17 Great Resources To Develop A Targeted Employer List
Along with many other Career Coaches, I suggest that job seekers begin a job search by coming up with a list of businesses where they might want to work.
But how do you come up with this list?
Many job seekers do not know where to start. That is why I have put together a list of resources to find the names of and information about potential employers.
Why Is A List Of Potential Employers Helpful?
What is your goal for a job search? Unless you are different from most people, it will be a job that meets your needs and that you will enjoy. Well, how can you ensure that this happens? The first step is to find employers that hire people with your skillset and provide a good work environment. How will you find these organizations? By conducting research that will provide options on organizations where it will be best for you to work.
Many people believe that they are conducting a good job search if they apply to as many jobs as possible. Will all these jobs be a good fit? Probably not. Many are likely a bad fit. So what you have done is expended energy on activities that are counter to your goal. That does not make sense.
But I can hear you say that these businesses are at least looking. Maybe my target employer doesn’t have a job opening. This is where the hidden job market comes in. Did you know that there is such a thing? The hidden job market is jobs that you wouldn’t necessarily find on a job board. These jobs could be positions created for someone with your skills, jobs not yet posted, or jobs that the employer never intends to publish, such as those given to a third-party recruiter to fill. There are a lot of these jobs out there.
That is where your targeted job list comes in handy. You can start networking with people in these businesses. Networking can help make you top of mind when one of these hidden jobs becomes available. Even if a job does get formally posted on a job board, if you have previously networked with individuals at this company, you will have an advantage over your competition since your new network can refer you for positions.
Resources for Finding Information about Potential Companies
There are many resources you can use to find potential companies to target. Try to use various resources since you want to start with a broad list that you can further narrow down based upon your criteria for a good work situation.
Job Boards
Yes, even though applying through job boards can be an inefficient use of your time, job boards can be a great way to research potential companies. It is good to know who is currently hiring. You are likely to find names of businesses that are unfamiliar to you. Suppose you are using a job board like Indeed. In that case, you may find the position listing and a link to a company page, where you can find information about the company, such as company revenue, size, location, and even information about the company culture. The business may also add photos and even question and answer pages.
Here are examples of some of the most popular job boards.
Google for Jobs (part of Google search)
And examples of a few niche career boards.
https://www.flexjobs.com/ (Remote work from home and flexible opportunities)
https://www.idealist.org/en/ (Nonprofit work)
https://www.jobsinlogistics.com/ (Logistics jobs)
https://www.k12jobspot.com/ (Teaching positions)
https://www.mediabistro.com/ (Media jobs)
https://stackoverflow.com/jobs (Developer jobs)
Employer Review Sites
Wouldn’t it be helpful to learn what it is like to work at a specific business? Well, several sites can help you by providing information from employees who have worked there. The reviews can tell the reader both the positives and negatives of working at this employer and provide salary and benefit information, as well as typical questions asked during an interview. Always remember that a review is based upon that particular person’s experience and may not reflect the average experience. That is why it is essential to look at many reviews and concentrate on the commonalities in the feedback.
Here are a few examples of these types of sites.
Online Forums
Do you want to know what working at a company might be like? Online forums, such as Reddit or Quora, likely will have an answer, at least for larger organizations. You will find many threads that will show a question and then comments around a specific subject. As an example, on Reddit, these are pretty typical examples of the discussion you might find.
J.P. Morgan interview advice.
I like working at Target.
What is the best perk you ever had at a job?
So you want to work at Sam Adams?
Remember, you do not know the people on these threads (or subreddits) and their situation. Take all information as a data point among many
If you do not see anything answered for a particular question you have, you can pose one.
LinkedIn has a job board, but it also is a professional social network. Therefore it has a few features that should be of great interest when trying to research companies.
Company Pages
LinkedIn Company Pages can have a wealth of information. LinkedIn allows companies to provide information categorized in separate tabs.
About-This section can provide an overview of the company, the website URL, type of industry, employee size, headquarters location, employer type (public, private, etc.), year founded, and specialties. There is also the ability to have an interactive map with locations.
Posts-Easy access to all of the company page posts.
Jobs-Any recently posted jobs.
Life-Information about working at the company. This may also include company photos.
People-Information about the people on LinkedIn that work at the company. In this section, you can search employees by title, keyword, or school.
Insights-If you are a premium member, you can also get information on Total Employee Count and growth, Employee Distribution and Headcount Growth by Function, New Hires, Notable Company Alumni, and Total Job Openings.
Videos-Company videos.
Connection Information
Maybe you have a connection that works (or worked) at a targeted company. Wouldn’t it be great if you could find this out, so you could reach out for further information? LinkedIn allows you to search your connections for present and former employers.
Go to the My Network area.
Go to Connections on Desktop. On Mobile, go to Manage my network and then Connections.
Tap on the Search with filters link on Desktop. On Mobile, tap on the search icon (magnifying glass).
For someone currently working at the target company. Go to the Current company dropdown and select a company from the list or add a company in the search box.
If searching for a previous company, go to All filters, select Past company, select one from the list or add a company.
You may also want to contact your connections to gather ideas about ideas of businesses that they might feel would be a good fit for your strengths and interests.
Alumni Networks
Alumni from any school you have attended can be an excellent resource for gathering information about places to work. This network of professionals is often a go-to when investigating places to work. You can see, via online directories, where graduates live, where they work (or worked), and what they studied. There is often a great breadth of names of different employers that you may want to research. Since you have a shared experience going to school at this institution, it is a natural conversation starter when networking with alumni to get further information.
LinkedIn also allows you to look up people that have attended a specific school. The Alumni area enables you to search alumni by job title, keyword, or company. You can then connect with alumni of interest, direct message them, and take any conversation offline.
Trade Organizations/Professional Groups
Many businesses will belong to a trade organization that works on behalf of the members of a specific industry. Looking here can be a quick way to find businesses in a particular sector. Members of these organizations may be listed on the organization’s web page with links to the member’s website.
If you belong to a professional organization for individuals in your profession, you may find local events where you can network. This is a great way to gather information about potential employers since, presumably, these people will have worked at employers that hire people in your profession. Also, many of these organizations will have special interest groups for a subset of their organization, such as for younger members, women, or minorities, that might be of interest.
Job Search Support Groups
How about asking others who are also looking for work? Others likely have researched companies, and they may be able to share their wisdom with you. Meetup is a place to find local job search groups. Your local unemployment office, library, or local religious organization may also know of local groups.
Career OneStop DataBase
Career OneStop, sponsored by the US Department of Labor, provides information for those looking for work in the US. They have a Business Finder feature that allows you to find local businesses that potentially hire individuals in a specific role. This can be a helpful tool, especially when looking at smaller, local firms as potential employers.
Recent Investments by Private Equity and Venture Capital
Do you want a company that has the potential to grow significantly in the next few years? Then look at where private equity and venture capital firms are putting their money. Often with capital infusion comes new hiring. So where do you find this information? Examples of places to learn about recent funding are as follows:
www.mattermark.com (paysite with 14-day free trial)
www.fundable.com/browse/funded
https://techcrunch.com/tag/funding/
Conference Attendee Lists, Speaker, and Vendors
If you have attended an industry conference, you know there can be thousands of people at these conferences. While these types of large conferences were curtailed with the pandemic, some in-person conferences are on the schedule for later 2021. Even if the conference is a scaled-back affair and conducted virtually, accessing the attendee list, if available, can be a great way to identify people in the industry and their employers. Even if an attendee list is not available, you likely can easily access both the speaker and vendor lists. These can also be a wealth of information about thought leaders in the industry and businesses that support the industry.
Other Social Media Sites
Don't forget the Facebooks, Twitters, Instagrams, Youtubes, and Clubhouses of the world. They can provide a wealth of information about potential employers. Facebook has company pages, where you can find information about employers. You might even find more information than LinkedIn, especially if it is a direct-to-consumer focused or a smaller-sized business. Additionally, Facebook has a robust Groups area, which offers both public and private groups in many industry areas. These can be a great source of information about who is hiring and other company intelligence.
Twitter is a place where you can follow company pages and individuals working at a target company. If there are any updates about the business, you would likely hear about it on Twitter. Additionally, some companies will Tweet out their jobs, so keep an eye out for this.
Are you an Instagram user? On Instagram, like Facebook, you can follow companies and influencers in an industry or among specific roles. From the pictures and videos posted on Instagram, you may get a better sense of the company culture.
Youtube is a great place to find videos that the business has produced to tell its story. Additionally, if you search, you may also find other videos, such as company officials' interviews or even investigative reporting about the company's operations.
Have you heard about Clubhouse (currently only available for iphone and ipad users)? It is an audio-only network, where you can join rooms and hear and participate in conversations with others. Business leaders (like Elon Musk) have shown up on Clubhouse. Find rooms on a topic in your industry or profession, and you may come across information on potential employers. Or you can be like Erik Corzberg, and find a job through connections made there.
The Business Journal
For 43 major cities in the US, The Business Journal provides local business information. You will find information about new companies coming to your area, changes in ownership, divestitures, and anything to do with local business and its leaders. You will need to get a paid subscription to access the online site. Hint: many local libraries will have a subscription to the local Business Journal. There you can read recent issues for free.
Local Newspaper Business Section
If you live in a major metropolitan area, it is likely that your hometown newspaper has a section devoted to local business. Here you can find out about local business and national business trends. Some local newspapers will also publish a list of the best places to work in their region.
Fortune/Inc./The Financial Times/The Wall Street Journal
Several publications have their sole focus on business news. Fortune has its print magazine and online site, and you can also access its various newsletters on specific business topics. Fortune also has its annual ranking of best companies to work for. Here are their 100 best places to work for 2021.
Inc. also has business information available in print or online. Inc. also has an annual list of the fastest-growing private companies, the Inc. 5,000.
The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal are business-focused newspapers, covering global business news and trends. Their articles online are behind a paywall. Hint: You can likely find these newspapers at your local public library as well.
Annual Reports
If a company is publicly traded, then it should have an annual report that it must produce for its shareholders. These reports are available to the public, and you can usually find a copy in the Investor Relations area of the company's website. They will include a letter from the company leader with highlights from the year, insights about the industry and company, and financial statements for the year. Additionally, public companies will also have earnings calls, where they will meet quarterly with analysts to talk about their results. You can also access transcripts of these calls, as analysts will often ask questions about financial filings, industry trends, competition, or company initiatives.
Consulting Firms
Because they employ so many subject matter experts and work with so many different businesses, many consulting firms will regularly publish information and sponsor webcasts on industry topics and research they have conducted. You can also sign up for newsletters. This may lead you to specific companies for your target list or further research about the industry. Well-known consulting firms include EY, McKinsey & Company, and Deloitte.
Google Search
Last but not least, your internet search engine is a great resource to find information about potential employers. When I conducted a simple Google search of the best tech companies to work for, it resulted in close to 30k trusted results. An internet search, especially once you have found a potential employer, is a must to see as much information online as possible to judge if this business would be a good place for you to work.
Conclusion
You can see a vast amount of resources available to help you come up with a targeted employer list. A good rule of thumb is to have 15-20 employers on this list. Then start networking to find those job opportunities.
You may also be interested in Easy Steps to Reconnect with Your Network or How to Know if a Prospective Employer Has a Good Culture.
Shelley Piedmont is a job search coach. She wants to help job seekers put their best foot forward by providing the tools for a successful job search. If you need career coaching, resume preparation, interview skills assessment, or LinkedIn profile assistance, she can help. Schedule a 15-minute no-obligation consultation.
