KEY POINTS:
When it comes to investigating a company you hope to work for, the more targeted information you have at your fingertips, the more you boost your competitive edge.
That's because employers really value candidates who have done their homework and know the key company facts. Doing your homework helps you to find the right potential employer, tailor your cover letter and CV, and showcase your knowledge at the interview.
Career Dynamic career consultant, Claire Simcock, says the amount of effort you put into finding out about a potential employer can make or break you at a job interview.
"For your part you want to make an informed choice," says Simcock. " It enables you to not have to ask the really low level questions about what they do, and it provides a basis for discussion and questions from your side."
She says there are numerous ways to sleuth a company and the staff who are going to interview you, including searching websites, reading news clippings and contacting current and former employees. However, Simcock says you will first need to decide what information you need. Do you need to know about the culture of the organisation or the company financials?
If, for example, you want a job at engineering firm Beca, its website contains a wealth of information, starting with a decade-by-decade company history from 1920. It has news releases, information about its community involvement, scholarships, and awards that the company has won. The website also has profiles of dozens of top employees and management, including their out-of-work interests, along with details of the projects that each person has worked on.
You'd also be able to find out a list of feature projects from each division and read back issues of dozens of company publications dating back to 2001. Finally, the Career Development section of the website and a soon-to-be-launched www.becagraduates.com site have useful information for job hunters.
The next step is to Google the company in question. For Beca, Google turns up information such as the latest promotions, the company's involvement in seismic retrofitting designs for sensitive buildings in Turkey and numerous mentions of the company on the NZ Council for Infrastructure Development's website - including an annual review.
Few company websites have such in-depth information about staff and their operations online as Beca and belonging to industry organisations can fill in the gaps.
If you work in Beca's field, it would be likely that you'd belong to IPENZ (The Institution of Professional Engineers NZ) and you could attend networking events and track down employees at your target firm using its online database.
It's also a good idea to search leading media sites as well. The New Zealand Herald's website returns 111 results for the name "Beca". You could also search trade journals at public libraries if they're not available online.
The Companies Office database, which can be found at Companies.govt.nz, has lists of directors, financial statements, annual returns, certificates of incorporation and particulars of directors - including their addresses and appointment date. Some of the information is charged for, albeit at $1 a time.
If the company is listed on the NZX, it's likely you can find brokers' research reports online. You can also search the NZX's website for information such as a share price graph, securities details such as market capitalisation (which might be an impressive-sounding figure to trot out at an interview), analytics such as price-earnings ratio, and latest listed company announcements.
Finding information about international or multinational companies can, in many cases, be even easier than local ones - thanks to their presence on the internet and international news websites. Aside from web browsing, it has always been possible to research companies long before the internet and some of the tried and tested methods are still as good as they ever were. First of all, if you're using an employment agency, then ask them for a backgrounder on the company.
The grapevine is a great way to make contact with other employees at your target company or former employees who can spill the beans. "Talk to anyone you know who works for their competitors," says Simcock.
Current or former employees can also tell you what it is really like there, including details about training programmes, salaries, management attitudes and the reality of the work. Public libraries have always contained a wealth of information.
Auckland City's Digital Library, for example, has numerous databases that allow you to search useful data such as the full text of many of the leading business publications and the Hansard record of political debates for up to 20 years. It also has the UBD Insight database with details on more than 150,000 companies throughout New Zealand.
If your new job will involve moving it might also be a good idea to research that area.
Dropping into conversation that you've done a backgrounder on the nearby schools, Rotary clubs, cycle ways or other local information might show that you're keen to fit into the role.
