bibliographic information, and complete texts of journal articles, and many more subjects.
- Dow Jones News Retrieval. This online source is designed for business and financial professionals, as well as for serious personal investors. This data base contains up-to-the-minute news about companies, markets, and investments. Stock quotes and detailed financial information are available on thousands of companies.
- LEXIS/NEXIS. This online service provides in-depth information on specialized subjects in business and industry. LEXIS contains legal research material, whereas NEXIS contains news and business information. Clients can subscribe to each one independently.
- Standard & Poor’s Business Information Online. This data base features information on more than 45,000 companies, virtually all publicly and privately owned companies with sales of $1 million or more, or more than 50 employees. The data base also contains biographical information about approximately 70,000 top-level executives in U.S. business.
You may on occasion use a fax machine to send a letter or resume prior to an interview or to supply information afterward. Use every resource that is available.
